Music : Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends (Gatefold Digipack)

Rating: - Great album but not quite as good as X&Y

Great album, but is missing the polish of X&Y. The additional, untitled "double" tracks disturb the fluidy of the listen imo.
Viva la Vida is the standout track, I also particularly like Lovers In Japan.
After listening for a week I took X&Y off the shelf and played objectively - it's still the band at their peak (with the exception of the sickly Fix You - which thank goodness the new album doesn't repeat!)

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Rating: - Oops, I did it again.
Is it me or is this another slice of doomladen depressing rock from Messrs Martin and Co?

I do it everytime, I buy their next album thinking to myself that it wont' be as awful as the last one and it always is! When will I ever learn?

I remember seeing them on that NME tour thing years ago - I'd actually gone to see one of my favourite bands, Shack. At that time I thought they were OK.

Coldplay are now in the same league as U2 and Oasis; regardless of what they release, it'll sell by the bucketload and be lauded in the press as being brilliant.

It's a shame that while the wonderful Shack dance with obscurity, Coldplay dance with mediocrity and get the winners plaque from Brucie.

Avoid.

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Rating: - Big Singles but not a classic album
I quite liked the two singles I've heard, the itunes song and Violet Hill, but I'm not sure the rest of the album are of the same standard. The sound of it is patchy, possibly because of the different methods of production on different tracks. Lyrically Chris Martin has tried harder but as I'm sure he knows he'll never be a Bob Dylan. X and Y was overhyped and people realise that it's not classic now, same goes for this one. Coldplay's best albums are still the first two.

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Rating: - Awesome!
This cd is an awesome addition to any music collection. It's surprisingly upbeat and uplifting for a Coldplay album. I defy you to get Strawberry Swing out of your head after listening to it.

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Rating: - "Doesn't do what it says on the tin"
I am a pro musician and have listened to this album a lot, both from a musician's and a punter's perspective. I have been a massive Coldplay fan ever since their arrival on the scene, where they have carved a niche for themselves by writing consistantly brilliant yet simplistic songs to the ear, with wonderful melodies, beautiful instrumentation and mass appeal.

That is until now.....I am all for experimentation and a different direction.....but when you are a band of this magnitude there is fine line between wanting to do something different and losing your way. It can be done.....just listen to U2's "Achtung Baby"........they re-invented themselves with a fresh sound, but it still contained brilliant songs. And that is where the problem lies. Apart from a couple of great moments, namely "viva la vida" and "lovers in japan" the rest of the songs on this album are of no consequence whatsoever. "Violet Hill" is like an Oasis track...and Coldplay are far more musically intelligent than Oasis....why, and how they came up with this is beyond me. Come on Chris.....you can do better than this. "42" sounds like 3 different groups...Coldplay, Radiohead and then The Jam. The third section of this song just doesn't sound like coldplay at all. Wierd. I know what they were trying to do....A "Paranoid Android" or a Coldplay "Bohemian Rhapsody". Unfortunately it just doesnt work. I could go on and remark on every song, but in a nutshell it seems to me that the fantastic hooks and melodies that have become coldplay's trademark have all but disappeared, now replaced by lazy obvious melody lines, layer upon layer of instrumentation, and a little too much self indulgence. Where are THE SONGS man? I heard a producer once being interviewed and he said a great song should be able to be stripped to its bare essentials, either acoustic guitar or piano, and still stand up on its own. These collection of songs however, just dont pass that test. I apologise to people who have given 5 stars........but stop kidding yourself and use your ears........

Other reviews have commented on the poor production, and I have to agree with them. I played this CD through a 6K PA rig and it sounded awful. Muffled, no stereo picture or clarity, instrumentation too loud, vocals too quiet. It was so bad I thought there was something wrong with the PA, so I put a Jamiroquai CD on. No.....there was nothing wrong with the PA, Mr Kay and his merry band of funksters sounded brilliant. I put on the Foo Fighters.....that sounded great too. I was stunned that such a great producer such as Eno could have mixed it so badly.......I think he must have had Van Gogh's ear for music when he did it.

Due to poor sound sound quality and lack of content I have only given this album 2 stars. Yes people will bang on about it being a "concept" album, and yes people will bang on about giving it 100 listens before you get into it, but at the end of the day I have a level of expectation with Coldplay as a "great song" band and this album for me lacks songs and left me feeling a bit cheated.

The last time I felt this disappointed musically was when I bought "Sam's Town" by the Killers....and "Viva la Vida" has left a similar ringing in my ears. I go into WHSmiths to buy a magazine or newspaper........not to buy swimwear, and I go to PC world to buy a computer, not to get a cheese sandwich. Viva la Vida is like buying a tin of Cuprinol, only to open it up and find jam inside.