Reviews
Ranked #09 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "The songs burned with the audible passion of a great band getting back on track.", 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "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....The band's triumph lies in how exciting they make that prospect seem.", "The album feels emboldened at almost every turn. Jonny Buckland's guitars howl insistently; Martin has discovered sub-falsetto vocal registers; and a stark, recurring string section lends an edge." -- Grade: A-, Ranked #14 in Clash's "The 40 Best Albums of 2008" -- "Here, visions were broadened, sonic landscapes lavishly crafted, themes of death and loss permeated...", Ranked #7 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "An album that's massively expansive yet intimate enough to incite lighter-waving from London to Tokyo.", 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The album has all the hallmarks of daring artistic independence....Songs fade in and out through washes of somber electronics...", 4 Stars Out of 5 -- "An Emphatic Success -- Radical in Its Own Measured Way but Easy to Embrace.", 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "With stadium-scale melodies and singalong choruses....The experimentation makes this their most musically interesting album to date...", "Coldplay have stretched their limits, reaching to capture the zeitgeist, and in doing so have made the album the universe has been waiting for....We get Coldplay with the windows thrown open. Album of the year? Most probably."
