Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 418
 Dross June 24, 2008
Robert J. Howal (Nowhere USA)
13 out of 31 found this review helpful
The silly, pretentious, and utterly pointless name of the album had me worried. And for good reason. But that is not to say it is not aptly titled. For what lies inside is just as silly (Strawberry Swing), pretentious (Lost!), and pointless (everything else). Eno layered so much retreaded junk onto this record that it could be almost anybody or nobody submerged in this pseudo world-music mess. If Coldplay is actually in this dreck somewhere the only song that gives any indication of it is Violet Hill (earns the one star) which only stands out because of the spoilers it finds itself keeping such uneasy company with. Three great albums is more than most bands can muster so we can be grateful for Coldplay's very enjoyable back catalog. But even now the used bins are filling quickly and mightily with this consummate clanger.
Huge disappointment... June 26, 2008
Y. Xie (Saint Louis, MO USA)
13 out of 35 found this review helpful
Pre-ordered this one with great expectation. But it turned out to be such a huge disappointment like a third-grade, street rockers' works. Loud, clueless, and souless.
The usual self-obsessed, whiny derivative mush July 18, 2008
David Ljunggren (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)
13 out of 28 found this review helpful
Even by Coldplay's standards, this is a bad album. I can see why they released the song Viva la Vida first because it's the only one that's half decent, even though it sounds like something from slick Norwegian popsters A-ha. Other riffs could have come from U2 and OMD and if they thought they were being clever by starting the album with the same tune that finishes off the last track, let me remind you -- Pink Floyd did that on The Wall. The idea isn't original and neither is anything else on this shallow work.
 Mesmerizing Concept C.D. for Hungry Ears and Minds June 18, 2008
Rocky Raccoon (Boise, ID)
12 out of 15 found this review helpful
Coldplay's music comes off like it's another sequel soundtrack of Arthur C. Clarke's `2001: A Space Odyssey'. Mesmerizing, the echo effect of Chris Martin's guitar is second-cousin twice removed from U2's The Edge with lead singer Jonny Buckland's voice sounding like a homely, but likable, version of Bono. Far be it from me to complain or make a claim of plagiarism; they remain sustaining with their songs, much like The Cure did in their day.
Their new release `Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends' is a concept album, one that encapsulates the dichotomies of the broader subjects of life with clever--if not contradictory--phrasing to match the mysteries they try to reflect. While the quality is consistent for the entire album, there are no songs as great as "Clocks" or "Green Eyes," yet the album is greater than the sum of its parts.
Featuring some sublime and substantive piano work and some exotic and excellent violin, there's enough variety to make this work a must have for fans and newcomers alike.
The subject matter is twofold, often like the structure of their songs--just like the C.D. title. Most of the tracks are really two songs fused together, segues if you will, like the Beatles did on `Sgt. Pepper' and `Abbey Road,' except they do it within a song instead of between songs (reminiscent of Kelly Clarkson's "Irvine," off of 'My December,' which is really two songs, except she did it with a break). Like `...Pepper,' they even reprise the first song at the end. "Life [is indeed] in Technicolor".
Musically, they change notes and tempos to reflect the theme. The best songs in the middle do this, including "Lost!" (the folly of winning and losing); "Lovers in Japan" and "Yes," (yearning, 'Lust/Caution' and attainment); (The first part of "Lovers..." sounds like U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name;" the second part like something off of 'October'.) "Viva La Vida" (those who reign on heaven and earth, "St. Peter won't call my name/...When I ruled the world.") and "The Violent Hill," (the secular and spiritual realms, "...Long and dark December/When the banks became cathedrals.")
Exceptions include "42," which may be in four parts--I keep losing count--and invokes the memory of the dead, reconciling the divide between the living and the departed. "Strawberry Swing" is a country fusion and properly remains one solid song. The lyrics celebrate the wonders and pleasures of life, and, call me all wet, but I believe recently deceased Swedish director, Ingmar Bergman, is invoked here. After all, Bergman revered the fruit, and depicted it in exuberant community partaking in `The Seventh Seal' and `Wild Strawberries'. Similarly, "Cemeteries of London," is celestial, and while the words are elusive to me so far, it is one of the best tracks on the C.D.
I love this album despite its alleged flaws. I am hypnotized by its reverberating rhythms, and get lost in its everyman lyrics. "Lost!" is an encouraging reminder that winning is tentative and limiting; not everyone can win at once after all. If the nearly subliminal wisdom doesn't get you, then some of the last lines will: "No, I don't want battlefronts from beginning to end./No, I don't want to recycle revenge."
What better way to travel through life than with in your car with this Coldplay C.D.? It provides food for thought, but, ah, what exquisite food for the ears and mind.
Weak! But a nice Christmas gift for Mom! July 2, 2008
Henry Chinaski (Los Angeles, CA United States)
11 out of 31 found this review helpful
Man...
These guys keep making weaker and weaker music.
This new album sounds like an uplifting Christian rock compilation.
I hereby declare Coldplay the new Air Supply.
Weak, boring, and not as catchy as previous efforts.
But your mom might like it.
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