WITH the track Viva La Vida jumping straight to the top of my ‘most played’ songs on my iPod despite downloading it just a few short weeks ago, you can imagine my excitement when a copy of Coldplay’s new album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends landed on my desk last week.
I have to admit that when Coldplay first hit the airwaves with Yellow back in 2000, I thought the song was terrible. So terrible, in fact, that when the video would come on Channel [V] or MTV, I would quickly change over to save myself the torture.
But, slowly, Coldplay has grown on me. I am not sure when I could finally say I liked Coldplay. I think it was Speed of Sound, from the album X & Y (2005), that finally did it for me. I can now freely admit that I enjoy the occasional listen of Yellow, and count Fix You from X & Y as one of my all-time favourite songs. However, I hate to say that when the band toured to Perth in 2006, I passed up the opportunity to buy tickets – something I truly regret to this day.
So after a three-year wait, the boys from London have finally released a new album. As mentioned earlier, Viva La Vida, released on iTunes, has been on almost permanent rotation on my iPod – the song is a masterpiece and should become an instant classic. Violet Hill, the first single to release to radio, took a few listens to grow on me and after having just a couple of listens to the album, it seems it will do the same. But I love a grower and will always give an album a few listens to let it realise its full potential. But don’t let that put you off buying it – run out now and grab a copy, I can assure you won’t regret it.
Still on the topic of Coldplay, there was some discussion in the media a couple of weeks ago about ‘supergroups’, and whether Coldplay was the last of the big bands in the world. I remember having a conversation with my very music-savvy British uncle a year or two back about this very subject – in fact, the question he posed to me was “who would you say is the biggest band or performer in the world today?”. I gave it some careful thought, and came up with Coldplay, U2 and Robbie Williams. Today, you could probably add Justin Timberlake to that list – but beyond that, I might just have to agree that Coldplay could in fact be one of the last.
A poll on www.undercover.com.au of who readers thought were today’s supergroups came up with the following: Linkin Park, Kanye West, Jack Johnson, The Killers, John Mayer, Alicia Keys, Michael Buble, Norah Jones, James Blunt and My Chemical Romance – none of whom, in my opinion, rate anywhere near the calibre or popularity of those acts mentioned above.
Who do you think are today’s supergroups – and are there any up-and-coming bands who you see some potential in?