Review: “Viva La Vida,” Coldplay
Coldplay has sold more than 30 million albums since breaking onto the scene in 1997 with their brand of big, dramatic, catchy pop songs. This new offering, Viva La Vida, should help them pad their numbers by at least a few million.
While they have been compared to Radiohead and Oasis, Coldplay really has a sound all their own. In fact, I think they are closer to U2 than either of the other bands. Part of that could be the participation of producer Brian Eno, who helped U2 break through in 1984 with An Unforgettable Fire. On Viva La Vida, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin has excellent range, their melodies are unique, and their instrumentation always has a flair for the dramatic. This is evident on the upbeat title track, which has megahit written all over it, the U2-infected “Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love.” and the instrumental “Life in Technicolor.” Other tunes like “Cemetaries in London,” “Lost,” and “Violet Hill,” and the excellent moody ballad “42,” which features the line “those who are dead are not dead, they’re just living in my head,” are tunes that, if you are a songwriter, you wish you would have written.
Martin is calling this CD the band’s An Unforgettable Fire. The U2 classic still sounds great nearly 25 years later, and I guarantee this one will sound just as good in 2023.
MP3:Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love
