• Share

There can never be complete agreement of music, even among fans of the same artists. Rolling Stone gave Coldplay’s fourth album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, a 3.5 star rating out of five, but on the same page, there were several varying comments ranging from, “A Masterpiece … the work of a genius.” to “the musical equivalent of the bit of tasteless salad that some restaurants put on the side of the plate that has no relevance to the rest of the food.” Harsh. There were also a lot of comments involving the resemblance to U2, which makes sense because they have the same producer (Brian Eno). Frankly, I don’t care who they resemble, the music is all I can judge. Sadly, my overall impression of the album was disappointing, though there were a few points that I love.

One of the reasons I like Coldplay is the voice of the lead singer, Chris Martin. The fact that the album opened with an almost entirely instrumental piece, “Life in Technicolor”, was a huge detriment to my opinion of the album. This album was considered an experiment. There are new forms of instrumentation that weren’t present in previous albums, and while they make the songs interesting, it wasn’t necessarily a positive aspect. Others enjoy the “original” addition of some sort of Arabian violin and the hint of Japanese music in some songs like “Strawberry Swing”, but I like to hear the expected pop sounds: the newly traditional drums and steady guitar. Nevertheless, “Strawberry Swing” and “Violet Hill” were among my favorites of the album.

The strongest song of the album is definitely ”Viva la Vida”; it is uplifting, carried by a string of violins (pun intended). This song is popular, sadly (to some) not because it is an original experiment, but because it conforms to the standard expectation of Coldplay. Simple chords, simple (yet brilliant) chorus, easy to learn, and easy to love, just like all of Coldplay’s biggest hits. It’s okay for Coldplay to try some experimentation, but as of now, I’ve decided to stick with their better classics.