Albums of the Decade: No.10
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay
“Oh who would ever want to be king?”
Coldplay must be the “band of the decade”, if only because at the start of this decade, they hadn’t even had an album out, and by the end of it, four albums on, they were writing songs about when they used to rule the world. I’ve never understood why Coldplay are so uncool, although I do get the criticism levelled in their direction. But really, what’s wrong with writing stadium rock singalongs? They just took over from Oasis, and appealed to a less macho audience, and who can blame them?
Anyway, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends marked a small progression in the band’s sound, and is my favourite of their albums to date. The songs aren’t all verse-chorus, so musically things aren’t as same-y as previous offerings, even though the lyrics are still disappointingly bland. You feel they could do better, yet whenever I put this album on, I still enjoy it, and that’s why it sneaks into the top ten.
