My Coldplay.com

I liked U2 a lot more back when Bono was the lead singer.

Oh, wait. This is a new CD by Coldplay?
<strong>CD ratings
“Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends,” Coldplay (Capitol) **½</strong>

I’ve learned to keep an open mind about Coldplay. Not that I don’t try to do that with every band, but there are some bands whose discs I can expect will please me (hello, Pearl Jam) and those whose discs I expect will leave me unsatisfied (sorry, Motley Crue fans).
But my reaction to Coldplay has been all over the place. The band’s 2000 debut, “Parachutes,” had a couple of catchy tunes (”Trouble” and “Yellow”), but mostly came across as Radiohead-lite.

So my expectations were low when “A Rush of Blood to the Head” arrived in 2002. While it showed a heavy debt to U2, Radiohead and the Smiths, the result was so compelling that I put the disc on my year-end Top 10 list.

So my expectations were high when “X + Y” came out in 2005. I thought it was ponderous and pretentious, a bad version of a U2 imitation. Looking back, I’m surprised I gave it two stars, considering that I don’t think I’ve listened to it since.

So my expectations were low when “Viva la Vida” hit the stores last month. This time the U2 rip-offs are so blatant it’s almost comical. The album is co-produced by Brian Eno, who’s worked on most of U2’s albums. U2 had a hit with the sappy “Beautiful Day”; on “Strawberry Swing,” Coldplay’s Chris Martin sings that “it’s such a perfect day.” U2 had a song called “40″; Coldplay has one called “42,” which I guess means the band thinks it’s two better.

And yet, when I can get past thinking Bono should be singing this song and that song (or in the case of “42,” Thom Yorke of Radiohead), I have to say the disc sounds pretty good — grandiose, well-polished ear candy. Let’s give the band three stars for execution, but dock it half a star for lack of originality.

http://www.capecodonline.com/