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After the visit of Coldplay at Dublin’s Croke Park on 29 & 30 August 2024, let’s have a look at the album Viva la Vida, which marked an immense transformation for the band in 2008. The British band Coldplay, formed by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion and Chris Martin, is one of the most successful pop-rock bands of the 21st century. Starting with their soft pop of their debut album Parachutes, moving onto melancholic pop with A Rush of Blood to The Head, and then onto a moodier pop-rock style with X&Y, Coldplay pushed their sound into foreign territory with Viva la Vida Produced by Brian Eno, this LP departed from their straightforward anthems, surrounded by guitar-driven melodies, to full orchestral arrangements and experimental ornamentations. Songs are also dedicated to politics and society, among others, departing as well from their usual love songs.
Starting with ‘Life in Technicolor’, the track seems to bring a colourful ambience to begin the album with, as if we have been listening to songs in black and white and now is when colours seem to first appear. The use of syncopated and upbeat rhythms are very common in the album, together with the combination of different genres within the same song, like it happens in ‘42’, a song that commences with a sad Christ Martin singing with the piano, which soon after shifts into an uplifting pop-rock tune.
Obviously, the title track ‘Viva la Vida’ is the album’s centrepiece and arguably one of Coldplay’s most iconic songs. The track can be easily distinguished by its striking strings and the anthemic melodies, giving it a somewhat ‘epic’ feeling. Other songs compile exotic elements that have not previously been used by the band, perhaps influenced by traditional music from Asia. In particular, songs such as ‘Life in Technicolor’, ‘Yes’ and ‘Lovers in Japan’ include either instruments or chordal progressions that relate to a high level with Asian musical culture.
The airy ‘Strawberry Swing’ comes after the rock-infused ‘Violet Hill’, which ends with the ecstatic ‘Death and All His Friends’, including at the end of it the hidden track of ‘Life in Technicolour’, as if one were to start listening to the album in full again. Intended or not to be listened on a loop, as much as I consider this album one of Coldplay’s masterpieces, I reckon it is their last where quality is taken over quantity. After the release of this album, it seems that Coldplay may have declined progressively in the complexity of their songs, seeming redundant and even feeling as replicas of each other. It does not mean they are not enjoyable, but when it comes to the quality and innovation of their songwriting, I believe this album was the beginning of the end.
It has been 30 years since the release of Oasis debut album Definitely Maybe, and as a celebration of the abrupt reunion of the Gallagher brothers, a World Tour has been announced, starting on September 2025. Alongside the big news, this debut album’s reissue will be available on 30 August 2024, and it will include new remastered tracks, with odd recordings and demos from the era. So until we get a chance to see Oasis in Dublin on 16 […]