Coldplay, Vida la Vida, Progiest Album of the Year

Let me tell you all a little story. It’s about a man whose car broke down on the highway, so he stopped at a farmer’s house. The farmer tells him he can stay over, but not to go near his daughter...

Wait, no, that’s not right. Aha. This story is about me ‘n my friend. We’re sorta funny in that we both hate each other’s music (aka, “don’t really mind each other’s music, but don’t particularly love it, and occasionally like something and grudgingly admit that it’s ‘okay’”). You know the score.

Anyways, I learned something from her. Namely, that I will always, always, always (most of the time) go for something artsier when it’s offered to me, even when I don’t realize it. Case in point: I “grudgingly admitted” that I liked the band My Chemical Romance. A little research, however, showed that the songs of theirs that I liked all seemed to come off this one album. And it was a rock opera. Oh yeah. You know the one; Queen covers The Wall? It’s pretty sweet.

The other amusing anecdote was Radiohead. Radiohead, Radiohead, Radiohead. Whenever I liked one of “her” songs, it turned out to be...crap, Radiohead. “Talk Show Host.” “Karma Police.” Whatever. When I heard a song that I liked, I stopped asking who it was, and just hung my head low and said, “Yeah...it’s Radiohead, idn’t it?”

Basically, I don’t know if I’m unconsciously trying to keep my snooty reputation, or maybe I actually LIKE this crap (believe it or not), but what the crap does this have to do with the title of the damn thread? Oh yeah, Coldplay, right...what’s a “Coldplay” anyway? Is it like a cold read in radio?

For the past so many years, I have actively disliked and/or ignored Coldplay. Their brand of arena-piano pop has never struck me as all that “good.” So when I heard the single “Violet Hill” off Viva la Vida, I was pleasantly shocked. The lyrics were clever, the sound was grittier, and the video wasn’t bad at all. So I bought the album, and guess what? It’s pretty damn decent! I mean, it ain’t ALL gold or nothin’, but I think it’s a bit deeper and more intelligent than their usual stuff, so I’m sold.

Lo and behold a couple days later, I read in a newspaper article (LA Times, wish I’d kept it) that the album was produced by Brian Eno, who had “tricked Coldplay into thinking they were creating classic art rock.” (sic)

Crap. I did it again, huh?

All Coldplay had to do was get pretentious, and let Brian f**kin’ Eno produce their album, and suddenly I like the damn band.

Now, what does this have to do with anything? Nothing really. It’s just that whenever people (here particularly) think that prog rock is dying, they seem to be missing the point. Prog isn’t a sound; it’s a way of doing things. Or rather, it’s an ideal.

Recently, Death Cab For Cutie (a band I’ve always liked, even BEFORE I knew that they were butt buddies with The Decemberists (they was in thu “Sixteen Milit’ry Wives” VIDEYO!!!)) released the single “I Will Possess Your Heart.” Of course, the damn thing had to be “edited for the radio,” since the album version is, like, nine minutes long. It’s still a fairly standard pop song (by Death Cab standards at least), but when it’s chopped in half, you lose this slow, moody build that’s very nice. Damn radio.

Similarly, Panic! (At the Disco) (dunno if that’s the EXACT band name, but it’s a Ween-esque take, and that’s good enough for me) recently did a Sgt. Pepper rip off (it’s a tradition), and one of the tracks, “Nine in the Afternoon,” got snipped for radio play; which meant that a lovely little orchestral coda was castrated. Poor thing. Uh...don’t ask me how I know that one.

Now, I’m not suggesting that any of these bands are the new Emerson, Lake, or even Palmer, and that they should be admitted to the archives posthaste, oh no...except for Ween, go Ween...but barring THAT, I’m sort of rambling, and sort of trying to prove a point.

And I guess what that point is, is that as long as people in popular music are trying to be musically deep, or lyrically intellectual, or get produced by Brian Eno, or have to be chopped up by coke-stained radio execs, there will always be some form of progression in music. It might not have the pipe organs and flute solos and twelve minute guitar/sax jams of the golden past, but it’s still the same in spirit.

So the rules have changed a little, and the game is “art-pop” instead of “prog-rock” some of the time. So what? It’s still music that seeks to break beyond the two-minute pop standard, or move away from chicks and cars just a bit. In other words, it’s music that CHALLENGES; challenges the artist, and challengers the listener. And that’s all that matters to me...oh yeah, and melody and stuff.