Viva La Vida

No time to write details ... it's just a fabulously infections, well-written, well-played, and great sounding CD. the title track is the best song of this century thus far.

just as the title states another good album by cold play. I am always excited when they come out with another album because I love to hear what new direction they were willing to try.

The title track from Viva La Vida is a catchy, main-stream performance that is easy to listen to. All of the other tracks seem to be an attempt by Chris Martin & the gang to be different, or for their music to "evolve". Simply put, it is just hard to listen to, and has little of the layered construction that all of their previous albums displayed. So, like the Scissor Sisters, when the next Coldplay offering comes out I will preview it before making a purchase.

Every so often a band comes along that breaks new ground and spreads life messages with unfaltering confidence and high artistic vision, and, once making it big, never sacrifices its artistic integrity. The first of these was the Beatles in the 1960s. U2 rose up in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Radiohead rose and was set to become the next of these bands. But when their fourth album, 2000's "Kid A," broke too much ground for mainstream listeners to handle, those listeners twirled around to face Coldplay, a fresh-out-of-college English band that had just released their debut, "Parachutes." Since then, music fans have been heralding Coldplay as the next big thing, the band that could rise up and lead the music world like Radiohead and U2 have been doing.

But they've been like that brilliant student who never quite applies his or herself to the schoolwork, the student who is trying to do his or her best but just can't. Their debut was good, their sophomore effort, "A Rush of Blood to the Head," was excellent (ranking on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the 500 greatest albums in history), and their third album, 2005's "X&Y," was very good, though not a whole lot more than the band trying to sound like U2 (lead Chris Martin's biggest influence). The band needed a teacher. For their fourth album, they hired Brian Eno as producer - the most brilliant move they could ever have made. Eno produced the most brilliant and groundbreaking albums of David Bowie, Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and, yes, U2. He's just what the band needed.

So now we have Coldplay's fourth album, "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends." As promised, it's the beginning of a new era for the band. Whether that era is one to be cheered or ignored is up in the air. While some will appreciate the band's more complex, refined, and much more inspired style, evident on songs like the ethereal "Cemeteries of London" or the soul-grabbing title anthem, "Viva La Vida," others will lament the fact that, on those same songs, Martin sounds like he's dying not to make Coldplay go down in history via originality but to go down in history via playing U2's similar-looking cousin. The fact of the matter is that Martin looks nothing like Bono - he's not even Irish. That's where Eno comes in. If Martin has asked him to dress them like Bono, Eno has smiled and said, "Alright, I'll do it," and done it just enough to convince Martin that it's been done. In fact, though, Eno has added some stylistic flare to separate Coldplay from their idols.

Those less-tolerant listeners may find "Viva La Vida" a cold listen, though the quality of Eno's warm production is undeniable. But for those who are willing to try to understand Martin's U2-bound aspirations, there's a lot to "Viva La Vida," particularly in beautiful pieces like the instrumental opener, "Life in Technicolor," the sensational and rock-sturdy "Lost!" (the group's own "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"), the forementioned title track, or the mind-bending psychedelic "Chinese Sleep Chant." Coldplay still isn't in the same league as Radiohead or U2 -- they're too afraid of upsetting anyone -- and, heck, they may never be in that league, but regardless, "Viva La Vida" is an excellent album. More importantly, it's a softly-cooed lover's whisper of wonderful things to come.

bought this for my wife.. made her really happy and in turn makes me happy so it gets a 5 star.... i personally don't care for it.... thinking perhaps it must be chic music =)