"I'm just waiting till the shine wears off..."

Coldplay is a very polarizing band. There are some critics and listeners who completely embrace the band and then there are those (like The New York Times in its infamous review of the group) that think Coldplay is destined to be a mere musical footnote.
I am a member of the former category, and this review of their latest album, Viva la Vida will be as much a review as it will a defense of what I think the band is trying to accomplish.
So, let me begin by saying this: the first listen of Viva didn’t do much for me. I didn’t hate it or anything, but it wasn’t like the first listen to the latest efforts by Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket where I had to listen to it again right away. I listened, enjoyed it, and was able to walk away with other things on my mind. And yet, as the day progressed, I kept wanting to go back and listen to it again; I felt there were things there that I was missing, and I was determined to discover them.
A day-and-a-half of listening later, I’m pleased to say that I still don’t completely “get” the album, but I love it for that. It’s a rare thing that an album would be so engaging and so hard to pin down at the same time. It certainly makes for a much deeper and listening experience, and any band who can offer that to me is okay in my books.
Like the two aforementioned bands, this is supposed to be a very different release, showcasing a different side of Coldplay than we’ve heard before. Bearing that in mind, I thought it would be best to break the album down a little.

Things done differently on Viva

• Lyrically, Coldplay has always been a very international band. They’re not just concerned with one place, but with the world at large – which is a large reason for their international success. What’s different on this go around is that the album actually sounds worldlier. They’ve worked in some great Arabian style strings, and some great call-and-response vocals. The band is aiming for a world audience, and you can hear it.
• This album does the best job to date of mixing Coldplay’s focus on guitar and piano. Until now, it seemed like each of their album’s focused on one, or the other (Parachutes and X & Y were very much guitar albums, while A Rush of Blood to the Head was totally piano driven). On this album, they’ve finally learned to mix the two together, to the point where one couldn’t really say if it was a piano or a guitar album.
• The lyrics show a different side of Coldplay than on any of their previous albums. There’s a definite lack of love songs, which have basically been the band’s bread and butter (“Yellow,” “The Scientist,” “Fix You”) although the cut, “Strawberry swing” is about as gorgeous a love song as you could ask for. Instead the lyrics show a less confident side of Chris Martin. There are lyrics about God, politics and the afterlife, but all tinted with a hint of apprehension, like these are areas unfamiliar to the singer. And they are, or should be at least. And not just for Martin, but for any human, which I think makes this album extremely relatable. (Check out this month’s issue of Rolling Stone for a great interview with Martin on where he is in his life currently)

Things done the same on Viva

• Musically, you can definitely tell that this is a Coldplay album. Like I mentioned above, they work in more unique sounds, but they’re certainly not trying to alienate their listeners with something totally different.
• The band still sounds like they’re trying to be U2 or Radiohead, as they’ve been accused of from the beginning, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. I’m not sure why when Death Cab and My Morning Jacket gets the comparisons of trying to be more like Radiohead, it’s a bad thing, yet people blast Coldplay for doing it. Both U2 and Radiohead are extremely important bands, and I don’t see any fault with emulating them. Besides, just ask who U2 and Radiohead were trying to sound like when they started? Every band starts wanting to sound a little like someone else: Bob Dylan wanted to be Woody Guthrie, Elvis wanted to be a bluesman, as did Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones. U2 wanted to be Joy Division. I don’t see why Coldplay gets nailed for this part of their music.
• Martin still has an extremely affecting voice, which he uses to great effect on this album. Whatever the lyrics are, they always sound earnest and sincere, and you know he means them, which is what makes a great singer.

Best parts of Viva

• The song, “Viva la Vida” has to be one of the catchiest string-driven songs since The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony.” I’m not sure why it wasn’t their lead single, but since each Coldplay album seems to spit out about three or four singles, I’m sure this one will be one of them. If it’s not, whoever is in charge of that should be fired.
• The fact that they don’t put their lyrics in the book is something that would normally drive me crazy, because when I first listen to an album, I like to shut myself off with just the music and the words. Unfortunately, I can’t do that with Coldplay, but – whether this is intentional or not – it makes the listener pay closer attention to the words to catch them all, which makes the listening experience a longer and better one for it.
• Using Brian Eno and Markus Dravs (producers for U2 and The Arcade Fire, respectively) allowed Coldplay to take all the new directions that they did on the album. Sometimes you have to change things up, but that’s not always a bad thing.

So, we return to the question, how is the album? Is it their best yet, as some are saying? I don’t know for sure, but an album that encourages listeners to examine it to get the full effect, and a band that changes things up when they could stick with the formula, certainly earns its merits to me.