One of my favorite album restructurings has to be the one I did years ago for Viva La Vida and Prospekt’s March, which I’m going to re-publish as part of this new series I’m doing. The LP (VLV) and the bonus follow-up collection (PM) are each superb in their own right, but in blending the best of them, you get a truly special – dare I say perfect – pop/rock record. Chances are if you’re not a huge Coldplay nerd I’ve already lost your attention, so I’ll cut through all the fanfare and just get right down to my playlist and the reasoning as to why I structured it the way I did.
The album begins with “Life in Technicolor II” – I chose this version because it is more fully fleshed out than its instrumental counterpart. The band stripped away the vocals from the original version “Life in Technicolor” in 2008 because it sounded too much like “an obvious single”, but I much prefer the full bodied track with Chris Martin’s stunningly beautiful melodic arc. “Viva La Vida” fits in nicely early as a symphonically-charged highlight – on the original LP, the breathtaking title track was hidden too far back in the listing. When it comes to Coldplay, I’m all about instant gratification, and that song hooks you in immediately. I had to be careful about maintaining the flow and delicate balance of Viva La Vida while blending these songs together, because there’s nothing wrong with the way that “Viva La Vida” transitions into “Violet Hill”, but I did not want to frontload my re-imagining. Also, “Violet Hill” has more of a dark, brooding aura that I feel better serves the back half of the playlist. So instead, I found that the more sprightly but very elaborate/artsy “Lovers in Japan” fit the bill much better, and the transition from “Viva La Vida” into it is still adequate (or at least not noticeably “chopped off”). I love how the second half of the 7-minute song fizzles into beautiful classical pianos, so I felt that it made a whole lot of sense to use Prospekt’s March‘s 48-second “Postcards from Far Away” as an extension of that outro – and it also works as a bridge between the very rock-rooted “Lovers in Japan” and the electronic beats that begin “Rainy Day” – which includes some huge violin swells that I had to be careful not to place too closely to “Viva La Vida”, lest they be overshadowed.
“Glass of Water” feels like a mid-album awakening, jolting uplifting energy into a spot where albums typically start to die. I felt it was important to have that uptick in tempo courtesy of Prospekt’s March in the center of things. It has something of a wistful, sincere curtain call that allowed me to perfectly transition the mood into the more eerie “Violet Hill” – replete with its electric guitar solos and unforgettable choruses – it all just works ideally in this placing. “Prospekt’s March / Poppyfields” is a haunting acoustic ballad that retains the forlorn atmosphere that Coldplay leaves us off at during the closing “if you love me, won’t you let me know” moments of “Violet Hill”, all before things take a noticeable turn back towards the energetic with the warmth and romance of “Strawberry Swing.” Normally that song works very well at the end of Viva La Vida (the original LP), but I was far too enamored with the idea of “Yes”/”42″/”Now My Feet Won’t Touch the Ground”/”Death and All His Friends” as a closing sequence to mess with that dynamic. “Yes” – a song that begins with eastern/Arabic influences and transitions into an all out rocker – feels like the perfect guitar smashing moment to bring about the trio of closers about death. There’s “42” (“those who are dead are not dead, they’re just living in my head / you didn’t get to heaven but you made it close”), the short acoustic ditty “Now My Feet Won’t Touch the Ground” (whose mantra echoes the chorus from “Life in Technicolor II”, bringing things full circle lyrically), and finally the spellbinding, depressing “Death and All His Friends” (with a return to the ambience of the opener, it brings things full circle musically). “Death and All His Friends” is also hands down the best (and only) way to draw the curtains on this incredible collection of songs – it feels summative in a very satisying way.
If you’re into restructuring albums for your own enjoyment, and have a soft spot for Coldplay at their pinnacle, give this re-imagining a chance. I’m pretty proud of it compared to most other playlists I’ve made – the transitions, momentum, and overall flow of it is amazing. All credit of course goes to Coldplay for making two beautiful works in Viva La Vida and Prospekt’s March. Let me know what you think in the comments – did this enhance your experience of the album? Would you have swapped out any of my inclusions for something else? As far as I’m concerned, this is the only way to listen to Viva La Vida moving forward.
Reimagined Viva La Vida Tracklist:
- Life in Technicolor II
- Viva La Vida
- Lovers in Japan
- Postcards from Far Away
- Rainy Day
- Glass of Water
- Violet Hill
- Prospekt’s March / Poppyfields
- Strawberry Swing
- Yes
- 42
- Now My Feet Won’t Touch the Ground
- Death and All His Friends
Suggested Alternate B-Sides EP:
- Life in Technicolor
- Cemeteries of London
- Lost!
- Lost+ (with Jay-Z)
- Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)
07.28.21
With a new Coldplay album on the horizon, this felt like the right time to release this version of Viva La Vida to Sputnik.
07.28.21
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07.28.21
I would have kept Lost!, it's a nice, breezy tune.
07.28.21
07.29.21
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07.29.21
1. Life in Technicolor
2. Glass
3. Lost
4. 42
5. Postcards
6. Lovers
7. Viva
8. Violet Hill
9. Yes
10. Strawberry
11. Prospekts
12. Death
13. Life in Technicolor II
07.29.21
I absolutely adore this era of Coldplay.
07.29.21
The awesome thing about VLV/PM era Coldplay is they had such a unique and powerful atmosphere about their music. It allows the songs to be mixed and matched in a ton of ways that all sound cohesive/natural.
07.29.21
07.29.21
none of this is essential rly but if you're making a comprehensive playlist of VLV era it's worth tracking them down. Goldrush is p cute and catchy
07.29.21
07.29.21
from memory: The Goldrush is on the b-side of Life in Technicolor II (only song in their discog with Will on vox)
Death Will Never Conquer is the b-side for Viva la Vida (cute little minute-long piano ditty, good closer vibes)
A Spell a Rebel Yell is the vinyl b-side for Violet Hill (forgot to list this one earlier, kinda cool shoegazey thing similar to Chinese Sleep Chant)
Lhuna is just a standalone single feat. Kylie Minogue (frankly, this one is not good tbh)
and if you're really feel completionist there's a piano acoustic version of Lost which is a slight improvement on the original
07.29.21
08.01.21
You better keep this blog alive, but im gonna follow you down.
Good Work.
08.09.21
So I made a playlist on Spotify your order of songs for these albums and while I have no quarrel with the flow being better, I just realised how bad some of the songs are on these records, much worse than I remember. But at the same time, some I know I never paid much attention to back in the day, but now I realise how cool they are. Thanks for the list anyway, it's cool
08.09.21
08.10.21
08.11.21
'Missing Bodies' by AFI
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vdhfvmCoIJDicD2c0Qrmp?si=0c833d30c5004db9
08.11.21
'Missing Bodies' by AFI
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0vdhfvmCoIJDicD2c0Qrmp?si=0c833d30c5004db9
08.11.21