Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida': 10 track-by-track reactions

When Coldplay offered up its first single, "Violet Hill," for free, it was less a celebration of new business models than it was the beginning, primarily, of a massive, worldwide marketing campaign.

In the month and a half since "Violet Hill" flooded e-mail in-boxes the world over, Coldplay has hawked iPods, smiled for the cameras at embarrassingly crass MTV promotions, planned free concerts and offered up its new album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," for free streaming.

It all comes to a head in the next few days. The new album will be available in the U.S. on Tuesday, June 17, and should be rolling out to digital outlets even earlier (the album is already out in Britain, where Billboard reports that it sold 125,000 copies in its first day).

Though "Viva La Vida" probably won't do Lil Wayne-type numbers at retail in America, its release is coming at a time when the band's label, Capitol Records, is in the midst of a restructuring. "La Vida" is widely seen as being crucially important to the survival of the brand.

Adding a bit of drama to the mix was Coldplay's pairing on the album with musician-producer Brian Eno, the famed ambient artist who's been closely associated with U2. When "Violet Hill" surfaced, it marked a shift from the Grammy-winning ballads of the band's past ("Clocks" and "In My Place") and brought a bit more of a jolt to Chris Martin's puppy-dog vocals. Was Coldplay re-imagining itself just when its label needed a blockbuster?

EMI shareholders can rest easy. "La Vida" isn't a dramatic reshaping of Coldplay's sound, nor is it any more challenging than the band's past albums. It does, however, see Coldplay embracing some more fanciful new flourishes, resulting -- on the initial few listens, at least -- in Coldplay's most energetic and dense work to date. It's an album with plenty of grand overtures -- check the church bells in the title track -- and should be a lock for an album of the year nomination come Grammy time.

Track-by-track impressions are below. Click here for a full Los Angeles Times review.

1. "Life in Technicolor." A short instrumental overture in which shades of synthesizers gradually give way to a more driving guitar strum. A buoyant, Adam Clayton-like bass takes over the rhythm from some hand drumming, and the song wraps with some background "whoa-whoas." It doesn't really deliver on the Technicolor promise of the title, though. Though the song is dotted with a handful of headphone-worthy ticks, by tune's end Coldplay has turned a wordless tune into an arena hum, which more accurately captures the band's ambitions for the album.

2. "Cemeteries of London." The band reins things in here, and the first 30 or so seconds of the tune set up a murky, atmospheric number. "Save the nighttime for your weeping," Martin sings under a softly shifting foundation. But a guitar string arrives to cut through the ambient sounds, and a herald of "la-la-las" brings Coldplay back toward more conventional territory.

3. "Lost!" One of the album's best moments. The underlying church organ gets manipulated ever so slightly as the song progresses. The pace never rises above a relaxed sway, but the hand claps and background harmonies make the song feel much more majestic than it really is. The bare frame allows plenty of room for Martin's warm, melodic vocals to soar and define the song.

4. "42." It's the Coldplay of old, with Martin + piano for the first minute and a half. Then the slight violin gives way to a more brute-force guitar, and the song flirts with Radiohead-like chaos, then segues into a shout-along chorus. Before it comes to a sudden halt, "42" briefly displays one of the album's more blatant and winning arena moments.

5. "Lovers in Japan / Reign of Love." Coldplay sounds a bit like old-school U2 here, with the drums and a piano in a gallop together. Guitars buzz, keyboards circle, and the whole thing sounds clean without coming off as overproduced. The latter half of the tune descends into balladry but mucks up the traditional Coldplay sound just enough to keep things interesting, thanks to some sedately vibrating electronics laid over a twinkling piano.

6. "Yes / Chinese Sleep Chant." Definitely an album-defining moment, with Coldplay framing giant stadium rock with a bit of prog and experimental tendencies.With two songs back to back with multiple parts, Coldplay is more deeply exploring its art-rock side, and creating  mainstream-friendly cuts that should set the album up for a massively successful tour and plenty of Grammy accolades. For the first half of the song, Martin's voice is turned down into almost a bellow, and the song is touched up with Middle Eastern flourishes. The latter half is evidence that Coldplay can be a fascinating band when it chooses. Martin's voice is lost in a wash of guitars and effects, stripping Coldplay of its most accessible weapon, and burying the wishy-washy lyrics. Instead, the song fashions melodies out of distortion. Only problem: It hints at just how much more interesting this album could have been.

7. "Viva La Vida." The album's current and ubiquitous single. Buoyant, triumphant strings, flashes of twinkling electronics, a toe-tapping tom-tom beat and all sorts of Biblical references to remind everyone that something important is being talked about here.

8. "Violet Hill." The first song that surfaced from the album, and still the most aggressive cut on the set. The song's first guitar crush arrives after a lengthy ambient intro, and brings an electrifying jolt to the striking piano melody. Martin brings a booming confidence to his vocals that has been more evident in Coldplay's live shows than on record.

9. "Strawberry Swing." After the easy-to-hum melodies of "La Vida" and "Violet Hill," things start to wind down a bit. "Strawberry Swing" is a low-key affair, the kind of song one might hear over the end credits of a romantic comedy. Its slightly manipulated '60s-influenced psychedelic instrumentation and midway breakdown bring a bit more artiness to the song than it can handle, with Martin chiming on about what a "perfect day" it is.

10. "Death and All His Friends / The Escapist." Opening with just vocal and piano, Martin sings: "Come over / Just be patient / Don't worry." It's all a bit Hallmark-ish and recalls some of Coldplay's more mawkish works. The song eventually builds to a stomping piano and guitar thump, and some slinky keyboard affects put emo front and center, the song dissolving into a showcase for his lovely ambient touch. In the end, it's a tune that will sound great at a dinner party.

Photo: Associated Press

Comments

[john talbot-woollard]

There is a definite george martin influnce in the string arrangements which at a given point are totally reminscent of the beatles at their best....also the john lenonesque piano of '42' which parodies 'imagine'.....this is a great album.

[Tim]

What the hell is wrong with the person who reviewed this??? I guess you prefer the repetitive, meaningless world of r+b tunes that pollutes your pathetic countries music industry.

Viva la Vida is truly a sensational album - Coldplay's best by far!!!

May I say the Joshua Tree has finally been beaten!!!

[jess y]

i dont know why any piece of art with mildly positive lyrics/themes is instantly condemned by depressed critics as "hallmark"... death and all his friends was my favourite in the albumn with the way it builded into a very raw emotion...

[JACLYN]

This my favorite Coldplay album yet, which says a lot. Brilliant! I hope they get the credit they desreve.