Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends

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Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
Studio album by Coldplay
Released	June 11, 2008
Recorded	June 2007 – April 2008
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	45:53
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Markus Dravs, Brian Eno, Rik Simpson, Jon Hopkins
Professional reviews
Allmusic link BBC (Positive) link Entertainment Weekly (A-) link The Guardian link NME (8/10) link Pitchfork Media (6.5/10) link Q link Rolling Stone link Spin link The Times link
Coldplay chronology
X&Y (2005) Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008)
Singles from Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
"Violet Hill" Released: April 29, 2008 "Viva la Vida" Released: May 7, 2008 "Lost!" Released: November 10, 2008 "Lovers in Japan" Released: TBD

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (also simply known as Viva la Vida) is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Coldplay. It was released on 11 June 2008 in Japan,^[1] 12 June 2008 in the United Kingdom and on 17 June 2008 in North America. Coldplay released four singles from the record: "Violet Hill" and "Viva la Vida" in May 2008 and "Lost!" and "Lovers in Japan" in November 2008. "Viva la Vida" was the band's first song to reach number one in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The album has, to date, been the number-one-selling album in 36 countries around the world.^[2] In the United States, it sold 316,000 copies in its first day, and 720,000 in its first week. In the UK, the album sold 125,000 copies in its first day of release and 302,074 in three days, debuting at number one.^[3] The album has since sold over 500,000 copies in 10 days since its release, beating the first week UK sales of Coldplay's previous album, X&Y.^[4] Viva la Vida has become the most paid-for downloaded album of all time.^[5]

In August 2008, Coldplay announced they would be releasing an EP, Prospekt's March, consisting of unreleased material from the Viva la Vida recording sessions.^[6] The album will be re-released on 25 November 2008 in a deluxe edition, titled Viva la Vida - Prospekt's March Edition. It will contain the original album plus the Prospekt's March EP.^[7]

Background and recording

In December 2006, Billboard magazine announced that Coldplay's next album was set for release in late 2007. The band subsequently denied this through their official website, which also announced a new Latin American tour for the beginning of 2007. During this tour, the band began writing new material for their fourth studio album, but no new material was played, due to the band's concerns that their performances would leak on to the Internet.

In January 2007, during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, musician and producer Brian Eno revealed that he would be producing the album.^[9] During recording, Coldplay's website included notes on sessions with Eno and Markus Dravs, stating that the lyrics are "much more abstract, much more visual than before," and that the music is "less straight-forward, more oblique".^[10] Additionally, Martin would be making a vocal transition from his trademark falsetto to a lower register.^[11] Later, in July, Coldplay revealed that the album was shaping up with Hispanic influences after having recorded in churches and other areas in Latin America and Spain,^[12] such as Barcelona.^[8] However, it was stressed that the influence was not in any specific sound but a general feel to the songs taken as a whole. On their website, the band also described taking acoustic guitars and basic recording equipment to churches and experimenting with particular sounds.

Throughout the recording of the album, Coldplay communicated to fans through their website, and in late October 2007, a message on Coldplay.com suggested that two new songs, "Famous Old Painters" and "Glass of Water", had been written and were being considered for the album. While this announcement hinted at further delays, in early December another post suggested that recording was nearly finished, saying that "the creative momentum keeps on gathering". The article was signed 'Prospekt', strengthening rumours that this would be the album's title. In January, Coldplay announced two more songs: "Lovers in Japan" and "Strawberry Swing", and also denied that the album was called 'Prospekt'.

The band have stated that the track "Lost!" resulted from listening to the early Blur track "Sing", as featured on Blur's debut album Leisure, while they were on tour in the United States.^[13]

Release and promotion

Viva la Vida takes its artwork from Eugène Delacroix's 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People.

In a Rolling Stone magazine interview, Chris Martin announced the album's title and its release date. Viva la Vida takes its name from a painting by Frida Kahlo, the acclaimed 20th century Mexican artist.^[14] Although the title name is attributed to Kahlo, the album cover art is actually an 1830 painting by Eugène Delacroix entitled Liberty Leading the People. On 10 April 2008, a new journal entry appeared on Coldplay.com announcing the track list and release date, as well as hinting at new tracks to be issued before the album's release. "Violet Hill" was confirmed as the first single from Viva la Vida, with a video filmed in Sicily, Italy and a release date of 5 May. In May 2008, Coldplay made an advertisement for Apple's iTunes that featured the song "Viva la Vida".

Coldplay.com was updated in late April to reveal the official Viva la Vida artwork as well as a free release of "Violet Hill", which became available for download for one week from 29 April 2008.^[15] Free concert dates were also added at Brixton Academy, London on 16 June 2008 as well as a free show at Madison Square Garden on 23 June, and another in Barcelona. 73 dates were announced for their current world tour with shows in North America, Europe and Asia. More dates are expected to be announced shortly. The album was leaked around 5 June and the band decided to make the album available to stream via their MySpace profile from 8:30 pm WEST on 6 June. The album witnessed the song "Lost!" debut at number 62 and climb to number 55 in the UK (the week ending 28 June) and chart in the US at number 94 (the week ending 5 July), as well as "Life in Technicolor" which charted in Canada without receiving release as well.

On 25 June 2008 the band became the third band ever to perform on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, performing "42", and "Lost!".^[16] On 27 June at 7:00 am EDT, Coldplay began a Today Show, outdoor, live performance (consisting of "Clocks", "Lost!", "Viva la Vida", "Violet Hill", "In My Place", "42", but rehearsals included "Yellow", and "Politik"/"Trouble") on the streets outside of Rockefeller Plaza, New York.^[17] The band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman on 30 June and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 17 July. By the end of June 2008, Viva la Vida had sold more downloads than any album in digital history, surpassing the previous record held by John Mayer's Continuum.^[18] The album was also released on vinyl record approximately a week after its CD release.

The album was highly successful around the world in its first week of release, when it debuted at number one in 36 countries.^[19] In the United Kingdom it sold 302,000 copies in its first week, making it the eighteenth fastest-selling album in UK history.^{[citation needed]} In its second week it sold another 198,000, achieving a platinum certification.^[20] In the United States the album debuted at number one and sold over 720,000 copies in its first week of release,^[21] nearly equalling X&Y's first week sales of 737,000.^[22] The album debuted with sales of 41,041^[23] in Australia and was certified platinum. In Japan it sold almost 40,000 copies in its first week and a further 40,000 in its second week.

The first track on the album, "Life in Technicolor", was used as backing music during the BBC's coverage of the 2008 Bejing Olympics, to summarise the day's events. It is also used during Sky Sports and BBC's coverage of the English Premier League and Apple's first introduction video of the new 2008 Macbook.

Critical reception

Viva la Vida received positive reviews from critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic stated, "They demonstrate a focused concentration throughout this tight album -- it's only 47 minutes yet covers more ground than X&Y and arguably A Rush of Blood to the Head -- that turns Viva la Vida into something quietly satisfying."^[24] Entertainment Weekly gave the album an A- calls it "their fourth and best album."^[25] While The Guardian gave a lukewarm review explaining that "Viva la Vida's mild tinkering with the formula represents a failure of imagination: perhaps it's hard to think outside the box when the box is the size of the Las Vegas MGM Grand Garden Arena. Equally, however, there's a genuine conviction about its contents, a huge advance both on its predecessor and their legion of imitators."^[26] Rolling Stone gave it a somewhat positive review "Coldplay's desire to unite fans around the world with an entertainment they can all relate to is the band's strength, and a worthy goal. But on Viva la Vida, a record that wants to make strong statements, it's also a weakness. Sometimes, to say what needs to be said, you need to risk pissing people off."^[27] Spin gave a positive review stating that "For all of Coldplay’s experimentation, though, there’s no doubting that Viva la Vida, with its sturdy melodies and universal themes -- think love, war and peace -- is an album meant to connect with the masses (arenas have been built for less than the climax of "Death and All His Friends"). The band’s triumph lies in how exciting they make that prospect seem".^[28]

Track listing

All songs written by Berryman/Buckland/Champion/Martin except where stated.^[29][30] Tracks 5, 6, and 10 contain two separate songs each; the latter two are hidden and not listed on the album sleeve.^[31]

1. "Life in Technicolor" (Berryman/Buckland/Champion/Martin/Hopkins) – 2:29
2. "Cemeteries of London" – 3:21
3. "Lost!" – 3:55
4. "42" – 3:57
5. "Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love" – 6:51
   1. "Lovers in Japan"
   2. "Reign of Love"
6. "Yes" – 7:06
   1. "Yes"
   2. "Chinese Sleep Chant"
7. "Viva la Vida" – 4:01
8. "Violet Hill" – 3:42
9. "Strawberry Swing" – 4:09
10. "Death and All His Friends" – 6:18
    1. "Death and All His Friends"
    2. "The Escapist" (Berryman/Buckland/Champion/Martin/Hopkins)

Bonus tracks

11. "Lost?" – 3:39 (Japan and iTunes bonus track)
12. "Lovers in Japan (Acoustic Version)" – 3:54 (iTunes pre-order only)

Personnel

Charts

Release history

References