Fresco Vida for Coldplay

With Coldplay's release of their new album Viva la Vida or Death and All of His Friends marks a fresh start for the band after mixed reviews of their previous album released in this time about 3 years ago. the album is said to be a re-haul of a previous sound and is seeking to change things up a bit. After Radioheads critically acclaimed release of their latest album of innovative sound matched up with equal innovative techniques of distribution and economics, the by product of early 90's british albums (The Bends and Achtung Baby to name a couple) had their share of shoes to fill. The Album starts off with the Lyric Free Jam session "Life in Technicolor" which has lyrics written for the song, but singer Chris Martin felt it out of place, and left it intrumental. I understand the artist's desicion to sacrifice for whole album's aesthetics, but i got into the melody and felt cheated with no words to back up such a good rhythm. then I will pass over "Cemeteries of London" and skip to "Lost!" since that is what i do on my iPod. "Lost!" features strong lyric form with a steady beat kept by clapping and melody formed by either organ or a Rhodes, and while they didnt make the mistake of complicating it with too much sound like done in X and Y, the full strength of the melody gets lost in its own "river"; and I perfer the mellow piano version. Viva la Vida seems to steer away from their more comforatable candy coated metaphors found in past albums and tackle subject matter a bit darker than what they are known to. For example they open the album's title track with, "I used to rule the world /Seas would rise when I gave the word /Now in the morning I sleep alone /Sweep the streets I used to own." the theme of death and loss is formulated throughout, but sung mostly with the soft falsetto of Chris Martin. however he does even break that norm and carries lower tones in the privious song, "Yes", but this isn't as effective as he probably wants it to be - he tembles a bit when he gets lower than he's used to. The Album starts off a little weak with a little strength found in "Lost" but gets better and better toward the end. Violet Hill posseses more of a dirty guitar and vocals that are sung with more gusto and as if Chris really has a story he wants heard. The strongest melody of the album is found in strawberry swing but has the weakest lyrics. while they make you feel happy with talk of sweet fruits and blue skies, but they are quite superficial and hold the amount of substance that a handful of strawberries would. The album continues their upward climb and ends on a dark high note with "Death and All His Friends." While its not the best album that they have put out, Coldplay continues on changing it up and tries to find the sound in which they think that people will enjoy. It seems that they are worried more about the acceptance that they will recieve than having the desire to produce great art. Art should not be carried by acceptance, but out of need to show the public somthing that has been uninquisitivly overlooked. It was unclear to me what exactly Coldplay was trying to say in this album aside from a few war references and whispers regarding the evironment. They need to pipe up a bit, not be afraid to step on some toes and speak out what they feel needs to be loudly spoken, or they themselves might become overlooked.