Reviewed: Coldplay's 'Violet Hill'
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The new Coldplay single, and the first from forthcoming longplayer Viva la Vida and Death or All His Friends (details), isn’t as far a departure from the band’s trademark sound as the album’s title would have you believe. From the sounds of ‘Violet Hill’ this isn’t going to be the album where Coldplay look down from atop their piles of dough, go into a headspin and start rapping in non-sequiturs about the Congo or filling their bodies with silicone and junk.
Brian Eno is here just in case, though, and the song drifts in on one of the trademark, Blade Runner drones colouring things like Ambient 1: Music for Airports, (think the start of ‘2/1’). Any fears that Coldplay have the balls to follow this path are waylaid when the plod happens and Chris Martin sleepwalks into a vocal that recalls Oasis track ‘Don’t Go Away’ as much as anything else.
The song trots into life with five strikes of a crashing piano – as arch now as they were slowed down in Bowie’s ‘We Are the Dead’, which is strange given that Eno wasn’t around for that and most of ‘Violet Hill’ is as earnestly heroic as you’d expect from Coldplay, (“I wanna be a soldier who a captain on some sinking ship would stow far below/if you love me, won’t you let me know?”).
The fact that it sounds heroic at all probably points to a return to Rush of Blood…-era musings, which somehow seemed darker-eyed and more manly than the frailties felt on last album X&Y. Taking that into account, along with the album’s art and title, it’s tempting to assume that Coldplay hear Viva la Vida… as a marker of resurgence – as a vengeful comeback of sorts. That’s all well and good, but to these ears ‘Violet Hill’ suffers just like the rest of Coldplay’s work – Martin’s desire to be a martyr is let down by the lack of a tangible cause and as such his band’s new single sounds too suffocated and self-absorbed. 5/10
DiScuss: what do you make of 'Violet Hill'? Find it here, if that's the sort of thing you're into.
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Coldplay
slightly
generous, isn't it? This is really boring.
Shite
thats it
And this again proves...
...that Coldplay and U2 are largely incomparable.
Coldplay frustrate me so much...
In that I genuinely think they actually could do something really interesting and spectacular if they broke out of their comfort zones. And they always seem to promise to do it but always shy away from actually doing so...
We were talking about over there <
I think it is pretty good. Not earth crashingly amazing, but quite calculated. I admit that the plodding nature of the song is pretty derivative, but also it sounds quite good for it. I prefer the Rush of Blood era Coldplay to any other "era" so this sounds quite good.
The lyrics are better than the "Fix You" shite on the last album, the guitar work is quite evocative and the brooding doom that the song permeates is a good pointer to the album.
Not ground breaking, not rubbish, so 5 is okay. I'd give it 6, but I am a sucker for singer pronouncing December as DessemBur.
sounds like elbow
with its pockets picked and holes in its jumper.....something garvey and co. have left crumpled by the base of a bin somewhere.
god..just listening again..it really is awful. apologies to elbow for metioning in same breath
those early EPs are actually quite good
Bigger Stronger - Excellent
at first listen maybe 5/10
but its a growing on me fast, prob 7/10 ,can't wait for the new album
Jokes.
I still like it. 6/10
That line
"I wanna be a soldier who a captain on some sinking ship would stow far below"
is pretty wretched no?
It just sounds like
Everything Oasis have done in the last decade, doesn't it?
same old
same old
same old
No, no, no...
It's far too orignial to sound like everything Oasis have done in the last decade. But in saying that, it doesn't really speak volumes about Oasis' output in the last decade (which has been risable, no matter how big a fan U R!)
Try to imagine
Noel singing it. Easy, no? The melody is pure Oasis, and the lyric about 'a carnival of idiots on show' is exactly the sort of thing Noel would write.
That really does sound like
an "daring" oasis tune.
I don;'t mind some of Coldplays song but this is shite.
worst place to be stowed on a sinking ship
if he had thought it through he would have asked the captain to stow him on top of the mast. Naive
S'pose Ur right,
It is Oasisyish, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good thing (unless pre-'97.)
Anyways, gonna go re-watch the video of Prince coverin' Radiohead... true genii.
6.5/10
I like Coldplay...WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME! But then I think We Are The Dead is amongst Bowie's best=10/10...but yeah anyway...
I'd always found Coldplay's soft rock rather great up to Rush of Blood...but I'm more and more sympathizing with the haters...and this slightly above average song adds to that.
Totally get oasis relation people have mentioned here...
...it really does, especially first half.
It does exactly what a coldplay single should do. and I Like It.
My first thought -
His lisp is really pronounced on this.
have to agree with certain posters above
if modern oasis ever called eno....
yaaaaaawn
and well whaddya know. no "spanish influence" to be seen. what a goddamn surprise.
It's really boring
I agree with the person up there that said that coldplay frustrated them.
because i could imagine them one day maybe doing something really brilliant. but this certainly isn't it..
'parachutes' was lovely though.
i like it
yeahh i think its good, new direction but same old roots, its a winner.
Wow,
even the site you download it off is patronising and pretentious.
Parachutes is amazing.
Great Debut album.
Problem with all of this is..
..that even if Coldplay produced the greatest music in the history of the world, there'd still be people who'd dislike them out of principle, 'cause it's not cool to like Coldplay, is it folks?
maybe, just maybe
its not cool to like coldplay for a reason?
Not much
danger of your theory being tested anytime soon though eh?
gritty
^^ that's how someone described this song on livejournal
I almost died laughing
i think this song is actually quite good
could definitely do without the guitar solo (or with a slightly more free guitar solo) but on the whole i found it quite mesmeric. And the piano coda where the voice holds the rhythm and the piano steps in and out - pretty cool
i'm no Coldplay fan btw
It's a solid tune...
but not exactly a single!
The guitar solo isn't exactly mesmerising either, even though Chris declared it to be genius or something on Radio One.
Dull/boring/yawn
Comfort zone->[Coldplay]<-Comfort zone
The thing is, what would truly inspire Chris Martin at this point?
I mean, even Iraq isn't that exciting/current/fashionable to be angry about any more.
Starving children?
Ditto.
Oh well.
Is that a Flight Of The Conchords quote
in the last sentence?
Wallpaper
God this is so boring each album since Parachutes has been a steady decline. Free download does not entice me at all! For everyone that likes it I am very pleased for you!
Hype hype hype.......
5/10 is about right
I like some elements, like the ending. I akin it to an ill fitting jumper me gran knitted me for xmas. It's also dare a say a little contrived in the lyrical/vocal department....
I've got soul but I'm not a soldier
Fuck off Coldplay, and take the Killers with you.
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