Coldplay’s latest album is an overall boring affair. Apart from the fact that you have to choose between the names Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, then suffer through Chris Martin’s unexplainable weepy vocals all the while thinking to yourself how much you’d rather be listening to Radiohead, what is really so disappointing about this album is how amazing it could have been.
Together with Brian Eno who co-produced and is credited with the album’s “sonic landscapes,” the band actually plays very well on this album. Some of the guitar lines on songs such as “Strawberry Swings”, and “Lost” are perfect examples of a solid pop hook, while Eno’s unmistakable touch on the album means that the instruments work together as components of a greater musical machine.
What lets the album down is that it is trying to be more that it can. As the songs fly by you can hear Coldplay trying to imitate acts like Sigur Ros and Radiohead, but a lot of the time it comes out smacking of U2. And while a lot of the riffs are well written, they over-use them and let them drag on too long without variation.
In summary, if you like Coldplay, you’ll probably like this album. It sounds great and the songs are well written if a little boring, but I guess that’s just a matter of taste.
