Monday, 09 June 2008
..... but is it any good?
It starts like an old twelve inch record. Back in the days when a 12” record was something important, something huge, the biggest slab of vinyl they ever made, in fact. More specifically, the old-fashioned 12”” record was that rarest of things - and something I still treasure - where every element of a song is extended to create a minimalist exercise in repetition. In fact, it starts exactly like New Order’s “Round & Round” 12” - a rising and swelling collection of intricate, spiralling arpeggios, perfectly presented whilst a underlaid backing grows and unfolds to become a full formed song aided by a wordless, joyous melody line that’s designed to please stadium rock fans the world over : this is “Life In Technicolor”. Sonically -in terms of production and in terms of song writing - this album, the fiercely inventive fourth instalment and their first since truly coming to terms with Conquering The World, manages mostly to eschew the lazy temptation to write the Big Empty Song as pioneered by U2.
In fact, if anything, “Viva La Vida”s nearest relative is U2’s “Unforgettable Fire”, which was recorded at the cusp of immense stardom, and shares a similar, otherworldy cotton-wool production, being both amongst the far reaches of experimentation that particular band ever produced, with a unique, alien sound, and also still being unafraid of writing huge songs designed to be sung in stadiums. Track 4, “42” (hopefully inspired by Douglas Adams), seems to enscapulate the whole album in microcosm, with an ethereal introduction, a slice of Radiohead style stattering guitars and lolloping rhythms, and a heavy dose of initially-meaningful lyrical drivel that’s catchier than herpes. You thought might be a ghost/ you didn’t make ito heaven but you made it close, Chris Martin sings, that recalls the wonderment of Bono before fame and a guarded withdrawl made him almost inhuman. Nonetheless, this and other songs don‘t really sound like anyone else ever : “Reign of Love” (and “Lovers In Japan”) touch upon, and are oddly evocative of the time in the mid 80’s when the New Romantic popstars went weird, did albums about the Russian Revolution, and lost most of their fans. Thankfully, unlike two decades ago, Coldplay mask this desire to Go Weird by also spot welding these songs bizarre bent to a seamless integration with memorable and beautiful tuneage, last seen on any great release in 1986 with Talk Talk‘s fabulous “The Color Of Spring”.
To a strange extent, this album also reflects the old fashioned album sequencing - at the exact terminator point of the middle of the album, the traditional ‘Side B’ marker, the album takes a sideways step into a slightly jarring, new world, with a half spoken vocal and a Corrs-esque fiddle line. Unfortunately, when held up against the songs namesake (“Yes” by The Manics),it shows clearly that Coldplay aren’t really anywhere near as good as The Manics. Good, yes, close, but no cigar. Again, following the traditional fluster of Track 2, Side 2 - the point in a record where most bands start to load the album with filler - is “Chinese Sleep Chant”, about as accessable as its title, an initially underwhelming riff becomes repeated into a semi-My Bloody Valentine cacophony that covers the indiscernible vocals and makes the album a triumph of suggestion.
Is “Viva La Vida” any good? In short, yes, absolutely. It’s probably the best and most cohesive Coldplay album yet, and might actually be the best album they ever make. The band manage to get past the paralysing analysis of fame and the neurosis of self-image, lose themselves in music, in hypnotic guitars, under-stated, half-heard, “Mumur”esque vocals, that allow an inventive listener to create in their head a record even better than already is. The title track “Viva la Vida” is, to all intents and purposes, Coldplay covering the Pet Shop Boys “Home And Dry”. That, and “Violet Hill”, are the only two songs on the album that clearly evoke the previous, Big Vision of Coldplay and sound like they could have been written years ago. Everything else on the album is moving forward, a direct lineage from then to the future, and “Viva La Vida” is a brave step made by a band with no apparent regard for fame. Nor is it the type of album made by people who indulge their tastes as they have too much money and want to jettison fame as soon as they can. Yes, I’m looking at you, Relaxed Muscle/Jarvis Cocker. “Viva la Vida” makes me jealous, not least because I’m older than anyone in the band (then again, I’m seven years older than Kurt Cobain ever was), and I’d like to make a record this good. Nonetheless, it’s a great album that manages to be both creatively and commercially independent and successful. The business has not infected the band, their vision, their wonder or their music, and for this - if nothing else - Coldplay can be commended for making a intriguing album that will clearly beat the test of time.Only registered users can write comments.
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