In and Out :: Coldplay's "Violet Hill" Track Review

The new Coldplay cut, "Violet Hill" dropped a few mornings ago and the reaction was fast and tepid. Most people didn't hate it but Perez Hilton claimed immediate, undying love, an endorsement that may do more harm than good. Though no one was willing to say X&Y sucked three years ago, it seems most positive reviews include phrases like "returning to form" and "the band at its best." At the very least, it implies that this is more "Clocks" and less "Speed of Sound." At the very least, now we can all speak openly about the completely underwhelming X&Y. If nothing else this new Coldplay song and album have offered us peace of mind regarding their last disaster.

Everyone else is right; "Violet Hill" isn't terrible. It has the same plodding piano chord progressions that Chris Martin probably writes while eating vegan porkchops and watching Deal or No Deal. The sound is big and wet and maybe even a little desperate. As Martin intones in the chorus, "if you love me/won't you let me know?" It's an appeal and suggestion all in one. Sound a little like a band who burned some bridges on the last record? Later, Martin wistfully allegorizes with "I don't want to be a solider/or the captain of some sinking ship." Basically, Chris Martin won't be a solider in someone else's army but, he's not going to be in charge of an unsuccessful operation either. Neither citizen nor dictator, Martin has become the leader of an untenable democracy.

Input isn't everything and not all opinions matter. After letting his guitarist experiment his way into destroying his last album, Martin and Coldplay are back to trying to be U2. That's something they can all agree on. But what kind of leader calls his band a "sinking ship?" That doesn't sound like Bono and The Edge. That doesn't even sound like Allen Iverson and Larry Brown. That ain't a triumphant return and it it ain't a Phoenix from the flames. It's a self-handicapping prelude to a solo record.

Coldplay took this thing as far the formula goes. Attempts to expand or redefine the parameters of the band failed. Chris Martin still fancies himself a poet and it all adds up to the simple fact: when you hear Coldplay's new album Viva La Vida in June, it will be their last. Period.