Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends
is the fourth studio album by English
alternative rock band
Coldplay, released 11 June 2008 on
Parlophone. The album was named after a Spanish
phrase that translates in English as "long live life". Recording
sessions for the album took place during June 2007 to April 2008
and featured production by
Jon Hopkins,
Rik Simpson,
Markus Dravs and
Brian Eno.
Viva la Vida was released to critical and commercial
success. Five singles have been released in promotion of the album;
"
Violet Hill" and "
Viva la Vida" in May 2008, "
Lovers in Japan" and "
Lost!" in November 2008, and "
Strawberry Swing" in September 2009. "Viva
la Vida" became the band's first song to reach number one in both
the United States and the United Kingdom. "
Strawberry Swing" became the fifth single
from the album and was released on 14 September 2009. The album
received generally positive reviews from music critics, based on an
aggregate score of 72% from
Metacritic.
It won
Best Rock
Album at the
2009 Grammy
Awards and was the best selling album of 2008.
Viva la
Vida was re-released on 25 November 2008 in a deluxe edition
containing the original album and the
Prospekt's March EP.
As of October 2009, the album has sold over 9 million copies
worldwide, and has become the most paid-for downloaded album of all
time.
Background
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.
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.
Recording
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. 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".
Additionally, Martin would be making a vocal transition from his
trademark
falsetto to a lower
register.
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,
such as Barcelona
. 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 "Cemeteries of London".
On 18 July 2009, two early demos from the
Viva la Vida
recording sessions leaked onto the Internet: the previously unheard
"Bloodless Revolution" and a very early version of
Viva la
Vida single "Lovers in Japan". A day later another demo,
called "St. Stephen" appeared online. On July 20, 2009 six more
demos were leaked: "The Fall of Man", "The Man Who Swears", "The
Man Who Swears II", "First Steps", "Loveless" and "Goodbye and
Goodnight".
Release and promotion
Alternate cover inside,
Prospekt's
March included
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". 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 featured in an advertisement for Apple
's iTunes with 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.
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!".
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. 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. 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.
Reception
Commercial performance
The album was successful around the world. In its first week of
release it debuted at number one in 36 countries. 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. In its second
week it sold another 198,000, achieving a platinum certification.
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. The album debuted with
sales of 41,041 copies in Australia and has since been certified 4x
platinum.
In the United States, it sold 316,000 copies in its first day, and
720,000 in its first week of release, nearly equalling
X&Y's first week sales of 737,000.
Viva la
Vida has been certified double platinum by the
Recording Industry
Association of America for a shipment of over two million
copies.
Viva la Vida has become the most paid-for
downloaded album of all time, with over
702,000 downloads. 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. As of 8 July 2009, the
album has sold 2,509,536 copies in the United States, according to
SoundScan.
It was the best selling album of 2008, and as of September 2009 the
album has sold over 8.1 million copies worldwide becoming the most
paid-for downloaded album of all time.
Critical response
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." Chris Willman of
Entertainment Weekly magazine gave
the album an A- calls it "their fourth and best album." 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.
Equally, however, there's a genuine conviction about its contents, a huge advance both on its predecessor and their legion of imitators." 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." 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".
The album won the Grammy Award for
Best Rock Album at the
2009 Grammy Awards. 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). Despite all the positive support, NME nominated the album for
Worst Album at the 2009
NME Awards,
despite having given the album 8/10 in their review.
Viva la
Vida was named the number seven album of 2008 by
Rolling
Stone. Also despite giving the album three stars in
The Times, 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.
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. The band has
denied the allegation.
Track listing
All tracks written by
Guy Berryman,
Jonny Buckland,
Will Champion, and
Chris Martin except where stated. Tracks 5, 6,
and 10 contain two separate songs each; the latter two are hidden
and not listed on the album sleeve.
Personnel
- Jason Lader – assistant engineer, engineer
- John O'Mahoney – mixing
- Jonny Buckland – performer
- Jon Hopkins – colouring,
producer
- Markus Dravs – mixing, producer
- Michael Brauer – mixing
- Michael Trepagnier – assistant engineer, engineer
- Olga Fitzroy – assistant engineer, engineer
- Phil Harvey –
performer
- Rik Simpson – mixing, producer
- Tappin Gofton – art direction, design
- Vanessa Parr – assistant engineer, engineer
- Will Champion – performer
- William Paden Hensley – assistant engineer, engineer
Chart history
- Album
| Chart |
Peak
position |
Certification |
Sales/shipments |
| Argentine Albums Chart |
1 |
2x platinum |
40,000 |
| Australian Albums Chart |
1 |
4x platinum |
280,000 |
| Austrian Albums Chart |
1 |
2x platinum |
40,000 |
| Belgian Flanders Albums Chart |
1 |
3x platinum |
90,000 |
| Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart |
1 |
| Brazilian Albums Chart |
1 |
Gold |
30,000 |
| Canadian Albums Chart |
1 |
5x platinum |
400,000 |
| Czech Republic Albums Chart |
2 |
|
|
| Danish Albums Chart |
1 |
Platinum |
30,000 |
| Dutch Albums Chart |
1 |
Platinum |
60,000 |
| Estonian Albums Chart |
1 |
|
|
| European Albums Chart |
1 |
3x platinum |
3,000,000 |
| Finnish Albums Chart |
1 |
Platinum |
20,000 |
| French Albums Chart |
1 |
3x platinum |
600,000 |
| German Albums Chart |
1 |
2x Platinum |
450,000 |
| Greek Albums Chart |
1 |
Platinum |
15,000 |
| Hungarian Albums Chart |
4 |
|
|
| Irish Albums Chart |
1 |
4x platinum |
60,000 |
| Italian Albums Chart |
1 |
4x platinum |
300,000+ |
| Japanese Albums Chart |
3 |
Platinum |
300,000 |
| Mexican Albums Chart |
2 |
Gold |
50,000 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart |
1 |
2x platinum |
30,000 |
| Norwegian Albums Chart |
1 |
|
|
| Polish Albums Chart |
2 |
Platinum |
20,000 |
| Portuguese Albums Chart |
1 |
2x platinum |
40,000 |
| Spanish Albums Chart |
1 |
2x platinum |
160,000 |
| Swedish Albums Chart |
1 |
Platinum |
40,000 |
| Swiss Albums Chart |
1 |
Platinum |
30,000 |
| UK Albums Chart |
1 |
4x platinum |
1,300,000 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 |
1 |
2x platinum |
2,600,000 |
|
- Chart procession and succession
Release history
| Country |
Date |
Label |
Format |
Catalog number |
| Japan |
11 June 2008 |
EMI Music Japan |
CD |
TOCP-66805 / 49880 068632 5 5 |
| United Kingdom |
12 June 2008 |
Parlophone |
CD |
5 099921 211409 |
| LP |
- |
| Brazil |
12 June 2008 |
EMI |
CD |
|
| Europe |
13 June 2008 |
Capitol |
CD |
|
| Australia and New Zealand |
14 June 2008 |
EMI |
CD |
2169640 |
| Worldwide(Unless specified otherwise) |
16 June 2008 |
EMI |
CD |
|
| Canada |
17 June 2008 |
Capitol |
CD |
509992 26126 0 1 |
| United States |
CD |
50999 2 16886 0 7 |
| LP |
50999 2 16965 1 0 |
|
References
- Viva la Vida (2008): Reviews.
Metacritic.
Retrieved on 2009-07-17.
- http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/top50-2008.pdf
- http://www.coldplayzone.it/_articolo.asp?id=2656
- Coldplay Perform Live On The Daily Show: 42
& Lost!
- Viva La Vida scales global chart heights. Retrieved
11 July 2008
- Coldplay album breaks through 500,000 UK sales in
10 days Music
Week. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
-
http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2009Albums.htm
- {{cite
web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/2008-us-music-purchases-exceed/story.aspx?guid={6335B083-3284-461F-A0C7-C018F0997DBA}&dist=msr_3|title=2008
U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.5 Billion; Growth in Overall Music
Purchases Exceeds
10%|accessdate=2009-01-01|date=2008-12-31|publisher=MarketWatch}}
- http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2008.shtml
- Amazon Music: Best of 2008
- Drowned in Sound's 50 albums of 2008 / In Depth // Drowned
In Sound
- " The 50 Best Albums". Q Magazine (January 2009). p. 87.
Retrieved on 29 January 2009.
- The 50 Best Albums of 2008 : Rolling Stone
- The 40 Best Albums of 2008 | Spin Magazine Online
-
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12072008/entertainment/music/best_of_2008_142978.htm?page=0
-
http://www.nme.com/news/shockwaves-nme-awards-2008-big-gig/42311
- http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=242, retrieved 10
December 2008.
- Argentinian Albums Chart
- CAPIF
- Australian Albums Chart
- ARIA
- Austrian
Albums Chart
- IFPI Austria
- Belgian Flanders Albums Chart
- IFPI Belgium
- Belgian Wallonia Albums Chart
- ABPD
- Canadian Albums Chart
- CRIA
- Czech Albums Chart
- Danish Albums
Chart
- IFPI Denmark
- Dutch Albums Chart
- NVPI
- Estonian Albums Chart
- European Albums Chart
- IFPI
- Finnish Albums Chart
- IFPI Finland
- French Albums Chart
- SNEP
- German Albums Chart
- IFPI Germany
- Greek
Albums Chart
- IFPI Greece
- Hungarian Albums Chart
- Irish
Albums Chart
- IRMA
- Italian Albums Chart
- FIMI
- Japanese Albums Chart
- RIAJ
- Mexican Albums Chart
- AMPROFON Mexico
- New Zealand Albums Chart
- RIANZ
- Norwegian Albums Chart
- Polish Albums Chart
- [1]
- Portuguese Albums Chart
- AFP
- Spanish Albums Chart
- PROMUSICAE
- Swedish Albums Chart
- IFPI Sweden
- Swiss Albums Chart
- IFPI Switzerland
- UK Albums Chart
- BPI
- Billboard 200
- RIAA
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