Coldplay

Coldplay - Violet Hill Viva La Vida [2008년 6월 17일] 1  Life in Technicolor  2:29   2  Cemeteries of London  3:21   3  Lost!  3:55   4  42  3:57   5  Lovers in Japan/Reign of Love  6:51   6  Yes  7:06   7  Viva la Vida  4:01   8  Violet Hill  3:42   9  Strawberry Swing  4:09   10  Death and All His Friends  6:18   Album Review When Coldplay sampled Kraftwerk on their third album, X&Y, it was a signifier for the British band, telegraphing their classicist good taste while signaling how they prefer the eternally hip to the truly adventurous; it was stylish window dressing for soft arena rock. Hiring Brian Eno to produce the bulk of their fourth album, Viva la Vida, is another matter entirely. Eno pushes them, not necessarily to experiment but rather to focus and refine, to not leave their comfort zone but to find some tremulous discomfort within it. In his hands, this most staid of bands looks to shake things up, albeit politely, but such good manners are so inherent to Coldplay's DNA that they remain courteous even when they experiment. With his big-budget production, Eno has a knack for amplifying an artist's personality, as he allows bands to be just as risky as they want to be ? which is quite a lot in the case of U2 and James and even Paul Simon, but not quite so much with Coldplay. And yet this gentle encouragement ? he's almost a kindly uncle giving his nephews permission to rummage through his study ? pays great dividends for Coldplay, as it winds up changing the specifics without altering the core. They wind up with the same self-styled grandiosity; they've just found a more interesting way to get to the same point. Gone are Chris Martin's piano recitals and gone are the washes of meticulously majestic guitar, replaced by orchestrations of sound, sometimes literally consisting of strings but usually a tapestry of synthesizers, percussion, organs, electronics, and guitars that avoid playing riffs. Gone too are simpering schoolboy ballads like "Fix You," and along with them the soaring melodies designed to fill arenas. In fact, there are no insistent hooks to be found anywhere on Viva la Vida, and there are no clear singles in this collection of insinuatingly ingratiating songs. This reliance on elliptical melodies isn't off-putting ? alienation is alien to Coldplay ? and this is where Eno's guidance pays off, as he helps sculpt Viva la Vida to work as a musical whole, where there are long stretches of instrumentals and where onl　　y "Strawberry Swing," with its light, gently infectious melody and insistent rhythmic pulse, breaks from the album's appealingly meditative murk. Whatever iciness there is to the sound of Viva la Vida is warmed by Martin's voice, but the music is by design an heir to the earnest British art rock of '80s Peter Gabriel and U2 ? arty enough to convey sober intelligence without seeming snobby, the kind of album that deserves to take its title from Frida Kahlo and album art from Eugene Delacroix. That Delacroix painting depicts the French Revolution, so it does fit that Martin tones down his relentless self-obsession ? the songs aren't heavy on lyrics and some are shockingly written in character ? which is a development as welcome as the expanded sonic palette. Martin's refined writing topics may be outpaced by the band's guided adventure, but they're both indicative that Coldplay are desperate to not just strive for the title of great band ? a title they seem to believe that they're to the manor born ? but to actually burrow into the explorative work of creating music. And so the greatest thing Coldplay may have learned from Eno is his work ethic, as they demonstrate a focused concentration throughout this tight album ? it's onl　　y 47 minutes yet covers more ground than X&Y and arguably A Rush of Blood to the Head ? that turns Viva la Vida into something quietly satisfying.   [ 참 조 ]   ▒ ▒ ▒  Coldplay - Biography ▒ ▒ ▒     풍부하면서도 심플한 콜드플레이의 기호는 순진하면서도 단정하다. 그렇다고 해서 오아시스 (Oasis)처럼 단번에 가슴을 휘어잡아 버리는 것도, 라디오헤드 (Radiohead)처럼 밀도 있고 치열(?)한 것도 아니다. 더운 여름 어디서인가 난데없이 불어온 바람처럼 신선한 여유. 그것이 콜드플레이에게서 받는 첫 느낌이다. 보컬리스트 크리스 마틴 (Chris Martin), 기타 존 버클랜드 (Jon Buckland), 드럼 윌 챔피언 (Will Champion), 베이스 가이 베리맨 (Guy Berryman) 이상 4명이 콜드플레이의 멤버이다. 이들은 영국 런던에 위치한 대학에서 뭉치게 되었는데 당시가 1998년 봄이었다. 그 해 5월, 밴드는 자체적으로 [Safety]라는 타이틀의 미니 앨범 500장을 발매했고 이를 눈여겨 본 레이블 Firece Panda가 접근하여 이 곳에서 'Brothers and Sisters'라는 싱글이 나오게 된다. 레이블들의 관심은 계속되었는데 콜드플레이는 그 중 Parlophone과 계약을 맺고 베타 밴드 (Beta Band), 도트 앨리슨 (Dot Allison)과의 작업으로 유명한 크리스 앨리슨 (Chris Allison)을 프로듀서로 영입해 미니 앨범 [Blue Room]을 발매했다. 이렇게 밴드는 차근차근 자신들의 커리어를 쌓아왔고 밴드 결성 2년 이상이 지나 정식 데뷔 앨범 [Parachutes]를 내고 그들만의 음악적 목소리를 만들어 가고 있다. 제2의 트래비스 (Travis)란 수식어가 따라 다니는 이들의 사운드는 트래비스, 임브레이스 (Embrace) 등과 같은 류로 분류 가능하지만 그들만의 멜로디 감성과 (물리적인 목소리 자체가 아닌 감성적인 면에서) 제프 버클리 (Jeff Buckley) 혹은 톰 요크를 연상시키는 성숙한 크리스 마틴의 보이스로 위의 선배들과는 좀 다른 느낌을 만들어 나간다. 심플하고 단아한 곡 하나하나 마다 어디로 튈지 모르는 가벼운 긴장감을 주고 있어 곡 듣는 재미 또한 갖게 한다. 이는 아직 어린 나이의 밴드가 갖고 있는 장점인 듯 싶은데 어떠한 고정 타입에 머물지 않고 감정이 이끄는 대로 선배들의 소스를 자유자재로 활용해 자연스럽고 여유롭게 자신들만의 느낌을 찾아가는 모습이다. 한 인터뷰에서 밴드의 프론트 맨 크리스 마틴은 "우리가 큰 성공을 거둘거라 말할 순 없다. 아직 정식으로 드러나지 않은 밴드들 중 우리보다 더 괜찮은 밴드들이 있을 것이다."라는 겸손한 말을 한 바 있다. 그리고 정성을 쏟아 부은 앨범에 대한 평론가들의 생각 없는 글들 때문에 화가 날 때도 있지만 그 때문에 더욱 단호한 생각이 든다고 한다. 그게 아마도 크리스 마틴과 콜드플레이가 갖는 매력일 듯 싶다. 오아시스 형제가 '잘난 척'의 극치를 보여주고 있다면 콜드플레이는 그 반대적인 인상이 짙다. 화려하게 페이지 커버를 장식하기보다는 꾸준하게 주위를 맴돌 것 같은 느낌. 오랜 친구처럼 다정하게 다가와 변함없이 남을 듯한... "락큰롤은 자신이 원하는 것을 하는 것이다. 그것은 마약이나 쾌락주의를 의미하지 않는다. 궁극적으로는 즐거움을 추구하는 것이다. 우리에게 있어 즐거움은 함께 공연을 하고 우리가 사랑하는 곡을 연주하는 것이다." 이것이 크리스가 말하는 락큰롤의 정의이다. 반항적이고 호들갑스러운 어떤 것이 아닌 부모나 친구와 원만한 관계를 이루어 나갈 듯한. 그것이 콜드플레이에 대한 첫 느낌이다. 어떤 곡을 들었을 때 우리는 과거에 그 곡을 들었던 순간과 함께 삶의 어떤 순간들을 떠올리게 된다. 그리고 콜드플레이는 그렇게 기억에 남을 만한 곡을 만들려 하고 있다. [출처: 음악창고, 글/조성진]   After surfacing in 2000 with the breakthrough single "Yellow," Coldplay quickly became one　　 of the biggest bands of the new millennium, honing a mix of introspective Britpop and anthemic rock that landed the British quartet a near-permanent residence on record charts worldwide. The group's emergence was perfectly timed; Radiohead had just released the overly cerebral Kid A, while Oasis had ditched two founding members and embraced psychedelic experimentation on Standing on the Shoulders of Giants. U.K. audiences were hungry for a fresh-faced rock band with big aspirations and an even bigger sound, and Coldplay was more than happy to take the reigns. Parachutes went multi-platinum in several countries and earned the band their first Grammy, but Coldplay continued to grow into the 2000s, topping their debut album's success with higher record sales and an increased public profile. Chris Martin (vocals/piano), Jon Buckland (guitar), Will Champion (drums), and Guy Berryman (bass) were all born into working-class families in which music was encouraged. Martin, the eldest of five, began playing the piano as a young child and later took solace in the work of Tom Waits. Buckland, on the other hand, grew up with the heavy guitar sounds of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Scotland native Berryman preferred funk to indie rock, thereby leaving him to play bass, while the multi-instrumentalist Champion didn't plan to be a drummer until he joined Coldplay's lineup. The bandmates came together in 1996 while attending the University College of London, and the Safety EP was issued shortly after their first gig at a Manchester festival for unsigned bands. The release onl　　y saw 500 pressings, as did the subsequent Brothers & Sisters EP. Nevertheless, it was enough to win the band a U.K. deal with Parlophone in April 1999, and the five-track Blue Room EP arrived that fall. With nods from the media, the foursome was hailed as the next Travis, thanks to their simplistic acoustics and charming personas. Parlophone ushered the band into Parr St. Studios in Liverpool, where they recorded the bulk of their debut album. Parachutes was released in July 2000 and became a swift hit on the strength of four U.K. singles, several of which enjoyed popularity in America as well. With "Yellow" climbing the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, Parachutes was released in the U.S. in November, where its sales soon rivaled ? and eventually surpassed ? those in the U.K. Riding on the strength of their universally popular debut, Coldplay headed back into the studio in fall 2001 to work on a sophomore album. They emerged with A Rush of Blood to the Head, releasing the album worldwide in August 2002 and embarking on a global concert tour soon after. "The Scientist" enjoyed regular radio rotation, while both "Clocks" and "In My Place" won Grammy Awards. The CD/DVD package Live 2003 was issued to highlight the group's popular tour, and Martin specifically earned a higher notch on the celebrity scale by marrying actress Gwyneth Paltrow in December 2003. Paltrow gave birth to the couple's first daughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, the following April. Fatherhood didn't stop Martin from working, as Coldplay began recording material for a third album within weeks. Previously recorded material with longtime producer Ken Nelson was scrapped early on, while Danton Supple (Morrissey, the Cure) joined Coldplay to complete the recording of X&Y. "Speed of Sound" marked Coldplay's first single from their long-awaited third effort in spring 2005; the album followed in June, topping the charts around the world.