Viva La Vida or Death to His Friends (Capitol): B+
Few bands make seismic stylistic shifts. Most merely tinker. That’s fine. Rock ’n’ roll about-faces seldom succeed (does anyone prefer Eric Clapton’s singing “Change the World” with Babyface to his Cream days?)
On Coldplay’s fourth, purportedly experimental album, the tinkering is everywhere, thanks in large part to producer Brian Eno (U2, Talking Heads). But it rarely interferes with Coldplay’s established, super-popular, non-threatening style. The Chris Martin-led Brit quartet may use different tools to find those patented vast, somber crescendos, while still hitting upon them in nearly every song.
The band’s least-uniform release, “Viva la Vida” is already being labeled Coldplay’s most Radiohead-lite effort yet, which is neither fair nor true. From a marketing standpoint, Coldplay’s scheme modifies Thom Yorke and company’s pay-what-you-want “In Rainbows” scheme. Coldplay began by giving away first single “Violet Hill.” Now the band is streaming the album for free on iheartmusic.com in advance of a huge payday when it arrives in stores on Tuesday: “Viva la Vida” has already set a record for pre-order sales on iTunes.
Artistically, the Radiohead homages are infrequent and well-placed. But by and large the band pilfers more from unexpected sources than obvious ones. The violins in “Yes” pinch first from the Beatles’ “Fool on the Hill,” then from Eastern European melodies. The piano in “Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love” hints at “Lady Madonna” before taking a neo-classical, Chopin-does-Britpop route.
It’s all very cool and different and, yes, experimental. But if you’re a Coldplay hater, nothing here will turn you around: Martin’s watermarked voice recalls “Yellow” with every whine. Devotees, on the other hand, will expand their sonic pallets; “Viva la Vida” is your gateway drug to “The Bends.” But if you need reassurance that you haven’t lost the Coldplay you’ve loved since “Parachutes,” download the song “Viva La Vida.”
