Coldplay release their fourth album "Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends" on Parlophone. The album comprises 10 brand new tracks, recorded in London, Barcelona and New York with producers Brian Eno and Markus Dravs. "Viva La Vida" follows the hugely successful album "X&Y", which has sold 10 million copies since its release in 2005.
Customer Review: Why did they paint on the Delacroix?
As with most all uber-hyped pop albums, this one doesn't go deep and raw enough to be fantastic (if it did, it would make too many enemies). However as chart toppers go, this one is straight from the heart, and will remain on my playlist for a long time. Chris Martin singing 'you didn't get to heaven, but you made it close/you didn't get to heaven, but you aaa.... (almost?)' is hard to forget. all songs have a crunchy revolutionary anthem feel that fits Martin like an old leather coat. One that i'll be wearing for a while.
Customer Review: If it wasn't so overhyped, I might be less critical...
Coldplay is good. They're better than most. Most rap, most country, most rock and DEFINITELY most pop. But Viva la Vida is extremely overexposed, and Coldplay have long been riding a tidal wave of mediocrity over the heads of the consumers. Regarding their most recent release, the lyrics are interesting, the melodies pretty, the songs epic in scope, but rather pedestrian when all the synthesizers are stripped away. Chris Martin has a nice voice, but not an inspiring one. But, then again, the same might be said about U2, and look what they've accomplished. At least Coldplay aren't a ripoff (well, yes, they do bear more than a passing nod to U2, but I mean ripoff in the "you've been robbed" kind of way)...at worst you might feel like you spent too much on the CD - you won't be wondering why you bought it in the first place. I probably wouldn't be so critical had I not been expecting considerably more from their new CD. The song "Viva la Vida" was stuck in my head by about the fifth time I saw the stupid iTunes commercial. It's arranged in a way to make it a depaparture from typical pop/rock drivel, and I like its bass pulse: solid without being bombastic. Nice layering of sounds, but it sounds canned overall. There are a couple of tunes that sound like they borrowed a page from Sgt. Pepper (but who HASN'T borrowed a page from Sgt. Pepper?), and a few that suggest to me a hasty trip from concept to final mix. HOWEVER, if you think I'm being overly critical, you should hear my rants about 99.9999999% of the rest of the music that I have been subjected to and tortured with over the years. Overall, I'm pleased by Coldplay's latest. I give it 7 points for every single track being worthy of repeated listens, 1 point for the single "Viva la Vida" having the incredible capacity to get stuck in your head, minus 2 points for the CD as a whole not living up to the hype, but I'm giving those 2 points back as extra credit for still being better than most of what else the recording industry attempts to shove down our throats. 80%. That's a solid B. Good effort.
The Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew, the hottest dancing competition in US, has declared its winner. Among the 12 competing crews, the JabbaWockeez crew emerged as the victorious group as they crushed Status Quo with their remarkable performance on the finale. The JabbaWockeeZ's members were Jeff Nguyen aka "Phi", 26, from Phoenix AZ; Ryan Shawn Paguio, 26, from San Diego, CA; Ben Chung aka B-Tek, 26, from Mission Hills, CA; Kevin Brewer, 31, from Sacrament, CA; Phil Tayag, 23, also from Sacramento, CA; and Chris Gatdula, 26, from Las Vegas, NV.
The two groups fought their last battle onstage, but still, the JabbaWockeeZ seemed to steal the heart of Americans when millions of their votes declared the group as the ultimate champion. Status Quo's members who are Joshua Green, 20; Ernest Phillips, 21, Jayjion Greer aka "Jin Lao", 18; Jamal Weaver, 20; and Dwayne Hines, 18 (all from Boston, MA) did not lose in vain. They had served one of the best performances in the history of dance competitions in the US.
During episode 7, the three remaining crews which are the JabbaWockeez, Status Quo, and the Kaba Modern had competed and gave their best moves. Status Quo performed the first act. The judges were impressed by the group's amazing stunts, but failed to make an impression with their lackluster choreography.
Episode 6 showed one of the most exhilarating performances on the show. The four remaining crews fought their way up from the dance floor and were required to perform hip hop dances with a mixture of Traditional Broadway acts. The most remarkable performance was done by Status Quo as they showed off their own version of "Hairspray."
The competing crews performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in Episode 5. This was done in honor of the artist that has become legendary with his dancing prowess and also to celebrate his album's twenty-fifth anniversary. "Thriller" sold over 45 million worldwide, and it is considered as one of the biggest selling albums of all time.
During Episode 4, the crews were made to dance while portraying their own characters based on movies. The audience and the judges were awed by the amazing performances they had witnessed.
During Episode 3, the crews were made to perform popular dances that possessed remarkable stunts.
The eight remaining crews, during Episode 2, were made to perform an act that is based on popular music video. They must have a unique interpretation that still jives with the video. The competition started with 12 groups (consisting of six members) showing off their hottest moves, they were: Full Out, The Movements, Automatic Response, Enigma Dance Crew, Femme 5, Iconic, Live in Color, Fysh n Chicks, BreakSk8, Kaba Modern, Status Quo, and the JabbaWockeeZ.
The show creator, Randy Jackson, has been in the music industry for more than twenty years. This music veteran and Grammy Award winning producer has started his career as a bass guitar player when he was just 13 years old. He got his big break when he joined the famous band Journey.
The first judge was JC Chavez who started his career as a member of a Mickey Mouse Club. He is also a former of a now disbanded NSync. Shayne Sparks, who is also a judge, is a professional dancer who was known for his jaw-dropping performance every time he was onstage. Lil' Mama, another judge of this popular dance competition show, is an hip hop artist who got her big break when her Lip Gloss hit the radio waves in 2007.
The show was hosted by Mario Lopez, Layla Kaleigh, and DJ Rashida. MTV is giving opportunity to people to show off their grooviest moves and style. If you are interested to join, create a profile and start uploading your videos. Just go to http://dance.mtv.com/ for further details. The casting for America's Best Dance Crew Season 2 is now ongoing.
Ant Onaf is a content producer in association with LearnClubDance.com (http://www.learnclubdance.com), a online retailer of learn to dance DVD and learn to dance video sets.
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