ColdplayProspekt's March EP
Capitol
2008
Since I was the Trebbler who wrote about Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, I think it's fitting that yours truly should be the one who reviews Prospekt's March. Think of this EP as Coldplay's version of Radiohead's bonus In Rainbows disc that was released in that extremely expensive box set that has inexplicably yet to be released on its own. (C'mon Thom, you could learn a little from Chris Martin and his boys, release that bonus disc as an EP already!)
If you're one of the few that has yet to purchase the magnificent Viva La Vida, however, you can pick up a special edition with Prospekt's March added as a bonus disc. It's also available as an EP by itself. Listening to Prospekt's March and thinking back about Martin's comment about retiring after Coldplay's world tour, I can only conclude that it's a mistake. Hearing Viva La Vida and Prospekt, I feel like Coldplay have yet to cement their name and sound in the stratosphere of The Beatles or Radiohead. They are on the verge of the mountain peak that is eternal greatness timeless status, so why give up now? I have a feeling that their next album, if it ever gets made, is going to be legendary.
Okay, maybe the Jay-Z flavored Lost mix isn't exactly what I'm talking about, I could have done without that track, but the rest of Prospekt's March is worthy of inclusion in Viva La Vida. The debate will begin just like with In Rainbows, as to whether or not Coldplay should have added songs like "Glass of Water" and "Prospekt's March/Poppyfields" to their full-length effort. I say `hell yeah,' but I'm the type of musicologist who believes that the greater the number of songs available, the more fulfilling it is for my rhythmic soul. Think about The Beatles' White Album, what if they would have pared down the songs to one single album? It works as a masterpiece, albeit an imperfect one.
Since it's so brief, Prospekt feels like a coda to Viva La Vida. For those of us who didn't want the musical journey to end after "The Escapist," we get more from those sessions produced brilliantly by Brian Eno. I love the way that "Rainy Day" starts with some post-modern noisy rhythms and flows into some soothing strings in the chorus. It's a hopeful soundtrack to yr wet and dreary days. Even the title track sounds like a more optimistic version of "A Rush of Blood to the Head." I simply have fallen for the wall of sound remix of "Lovers in Japan." It sounds like an ode to romantics around the globe. I discovered an aura of positivism that shines throughout the lyrics and sound of Prospekt's March.
I feel like songs like the lyrical version of "Life in Technicolor," the acoustic beauty of "Now my Feet Won't Touch the Ground" and even the piano interlude of "Postcards from Far Away" would have made Viva La Vida an even more memorable album. Prospekt's March is a bold statement from Coldplay it continues all of the themes and sounds they started with Eno's on Viva La Vida. Prospekt's March and Viva La Vida mark the year when Coldplay became more than a multi-platinum band. Berryman, Buckland, Champion and Martin are on the verge of a magnum opus that has the potential of injecting a much needed post modern artfulness into the rhyme-less direction that is contemporary pop music. Don't give up; we need Coldplay now more than ever.
Adrian Ernesto Cepeda
12.05.2008
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