 Coldplay expands their musical horizons, establishes a new concept in their songs, and presents their best work. COLDPLAY - VIVA LA VIDA OR DEATH AND ALL HIS FRIENDS (2008) After three studio albums, Coldplay seems to have found the right path: inspired by the French Revolution, the band expanded their musical horizons, established a new concept in their songs, and presented their best work: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, released on June 16, 2008. The addition of producer Brian Eno (who worked alongside Jon Hopkins, Rik Simpson, and Markus Dravs, the other producers) was crucial for this advancement, pushing the group toward new discoveries and extracting as much creativity as possible from each member, especially Chris Martin, who aimed for an album under 42 minutes (after long months of recording, the work ended up being nearly 46 minutes). The famous album cover is a painting from 1830 called "Liberty Leading the People," an artistic work by Eugène Delacroix. Immersed in their characterization and addressing themes like wars, revolution, love, and death, Coldplay opens their new direction with an instrumental track: "Life in Technicolor," with a smooth, growing introduction until the strange arrival of strings accompanied by a banjo, like a warm-up before the theater curtains open to something increasingly intriguing with the arrival of a quick chorus in ever-heavier instrumentation until the piece begins to be performed. "Cemeteries of London" is this first act on stage, curiously set under gray, lifeless clouds, as the cemetery tombstones reveal the names of those who have gone while the poetic verses come to life with the arrival of the mini-chorus: "Singing la la la la, hey..." but the lights of the funereal afternoon fade: "And there's no light over London today...," the verse concludes, as a brief somber piano cues the closing of the curtains. With a danceable rhythm and the support of audience claps, "Lost!" emerges to make its mark with its reference to tribal music: "Just because I'm losing doesn't mean I'm lost...," it warns, under its catchy beat that soon gains notoriety with the entry of the guitar solo and the chorus led by Chris Martin in one of his highest notes without falsetto. It's the cue for the piano to take the spotlight in "42" (Martin's favorite number), revealing a poetic truth to the listener: "Those who are dead are not dead, they're just living in my mind..." he cites in the first verse, with a sanity that is noted by an intriguing vocal tone. The gentle accompaniment soon appears for the second verse until the sigh of "Oh, oh, oh..." allows the radical transformation of the song with the band fully present. The vocal tone now gains power, as does the guitar solo, shaking the scene, leaving its throne for Martin to cite the first verse again, with the same intonation as before. An act that needs to be seen at least three times to be understood.
Then "Lovers in Japan" emerges like an enchantment of life’s battle heroes with its energetic instrumentation, giving hope of liberation to all those who struggle daily, seeking to wake up in a new tomorrow. "One day the sun will come out...," it believes, while the world continues to spin incessantly; "Reign of Love" rebirths from this belief, being a hidden track revealing the realm of love without the interference of the inglorious. Its instrumentation led by the sweet piano makes it the purest and most beautiful moment of the album, a welcome surprise on the path to deliverance from melancholy. "Yes" follows with an introduction not so stimulating but gains beautiful contours with Martin's deep verses, who vents: "I'm tired of this loneliness...," a song that pleases and displeases in equal measure. And just like in "Lovers in Japan," a hidden track appears out of nowhere: "Chinese Sleep Chant," a homemade glow with not-so-bright lights flickering in a dark hall, with its sinners living under the effect of the vague memory of a guilt-free life. An exotic hallucinogenic journey that even surpasses "Yes." But it does not surpass the echo of reality knocking on the door and waking everyone from the fantasy, for "Viva la Vida" emerges next to make itself known, uniquely building its path to splendor, being the best song on the album and probably by the band: the striking and precise repetition of the violin, the flaming verses, the pulsing drum, and the chorus sound like a splendid battle on the fields of bitterness, lifting the weight off the listener’s shoulders and echoing the (musical) revolution as the chorus ("Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh...") equally shares the challenges of each individual. Facing karma, missionaries and revolutionaries ride towards the final link, while Martin reminisces: "I used to rule the world...," until he understands: "My castle stood upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand...," he notes, kneeling, seeking divine surrender. With the strength of "Violet Hill," Martin sings the first verse under a hammered piano, recalling a long and dark December, until the band asserts its fury with everyone's triumphant entry, bringing with it the protest against war, the strongest moment of the album during its causing process. Already free from savagery, with a pleasant background piano, Martin asks: "If you love me, won't you let me know?" From the high summit, strong and united like a true group, it sounds like a rhetorical question. No answer is needed. Already out of the battlefields, "Strawberry Swing" emerges as a love story: its introduction with gentle guitar plucking and rhythm inspired by traditional African music makes the listener smile at the song's certain naivety, revealing itself as sweet and heroic at the same time, for managing to extract feelings of transparency even in troubled times. It is the substantial preparation for "Death and All His Friends" to march to one last fight: with inspired piano, Martin insists on repeating: "So come over, just be patient and don't worry...," preparing his platoon for the more than notable impact with the arrival of instrumentation under a precise rhythm in an atypical meter, claiming its rightful place, until Buckland's guitar solo guides the procession to its climax, while Martin sings excitedly and determinedly, putting an end to the long and hard journey: "No, I don't want to battle from beginning to end... I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge... I don't want to follow death and all of his friends...," he says wisely, as the curtains close for the arrival of "The Escapist," another hidden track, this time to conclude the final act with its angelic instrumentation, ending the journey while inviting the listener to experience it all again in a time loop, connecting with the introduction of the first track, something fundamental for the album to be better absorbed. ★★★★½ (out of 5 stars) Coldplay Reviews: Parachutes (2000), A Rush of Blood to the Head (2002), X&Y (2005), Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008), Mylo Xyloto (2011), Ghost Stories (2014), A Head Full of Dreams (2015), Kaleidoscope EP (2017), Everyday Life (2019), Music of the Spheres (2021), and Moon Music (2024). |
