I just got the new Colplay album yesterday and it is awesome. This is my review.
The CD starts with a two and half minute instrumental starting with the hum of a keyboard and then building in an incredibly catchy acoustic guitar riff and then adding in other instruments as it moves along. I really love this piece. It's a great way to start the album as it just makes makes you feel really great. If anything I was slightly dissapointed at the end of the song as I felt it could have easily have flowed into a full song with lyrics but a great start never the less.
Cemeteries of London is the first full song on the album and I absolutely love it. Lyrically in this song Chris Martin uses a trip through a London cemetery to explore issus such as death, the afterlife and religion. Martin was brought up in a Christian home but now says that although he is sure there is a God of some sort he doesn't know who it is and this search for spiritual answers comes through in this song. Musically the song uses claps really cleverly to keep a fast and interesting tempo.
The next track is Lost and perhaps one of the best songs on the album. It has a strong drumbeat augmented once again with claps. This great piece of percussion keeps the song going really nicely. Other than the drums the song has church organs playing all the way through with clever use of guitars as well but as i said before its the clever use of percussion which is the star of the song. Martins lyrics are good here but not his best. And I cringe everytime I hear the line "Just because I'm hurting doesn't mean I'm hurt".
42 is so mournfully beautiful and starts out with Colplay's signature sound of Martin and his piano. This is very welcome after the musical blockbusters preceding it. The lyrics her in the first half of the track are beautiful and really show off the bands talent for finding catchy melodies. Halfway through the track changes, the drums and guitar kick in and move into a fantastic instrumental which ends with an incredibly uplifting vocal hhok from Chris Martin at the end. I love this track so much.
The next track is actually two tracks mixed into one. Lovers in Japan is the first of these and I find myself conflicted over it. The music is great, its banjo hook is extremely catchy and will having you swaying happily afterlistening. However I don't really like the vocal melody, i think it ruins the song and seems a bit messy.
Reign of the Love is the second part of this double track and is really nice quiet track. It's never going to set your world on fire but then again I don't think its supposed to. It uses piano, keyboards and acoustic guitar and is smooth and calm which is great change of pace after the fast and loud Lovers in Japan. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful, its simply about love andlike everything else in the song they are unpretentious. If Parachutes is your favourite Colplay album you'll love this track because It really pays tribute to that early sound.
I'm not sure how I feel about Yes. For one thing Chris Martin's vocal performance is very low. He ditches his falsetto totally for this track and while I think its sounds quite good to change from that for a bit it sounds quite jarring. Musically I am again mixed. It has some great strings in it but I'm not too sure whether I like the Indian sounds in there. Still even with these small flaws I still really like the track, I'd say its the weakest of the bunch but then again the bunch is incredibly good.
The next track is Viva La Vida. Anyone who saw the MTV movie awards knows what a great track this is but
I will go over it anyway. This is the big anthem of the album and is now among my favourite ever Colplay songs. Musically its nearly all strings which again shows how they have progressed as a band and how they are really looking to offer something new and fresh. Lyrically its very cool. Exploring revolution and religion it is written as if it were the thoughts of Charles X of france after being deposed by the second French Revolution.
Violter Hill takes the quality up even more. It's thumping beat and heavy use of guitar carries on the musical change started way back on Rush of Blood to the Head but was dropped for X+Y. I love the fact that they have taken this kind of sound further here. They haven't lost what makes them Colplay though. The track includes a great vocal performance from Chris Martin.
Strawberry Swing is my favourite track on the album. it's just so happy and great. I canteel already that this og is going to be the song that defines my summer. Its the kind of thing you put on when your sitting in the garden with friends on hot day with a glass of lemonade. It's just such a great, feel good love song. Musically it uses two intertwing guitar riffs with a steady drum beat which makes you sway. I just love it. Can't really say anymore than that.
Death and His Freinds is the song that closes out the album and is very similar in style to 42 earlier on the album. It starts very quietly and slow with just Marti and his piano and then builds as it moves on into a fantastic instrumental and finally ending in a truly class refrain from Chris Martin.
"No I don't want to battle from beginning to end,
I don't want a cycle of recycled revenge,
no I don't want to follow death and all of his freinds"
The track then slides back into the instrumental from the beginning of the album and ends with a short refrain-
And in the end
"We lie awake, and we dream of making our
escape"
A truly fantastic album.
Topic: Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (Read 848 times)