Saturday, January 17, 2009

PROSPEKT'S MARCH-Coldplay

Prospekt's March-
Coldplay
Label-Capitol
Status-Out as of 2008
Rating-1 Feather

After releasing the very critically acclaimed Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, and after Chris Martin deemed Coldplay ‘the best band in the world’, they decided to bank on their success and release Prospekt’s March, which is a collection of songs that didn’t make it onto the album. Starting off with ‘Life in Technicolour ii’, it is generally not that different from the album version. Either way, instrumental or with words, it’s a very good song. It is pretty cool to hear it how it was originally concieved. ‘Postcards from Faraway’ is decent filler. It’s just a 40 second piano interlude that’s similar to ‘Reign of Love’ from Viva La Vida, which is kind of nice. ‘Glass of Water’ starts out a little too clean, and then the chorus seems all over the place. It, like many of the songs on the EP, can obviously be seen why this wasn’t on the album. ‘Rainy Day’ is a little too overdone. It sounds like they absolutely adored Sim2 music and used that influence to write a song for a gap commercial, if you know what I mean. The bassline alone is enough to get the jazz/zydeco feel. ‘Prospekt’s March/Poppyfields’ is nicely quiet, but the ‘build-up’ is way too sappy. For all I care he keeps saying ‘drums, here it comes’, but, shocker, they never come. ‘Lost+’ is a general mistake. Lost in itself is a pretty good song on it’s own, but when Jay Z comes in, it’s just downright atrocious. He starts with a few ‘uhs’, ‘yeahs’, and ‘I got yous’, and then when he actually gets around to doing his part, it’s not even that good, seen by rambling rhymes that really aren’t clever. ‘Lovers In Japan [Osaka Sun Mix]’ is a really great song, but I can’t really tell the difference between this and the album version. The only noticeable difference is that it doesn’t have ‘Reign of Love’ after it. ‘Now My Feet Won’t Touch The Ground’ is not the worst song, it’s just pretty boring. It’s a folksy guitar, set to very not folksy vocals. It’s just a bit of a bore. If you’re a Coldplay fan, and just didn’t want Viva La Vida to end, the day has come; Coldplay has heard your plea. For the rest of us, this simply was your chance to hear the songs that didn’t make it (rightfully so). If you’re like me, you would agree that they were right the first time.
“We've been playing it live better than it is on the record. So the live version has informed this Osaka Sun version, which is just a bit more lively.”-Chris Martin


Lover's In Japan [Osaka Sun Mix]

Recommendation-Life in Technicolour ii
Coldplay's Official Website
Note: I can safely say I don't understand why this got great ratings, I clearly don't agree with most reviewers on this. I did really really like Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, but this was just a mistake. Bon Apetit!

3 comments:

dianasfaria.com said...

I love your honesty DH. & I'm tired of mediocrity milking "whatever" for all its worth. It's not that Coldplay is mediocre in general, but DH, you have a valid point.Come on Coldplay, your fans deserve better!

Ian France said...

Another awesome review! I can tell how much fun you must be having writing scathing, merciless reviews, and though I haven't gotten a chance to listen to it yet, but I have heard Life In Technicolour and it IS pretty good. I like how Coldplay plays better live, that shows that they really love what they're doing.

Double Hawk said...

Lily: I mean, these were clearly B-sides, B-sides that it was blantantly obvious why they weren't on the album. Other reviews were a little too nice.

Arnie: Viva La Vida was a very good album, but this was a general mistake. Life in Tecnicolour ii is a very good song, and they are pretty good live!