There had been no doubt that Coldplay would land at No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart, which will be released tomorrow morning. The only question was how much would the British rockers sell.
While the band won't touch the million-plus units sold last week by rapper-of-the-moment Lil' Wayne, Coldplay has moved 721,000 copies of "Viva La Vida" in its first week in stores, according to Billboard.
The band's label, Capitol Records, Tuesday evening jumped the gun on the early Wednesday morning announcement of figures from Nielsen SoundScan, sending out a press release touting the figures. A spokeswoman for Nielsen SoundScan declined to confirm the number, but Billboard soon posted the totals.
The 721,000 figure falls in line behind the 1,006,000 copies Lil' Wayne sold of his "Tha Carter III," and brings to an end a massive marketing campaign on the part of EMI and Capitol. Coldplay had appeared on the MTV Movie Awards, and the title track is currently in heavy rotation in an iPod commercial.
Coldplay's 721,000 number falls a little short of the first-week totals posted by "X&Y" in 2005, according to Billboard. That album also debuted at No. 1 in June, but posted a 737,000 total.
Billboard also notes that this is the first time since 2000 that two albums opened with first-week totals greater than 700,000 copies in consecutive weeks. It last happened when Britney Spears' "Oops! ... I Did It Again" and Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" each debuted with more than 1 million copies sold.
EMI is in the midst of a well-documented restructuring, with Billboard having reported earlier this year that the company would cut about 2,000 jobs worldwide. A strong performance of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" has been viewed vital to the company's survival.
Capitol's press release also touts "Viva La Vida" as the band's biggest-selling single via iTunes, but the song was sold as an advance to those who pre-ordered the album.
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.
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.
There were two main musical performances at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards -- a pair of artists from opposite ends of the spectrum, and neither having much to do with the past year in cinema. Coldplay represents one of the biggest, most-respected rock bands in the world, and Robin Antin's creation the Pussycat Dolls are a celebration of branding, the band as an excuse to open burlesque clubs and launch lingerie lines.
But both have products to sell -- the Pussycat Dolls exist solely to sell product -- and that's really all that matters. Indeed, the MTV Movie Awards would be a better fit for the Home Shopping Network. The entire 120 minutes felt like a telethon-like plea to move movie tickets ("Hancock!""The Foot Fist Way!""Step Brothers!""Sex and the City!""The Love Guru!") and -- what the heck -- how about an album or two.
In fact, it was nearly impossible to distinguish between the paid advertisements and the MTV show itself. This may have been the first major live performance of Coldplay's new single "Viva La Vida," but the song already felt like old news. Perhaps that's because not less than 60 seconds after Coldplay played its last note, cut to a commercial break with an Apple advertisement for the same tune aired on the cable channel -- one that was broadcast a few more times before the telecast came to an end.
But thankfully, the Web and DVRs have allowed us to pick and choose which commercials we're subjected to. So were the performances from Coldplay and the Pussycat Dolls worthy of a Monday morning Internet stream?
Coldplay, "Viva La Vida:" Giving stuff away for free apparently comes with a price. Coldplay took a page from Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails when it freely offered fans its new single, "Violet Hill," and will play free shows in London and New York. But unlike the other two acts, Coldplay remains entrenched in the major label system, and thus subject to major label promotional efforts, such as performing at self-congratulatory MTV shows and licensing songs to video games.
"Viva La Vida" is the second song to emerge from forthcoming album "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (June 17), an album that The Sun's Gordon Smart's wrote is "as heavy-going as the Bible but as ultimately as rewarding." But the majesty that is Coldplay couldn't prevent a plague like the massive fire Sunday morning at Universal Studios -- the site of the awards -- and the world appeared unchanged when lead singer Chris Martin sat at the end of the stage to herald the end of the song.
But all told, Coldplay handled itself quite well Sunday night, giving a relatively stripped down performance of a rather ornate song. Martin began at the keyboard, but soon drifted from his bandmates -- mainly the booming, irresistible tom-tom drumming of Will Champion. With his hands in the air, Martin swayed to the song's swift-moving strings, turning the song into the arena-charmer it is destined to be.
And give Coldplay for credit for keeping things relatively simple. The orchestral accompaniments were seen only on a backing screen and appeared looped. The band resisted the traditional overblown award show trappings, and instead showed the power of an understated guitar riff and a well-timed church bell. Procrastination verdict: Worthy of a YouTube stream
Pussycat Dolls' "When I Grow Up": Appearing onstage looking like they had escaped a taping for a sexed-up Jazzercise video, the Pussycat Dolls were at the MTV Movie Awards to perform their paean to movies and fame, 'When I Grow Up." It's the first single from the act's upcoming album, which is tipped to be out in August. The song is essentially a showcase for top cat, as the singer takes lead on the verses while surrounded by a backing swirl of "la-la-la's."
The act's debut, "PCD," generated a wealth of hot club singles, including "Buttons" and "Don't Cha," and in terms of pure shake-ability, "When I Grow Up" definitely sounds good when pumped up on the dance floor. At the MTV Movie Awards, the five PG-13 Pussycats Dolls dancers were a silly diversion, the girls' expert choreography making a final-verse appearance from the top "dance crew" the JabbaWockeeZ seem like a mere annoyance.
But Scherzinger never really took command of the song, only asserting herself in the cut's final seconds when she turned her vocals up to a growl. To be fair, Scherzinger had a thankless task, and needs to be commended for not stumbling over lyrics that have her wishing for "boobies." Apparently "When I Grow Up" was written by a 13 year-old boy.
Yet like the MTV Movie Awards itself, "When I Grow Up" is a throwaway salute to money, fame, expensive cars and every bit of excess that comes with being a Hollywood star. When the song ends with a bit of forewarning, telling listeners to be "careful what they wish for," no one really believes it, as the whole evening was about little more than masquerading shameless shilling as fun.
Procrastination verdict: The above picture should suffice.
Last week, Apple began taking pre-orders for Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," and in so doing, offered buyers immediate access to the title track. As noted here, the single downloaded with DRM at 128 kilobits per second.
The post generated a call from an Apple spokesperson, who reported that the Coldplay track was to have downloaded at higher bit rate, the DRM-free and better-quality 256 kilobits per second that graces all music from EMI labels. But a quick iTunes check confirmed that the slightly lower-quality version did indeed download.
This week, Apple will rectify the error, according to a company spokesperson.
Those who received the 128-bit edition of Coldplay's "La Vida" should receive an e-mail from Apple sometime within the next 48 hours, explaining the error and offering a download of the 256-bit version. But regardless of the bit rate, the song is good.
Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" recently went up from pre-order from Apple's iTunes store, and those who make the pledge for the album will get immediate access to the title track.
It's a nice little coup for the Steve Jobs store, considering Coldplay's first single, "Violet Hill," has been downloaded more than 2 million times, according to multiple press reports.
Of course, the 2-million figure was helped by the fact that the song was free. To hear the title track, as purchased from iTunes, one will essentially have to fork over $9.99, and the cut unfortunately comes encoded with DRM at 128 kilobits per second.
But how does it sound?
Pretty good, and my initial reaction* is that this is a stronger cut than "Violet Hill." It opens with a triumphant string melody, and it's the violins that carry much of the song. It's a cleaner-sounding cut than the more aggressive "Violet Hill," but it still glides along with an urgency not heard often enough in Coldplay's music.
By tapping producer Brian Eno, comparisons to U2 will be inevitable, and "Viva La Vida" brings a bit of U2 grandeur with its epic build, but it still colors the song with enough fresh sounds to demand repeated listens. Things get rolling with a frisky violin, and Chris Martin puts it in check with a commanding vocal turn, singing "I used to roll the dice / Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes."
Moments later the song gets more interesting, with a flash of rhythm briefly sending a more electronic-sounding beat to the background. References to Catholicism grace the song, and Martin repeatedly declares that Saint Peter won't be calling his name.
But never mind the biblical nods. The song further reveals the Coldplay of "Viva La Vida" to be a hungrier, more challenging band. Indeed, as the song builds, strings disappear into a twittering of electronic atmospheres that bridge the verses.
Even the addition of church bells sound off just enough to not be corny. As the song comes to a close, a jaunty piano helps carry some background "whoa-whoas," and there's not a guitar in sight. Instead, "Viva La Vida" is a swift-moving minimalist orchestra.
Even when Coldplay tries to rock out, the song ends up sounding like a ballad.
One of the world's biggest rock bands gave away its new single on Tuesday, inviting visitors to itsofficial website to download the cut. The song, "Violet Hill," was hotly anticipated not only due to Coldplay's stature, but because it unveiled the sound of Coldplay's pairing with famed ambient musician/producer Brian Eno, the artist who has manned the production boards on such albums as U2's "Achtung Baby" and the Talking Heads' "Fear of Music," among many, many others.
From the forthcoming "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," due June 17, "Violet Hill" brings some spiky new flashes to Coldplay's sound, but still comfortably fits with the band's back catalog.
Those more familiar with Coldplay via its sparkling Grammy-winning songs "Clocks" and "In My Place," may hear a rougher, tougher Coldplay in "Violet Hill." Yet whenever the song seems ready to veer into a more forceful, arena-rock territory, Coldplay reigns in the aggression, and ultimately brings the song to an end with puppy-dog-like charm -- Chris Martin's soft vocals leading a trickling, mournful piano.
But there are moments where "Violet Hill" ranks as some of the more exciting music Coldplay has recorded. The first guitar crush arrives after a lengthy ambient intro, and brings an electrifying jolt to the striking piano melody. And Martin brings a booming confidence to his vocals that has been more evident in Coldplay's live shows than on record, his dip into a falsetto in the chorus more matter-of-fact than sorrowful.
It's all over much faster than it's 3:50 running time lets on, with its more thundering center framed by its quieter moments. While it doesn't rewrite Coldplay's sound, it bodes well for the upcoming album, showcasing Coldplay's ability to write giant, mainstream melodies, all the while gradually introducing some new flourishes to the mix.
Listen below, or download it for free on the band's official website.
