Viva La Vida (song) - Coldplay

If you couldn't tell by now, I am really looking forward to this new Coldplay album, which drops June 17th. So the official first single is Viva La Vida, bot Violet Hills, which was just the free single (thank god!). Unlike Violet Hills, Viva La Vida is what I expected and more from Coldplay on this new cd.
The song has has constant violin-like background for the whole song, which is catchy. At first, it almost sounds like an 80's-ish song. The backing "Oh's" leading into the refrain at the end add a nice touch. It almost reminds me of another Coldplay song but its not coming to mind right now.

Any who, definitely give this jaun a listening too. Well worth the 99 cents or freeness, if you know your way around!

Concert Review: Billy Joel 03/30/2006

Who doesn't like the Piano Man? This was the question I was wondering when I was trying to get rid of some seats for the Last Play at Shea, but anyways, that's a different story...

This Billy Joel tour incorporated a 12 night stand at the Garden in NYC, along with half a dozen Philly dates and a few other shows scattered mainly around the East Coast. This particular night, was the final of 6 nights in Philly, and what better way to commemorate this night then hang a banner for the man. About two or three songs into the show, hometown radio DJ, Pierre Robert of 93.3 WMMR, presented the Piano Man with a banner for 48 (I believe) sell-out shows in the city of Brotherly Love. The setlist was as follows:

Prelude/Angry Young Man
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now
The Entertainer
The Ballad of Billy The Kid
Honesty
Zanzibar
Allentown
An Innocent Man
Don't Ask Me Why
Pressure
Goodnight Saigon
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
Captain Jack
She's Always A Woman
Keeping The Faith
The River of Dreams
A Matter of Trust
Highway To Hell
We Didn't Start The Fire
Big Shot
It's Still Rock and Roll To Me
You May Be Right

Only The Good Die Young
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Piano Man

Highlights from the show included the local fan favorite Allentown, along with a touching version of Goodnight Saigon, in which Joel was joined on stage by the United States Military Personnel in attendance. Later on in the show, Billy brought out his guitar handler for most of his touring days, named Sledgehammer, who wowed the crowd with a killer rendition of AC/DC's Highway to Hell. After Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, Joel teased the crowd, who knew that there was only one song left. After boos and cheers and many people yelling "Charge" like we were at a ball game, the Piano Man gave the crowd the song he will be most remembered for. Personal highlights for me included Captian Jack, The Entertainer, We Didn't Start the Fire, Scenes From An Italian Restaurant, and of course, Piano Man.

Violet Hill - Coldplay

Finally there is new music from Coldplay. In one day, we not only got a FREE download of the new single, Violet Hill, but also learned of free concerts at Madison Square Garden, NYC and Brixton, UK. In previous weeks we learned of the title of the new album, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends, along with the tracklist for the album.

The song begins with Chris Martin and the piano, but the middle is a new sound of Coldplay, one promised for us in the new album. The electric, overdriven guitar joins in around a minute in, adding part of that new sound. The almost choir-like chorus of If you love me/ let me know is also new in the sound, along with an electric guitar solo that is unlike the old Coldplay. The track, to me, is a 3.5/5 mainly for the fact that it is uneventful. Unlike Clocks and Speed of Sound, the two first singles off A Rush of Blood to the Head and X&Y, respectively, the song is more mellow and not as moving. Hopefully this is not a good representation of what to look forward to on upcoming June 17th release date album, mainly because the three year wait would not have been worth it.