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It's apparent from the very first track of their newest offering that this ain't gonna be your typical Coldplay album. What
this track also tells you is how heavily Brian Eno's signature sound will permeate through the LP. At this point, Eno has
been credited for producing some of rock's greatest offerings from some of its greatest bands, including U2's legendary The
Joshua Tree and Talking Heads insanely creative Remain In Light. Now it's Coldplay's turn for a bit of the Eno touch. So of
course he has pushed the band towards the idea of new instrumentation and sound. Up until this album, Chris Martin had rarely
felt safe wandering too far away from his harmless piano playing and empathetic, soprano vocals. However, here the band often
generates a more raw sound, with tracks such as "Lost!" and "Violet Hill" sharing a crunchy, forceful
tone. Of course, there is still plenty of room for more lighthearted affairs, such as the delightfully catchy "Strawberry
Swing" and the swirling epic "Lovers In Japan/Reign of Love". However, the band has taken noticeable step towards
a completely new mentality towards the final product that they want to deliver. The band aims high and as ambitious as ever
to try to create something that they hope will completely make the listener spellbound in sonic glory from start to finish.
There really aren't any bad tracks on this album, only a couple that fail to deliver the full aural blowout that the band
is hoping to maintain ("Cemetaries of London", "Yes"). However, in the end, this is certainly Coldplay's
greatest offering to date, and shows that even the most universally successful bands in the world is still willing to take
risks with their music, which is always reassuring.
Key Tracks:
42
Violet Hill
Death and All His Friends
Final Verdict: 9.0
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