At only midway through the year, it’s still early to christen the best album of 2008.

But few contenders are even in the same homestretch as Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.”

From the French romantic painting by Eugene Delacroix that serves as the album cover (it’s a piece of work from 1830 titled “Liberty Leading The People”) to the majestic title track (its name taken from a Frida Kahlo painting) that is, no argument, the coolest, most soaring song of the year so far, Coldplay has crafted an intense, ambitious piece of work.

While 2005’s “X&Y” was brilliant in its own right – “Fix You” remains a sweeping embrace for the damaged, while hidden track “Til Kingdom Come” is the first indication that the knot of this band is melody, not overproduction – Coldplay’s musical growth here is acute.

By ushering in the taut 10-track set with an instrumental (another melodic study – “Life in Technicolor”), the band wisely keeps listeners eager for the next note, waiting to hear when the fullness of its sound and poetry of its lyrics will kick in.

It doesn’t happen on the second track, the brooding “Cemeteries of London” – and that is intentional, too.

With U2’s favorite producer Brian Eno guiding this project, Coldplay has learned the importance of restraint, of drawing a listener in with an unfolding of sound (i.e., U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name”).

Chris Martin’s piano playing is as appealing as ever in its loveliness – the guy has always had an ear for a tantalizing melody – and the jangly backbone of “Lovers in Japan” is all his.

Martin is also willing to break his vocal habits. Rather than rely on his trademark falsetto, he drops several registers on “Yes” to the point of unrecognizability; the quirky song sounds like a throwaway cut from The Beatles’ “White Album,” with its flurry of violins interrupted by a few askew notes.

But even when Coldplay is experimenting with rhythms and unusual instrumentation, “Viva” boasts the rich textures of a movie score, all lush keyboards and whispering strings, evidenced perfectly on “Violet Hill.”

Most interesting is that none of these songs contain a standard anthemic refrain, yet, as the intoxicating title track proves, the verse-chorus-verse formula isn’t necessary when the other elements of the song (strings, piano, a marching band-style deep tom-tom – and yet no guitar) are so catchy.

Aside from the title cut, the most memorable offering is “Strawberry Swing,” a love song couched in soft syncopation, its dreamlike delivery creating a sonic pillow.

That mellowness and beauty are the hallmarks of the cohesive “Viva,” which finds Coldplay at the peak of its creativity.

Posted by Melissa Ruggieri in • Entertainment • Music
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