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	17 June 2008
Recorded	June 2007 – April 2008
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	45:53 73:18 (Prospekt's March edition)
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Markus Dravs, Brian Eno, Jon Hopkins and Rik Simpson
Professional reviews
Allmusic link BBC Music (positive) link Entertainment Weekly (A–) link The Guardian link NME (8/10) link Pitchfork Media (6.9/10) 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) Prospekt's March (2008)
Alternate cover
Prospekt's March edition
Singles from Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
"Violet Hill" Released: 29 April 2008 "Viva la Vida" Released: 7 May 2008 "Lost!" Released: 10 November 2008 "Lovers in Japan" Released: 4 November 2008 (US/Canadian radio) December 2008 (Worldwide)

Coldplay at the Viva la Vida Tour

Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends is the fourth studio album by English alternative rock band Coldplay, released in June 2008. Coldplay released four singles from the record: "Violet Hill" and "Viva la Vida" in May 2008 and "Lovers in Japan" and "Lost!" in November 2008. "Viva la Vida" is the band's first song to reach number one in the United States and the United Kingdom.

The album was released to critical and commercial success. It won Best Rock Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards and was the best selling album of 2008.^[1]

[edit] Background and recording

In October 2006, two weeks after bassist Guy Berryman welcomed his first daughter (which makes him the third Coldplay member to have a child), reports circulated on the Internet that the band was taking a five-year hiatus. The new baby, and the fact that Coldplay had no touring or recording schedule at the time, had fans wondering if the band's new album would not be released until 2010. Dispelling such reports, Ambrosia Heal, spokesperson to Capitol Records, sent an e-mail message to MTV that there was no self-imposed hiatus. However, Healy clarified that Coldplay was indeed "enjoying a much-deserved break", and there was no timetable for the follow-up to the band's third studio album, X&Y.^[2]

In December 2006, Billboard magazine reported that Coldplay's next album was scheduled for release in late 2007. The band subsequently denied this through their official website, which also announced a new South 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 onto the Internet.

In January 2007, during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Front Row, musician and English record producer Brian Eno revealed that he would be producing the album.^[4] 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".^[5] Additionally, Martin would be making a vocal transition from his trademark falsetto to a lower register.^[6] Later, in July, Coldplay revealed that the album was shaping up with Hispanic influences after having recorded in churches and in Spanish-speaking countries such as in Mexico in America and Spain in Europe,^[7] such as Barcelona.^[3] 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, while Coldplay announced two more songs, "Lovers in Japan" and "Strawberry Swing", they denied that the album was called "Prospekt".

Martin revealed he had been reading many Charles Dickens novels during the recording process which may have contributed to the strong visual imagery on such tracks as "Violet Hill" and "Cemetries of London".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Release and promotion

In a Rolling Stone magazine interview, vocalist Chris Martin announced the album's release date and its title, Viva la Vida, which is a Spanish phrase that translates into English as "long live life".^[8] It takes its name from a painting by Frida Kahlo, an acclaimed 20th century Mexican artist. The album cover art is an 1830 painting by Eugène Delacroix entitled Liberty Leading the People. On 10 April 2008, a new journal entry appeared on the band's website 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 release date of 5 May. In May 2008, Coldplay made an advertisement for Apple's iTunes that featured the song "Viva la Vida".

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

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.^[9] 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. Seventy-three dates were announced for their current world tour with shows in North America, Europe and Asia. The tour now consists of over 100 shows and will continue until September 2009. 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.

On 25 June 2008, the band became the third band ever to perform on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, performing "42" and "Lost!".^[10] On 27 June at 7:00 am EDT, Coldplay began a Today Show, outdoor, live performance on the streets outside of Rockefeller Plaza, New York.^[11] The band performed on The Late Show with David Letterman on 30 June and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on 17 July.

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.^[12] The album was re-released on 25 November 2008 in a deluxe edition, titled Viva la Vida - Prospekt's March Edition. It contains tracks off the original album and Prospekt's March.^[13] The album was also released on vinyl record approximately a week after its CD release.

[edit] Reception

Viva la Vida has received generally 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."^[14] Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly magazine gave the album an A- calls it "their fourth and best album."^[15] While Alexis Petridis of 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. ^[16] Equally, however, there's a genuine conviction about its contents, a huge advance both on its predecessor and their legion of imitators."^[17] Will Hermes of Rolling Stone magazine 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."^[18] Spin magazine's critic Mikael Wood 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".^[19]

The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards.^[20] It appeared in several year end publications including New York Post (#1) Rolling Stone (#7), Q (#3), Spin (#9), Entertainment Weekly (#6), and Billboard (#6).^{[21][22][23][24][25][26]}.^[27]Despite all the positive support, NME nominated the album for Worst Album at the 2009 NME Awards,^[28] despite having given the album 8/10 in their review. Viva la Vida was named the number seven album of 2008 by Rolling Stone.^[29][30] Also despite giving the album three stars in The Times,^[31] Pete Paphides admitted in December 2008 that he was wrong to give it this score and had in fact become his favourite album of the year.^[32]

Rock guitarist Joe Satriani accused Coldplay of copyright infringement in a lawsuit filed in a Los Angeles federal court on 4 December 2008. Satriani claims that the title track, "Viva la Vida", incorporates "substantial original portions" of an instrumental piece he released in 2004 called "If I Could Fly". Satriani is seeking damages and "any and all profits" from the alleged copyright infringement.^[33] The band has denied the allegation.^[34]

[edit] Charting and sales

The album was successful around the world. In its first week of release it debuted at number one in 36 countries.^[35] In the United Kingdom, the album sold 125,000 copies in its first day of release and 302,074 in three days, debuting at number one.^[36] In its second week it sold another 198,000, achieving a platinum certification.^[37] The album sold over 500,000 copies in 10 days since its release, beating the first week UK sales of Coldplay's third album, X&Y.^[38] The album debuted with sales of 41,041 copies in Australia^[39] and has since been certified double platinum.^[40]

In the United States, it sold 316,000 copies in its first day, and 720,000 in its first week of release,^[41] nearly equalling X&Y's first week sales of 737,000.^[42] Viva la Vida has been certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for a shipment of over two million copies.^[43] Viva la Vida has become the most paid-for downloaded album of all time, with over 702,000 downloads.^[44][45][46] By the end of the 2008, Viva la Vida had sold total of 2,144,000 copies, making it the second top-selling album in the United States.^[47][48]

It was the best selling album of 2008, and has now sold 7,868,400 million copies worldwide.^[49]

[edit] Track listing

All tracks written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin except where stated.^[50][51] Tracks 5, 6, and 10 contain two separate songs each; the latter two are hidden and not listed on the album sleeve.^[52]

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Charts

[edit] Release history

[edit] References