Rich sounds, mature production.

Coldplay: Viva la Vida (2008) A Review

Viva la Vida is the latest offering from a band which took a significant part in making alternative rock music accessible to much wider audience, thereby arguably making it more commercialized. Coldplay has enjoyed significant chart success with their previous effort X&Y (2005), but in a fashion it had just followed the musical style and sound of their seminal work A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002). But this time the band decided to finally carry out experimentations. And in order to do so, the masterstroke they played is hiring Mr. Brian Eno as the producer.

Brian Eno is called the father of 'ambient music'... emphasizing more on layered atmospheric sounds with diverse instrumental arrangements rather than individual notes to create the necessary mood for each song. I would like to remind you that U2's resurgence in the '90s was also heavily due to production works of Eno. In this album, Eno creates many different sound effects by incorporating elements such as electronica, rich orchestral arrangement, layered ringing guitars, atmospheric synth effects... and thus creating moods never experienced before from Coldplay. Electronica musician Jon Hopkins collaborates on two tracks of this album... starting with "Life in Technicolor" and ending with the hidden track "The Escapist". Rich orchestral arrangements, with excellent compositions on group violins can be heard in songs like the ethereal "Viva la vida", the optimistic "Reign of love" or the oblique "Yes"... which leads to the hidden track "Chinese Sleep Chant", a frenzied upbeat distorted guitar-driven squealing. Buckland's guitars are one of the most prominent elements of the album. He sounds like a successful follower of guitarists like The Edge, creating rich and moody tones and varied riffs, taking the songs to completeness but never individually comes to the forefront. Berryman's bass is also a very important feature... with frequent high notes and harmonic scales. Martin's piano is as usual very soothing, but featured less than the previous album.

Chris Martin himself stated prior to the release of the album that the band was on the verge of a break-up during the songwriting and recording process. The conflict, the difference in opinions must have affected him, resulting in some of the most obscure lyrics he ever wrote. In "42" he softly starts with a piano and sings - "Those who are dead are not dead/ They're just living in my head/ And since I fell for that spell/ I am living there as well..." His desperation is evident in many of the songs, most of the times mellow obscurity, but he is more optimistic this time. He sings "I don’t want a cycle of recycled revenge/ I don’t want to follow death and all of his friends." before finishing the album with the hidden track "The Escapist" with these lines "And in the end we lie awake/ And we dream and we'll make an escape". His vocals explore new directions this time, using his range effectively sometimes in clear contrasts. He features his rare baritone in "Yes" before breaking into "Chinese Sleep Chant" which is entirely sung on his angelic falsetto.

Viva la Vida fortunately is not a singles-driven album. It is more like a concept album which should be experienced as a whole. It does not have the brilliant tunes and freshness as their 2002 release A Rush of Blood to the Head but as an album it is far more mature than all of their previous releases, not only in terms of sound but also musical structure, lyrics, production. Personally it should turn into my favorite album by them. Its already in high rotation in my music player. Hopefully the band will continue in this direction, alternative rock at its best.

Coldplay: Chris Martin - vocals, guitar, piano ; Jonny Buckland - lead guitars ; Guy Berryman - bass, synth, vocals ; Will Champion - drums, vocals

Viva la Vida (2008) produced by Brian Eno. ● Life in Technicolor ● Cemeteries in London ● Lost ● 42 ● Lovers in Japan + Reign of love (hidden track) ● Yes + Chinese Sleep Chant (hidden track) ● Viva la vida ● Violet Hill ● Strawberry Swing ● Death and all his friends + The Escapist (hidden track)