Asked by MTV's Gideon Yago a few years ago about the many bands that
had ridden elements of the Radiohead sound, Thom Yorke all but dared his
followers to try for a Kid A, the album that tipped the balance between
Radiohead's pop and experimental sides squarely toward the latter. After the
dull placeholding of the 2005 album X&Y;, now would be a good time
for Coldplay to rise to that challenge. But does the band have a Kid A in it? A better question:
Would we really want a Kid A from Coldplay? The band does soaring, soundscape-y
pop well, after all.
Whatever the case, Viva La Vida sounds as if it comes as
close to the experimental edge as Coldplay dares. It isn't a bad place for the
group to be. The distorted guitars of the first single, "Violet Hill," prove to
be an anomaly, but the album finds frontman Chris Martin and the rest of the
band, perhaps egged on by new producer Brian Eno, experimenting with new sounds
and zigzag song structures throughout. The result is an instantly familiar
sound that avoids repeating itself. Martin's heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics won't
win over any doubters, but tracks like the title cut and "Lost!" should keep
the hits coming, and the rest of the album will please fans hoping to hear the
band push its sound a little further. But not, you know, too far.