Huh, I don’t really know how to start this one. So everybody here knows who Coldplay is, right? Fairly big alt-pop band with arena-sized choruses, love, Fair Trade, falsettos…got Brian Eno to come in and produce their latest? Cool. So I can get right into it and say that Viva La Vida is the most accomplished album of their career. I mean that in pretty much every way: every song has its own color, the runtime is perfect, and the band has never sounded tighter or more inspired. It’s also the closest they’ve come to making a complete statement, rather than just stringing a bunch of romantic, isolated and vaguely political songs together and calling it an album. What is that statement you ask? Well, look at the title. Martin christened the first song of the band’s debut with the chorus “We live in a beautiful world.” Viva La Vida is his way of opening up that world and exposing its beauty. Yeah there’s death, yeah there’s heartache, yeah there’re…despots and lynch mobs…but all of this pales in comparison to the vibrancy of life itself. Is that a bunch of flowery bullshit? Well, that’s for you to decide. I’m willing to suspend disbelief for forty-five minutes.
Tag: u2
-
The New Music Revue: “Viva La Vida”…Coldplay…Ole!!!
-
Danity Kane, Flo-Rida, YAWNNNNN: New Music Releases 3/18/08
Maybe I’m getting old, maybe I’m slowly growing out of touch with popular music nowadays.What does it mean when I’m completely disinterested in the two potentially biggest-selling releases of the week?For those of you that care, “Making The Band” favorites Danity Kane release their second album, “Welcome To The Dollhouse” today. Their debut album entered the charts at #1 and sold a million copies, so there’s a lot riding on this release, as my buddy GG mentioned a couple of blog entries ago.The other release of note comes from T-Pain protege Flo-Rida, whose debut single “Low” reigned on top of Billboard’s pop charts for an amazing 9 weeks. “Mail On Sunday”‘s follow-up single “Elevator” (which features the typically omnipresent Timbaland) has made it into the Top 15 in just a couple of short weeks.Daniel Lanois is much better known as a producer than an artist, but to give you an idea of the kind of clout this man has, the guests on his new album, “Here Is What Is”, include: U2, Willie Nelson, Sinead O’ Connor and Aaron Neville. Quality stuff.Other releases of reasonable note include: a new album from underground rap favorite Lyrics Born, a set from LOX rapper Sheek Louch, indie favorites The Kills and dance gurus Groove Armada.Yeah. I’m excited too!!Get a complete list of this week’s releases here: -
New Releases: 11-20-07
It’s official, folks. The last major release Tuesday of 2007 has passed us by. This week contains mostly a weird mix of re-issues and compilations. However, with the exception of December’s Mary J. Blige release, expect to see Alicia Keys and Josh Groban at the top of the charts for the forseeable future.Among the new releases today: the debut from Jordin Sparks, who won 2007’s “American Idol” and has no pre-release buzz to speak of. Her album is supposed to work a fun, urban teenage vibe, I guess somewhere between Rihanna and Vanessa Hudgens? Also in stores, you get the first album in four years from Philadelphia rap artist Freeway. He better hope his Jay-Z connection pays dividends, because four years is a LONG time to be gone in the fickle hip-hop industry. The other only release of note is the debut from OneRepublic, the band that plays behind Timbaland on his current hit single “Apologize”. Yeah, we know, you’re excited too.On the re-issue tip, there’s a little more to speak of. If you, like me, have jumped on the Amy Winehouse train this year, her debut album “Frank”, is being issued for the first time in the U.S. This album has more of a lounge-y, neo-soul vibe (I know since I picked it up as an import nearly a year ago), but you can tell it’s Amy as soon as you listen to the lyrics. Speaking of rehab, Keith Urban issues his first “Greatest Hits” collection today.The guys from Fall Out Boy repackage their platinum album “Infinity On High” today with a DVD, and turning over to far more legenday albums, there are new versions of U2’s “The Joshua Tree” (celebrating it’s 20th anniversary) and Time magazine’s best album of the millennium, Bob Marley & The Wailers’ “Exodus”, which is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary.…And that’s pretty much it!!Check out a full list of this week’s releases here:
