Coldplay

Prospekt's March EP

Written by: PP on 22/12/2008 13:33:57

Music fans from all over the world were disappointed in unison over the radical and completely unexpected change of direction by Coldplay, who were, until the release of "Viva La Vida..", considered one of the premier pop rock bands on this planet. Their piano-infused pop songs were perfect for arenas and radio's alike without the usual pretentiousness associated with bands of that size, which makes it all the bigger shame that the band deviated from a working (and much loved) formula. Luckily, the album might just be a misstep for the band, at least if we are to analyze the results on "Prospekt's March", an EP which consists of six brand new songs either not finished on time or left over from the "Viva La Vida..." recording sessions as well as two-three remixes of tracks from the same album (depending on your view of what constitutes as a remix).

The EP essentially starts out the same way as "Viva La Vida" with "Life In Technicolor II", a new version of the instrumental Viva-intro track, this time double the length and with vocals dubbed on top. Based on the information that I gathered from Wikipedia, it seems that this is one of the songs the band didn't finish on time, hence the shortened, all-instrumental version on the full length. You'll be glad they found the time to put the song together though, as even though it still isn't "Parachutes" part 2, the electronic guitar/synth/piano combination is pretty sweet and the chorus is pretty much quintessential Coldplay. "Postcards From Far Away" follows next as a 48 second demonstration of beautiful piano melody, before "Glass Of Water", the real highlight of this EP, arrives and takes us back closer to "A Rush Of Blood To The Head"-era than anything else. Chris Martin still owns one of the most instantly recognizable voices from all the pop rock bands out there, and his high-flying clean vocals and the explosion of piano melody in the chorus are exactly what all of us have wanted from Coldplay all along. Look forward to hearing this track all over the radio once its turn as a single comes.

"Rainy Day", on the other hand, is more of a "Viva La Vida" styled track, in that it's sounding a bit too experimental and--dare I say it--technical for a Coldplay release, and Martin's synth-infused vocals aren't particularly good here either. The chorus is still decent and I especially like the string harmony, but the rest of the song is rather weak. "Prospekt's March / Poppyfield" has the opposite problem in that Martin's vocals are nothing short of brilliant here but the rest of the instruments lack content. The final new track, "Now My Feet Won't Touch The Ground" is just Martin performing with an acoustic guitar - any Coldplay fan will be missing the huge soundscapes from the band's other songs here, so no props from me here.

Then we're left with the remix tracks. "Lost+" is essentially exactly the same track as "Lost!" from "Viva La Vida", except with Jay-Z singing an additional rap-verse towards the end of the song. It's okay, but cmon, why is it necessary? Same goes for "Lovers In Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)", which is almost precisely the same song as the original, except it's a little shorter and there's a few changes here and there, but nothing radical.

Fans of 'oldschool' Coldplay may find something they're looking for here that they didn't on "Viva La Vida", especially in "Glass Of Water", while the "Viva La Vida" fans can take a peak here to find a couple of tracks that definitely should've made it on the record, if the deadlines weren't so pressing. But I'm going to be brutally honest by stating that this still isn't saving Coldplay's year...even if it indicates that a return to form might be imminent.

6

Download: Glass Of Water
For the fans of: Band Of Horses
Listen: Myspace

Release date 25.11.2008
Capitol

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