The audacity of these pricks! Topping both the Billboard Top 200 and the UK Album charts with their newest album Viva La Vida. Coldplay was mildly awesome when Parachutes came out, but ever since they compromised their souls, married actresses and named their kids after fruit, they’ve huffed DONG.

Actually, I haven’t heard the album. But I heard the single and it was pretty fucking good. I just don’t like band monopoly. Judge me.

Coldplay’s latest album, Viva La Vida, debuts at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 with over 720,000 copies sold in its first week of release in the U.S.  Viva La Vida has topped the U.K. album chart for the second week in a row, where it is the fastest-selling album of the year, and No. 1 rankings continue to come in from around the globe including Japan, Australia, Canada, France and Germany.

Already the biggest album pre-order in iTunes history, Viva La Vida also set the record for highest first-week album sales ever on the iTunes® Store worldwide. Today the album’s title song surpasses “Clocks” as the band’s biggest-selling single to date on the iTunes Store. “Viva La Vida” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 last week, marking Coldplay’s first Hot 100 No. 1 single ever, and it debuted this week at No. 1 on the U.K. Singles chart.

Watch this:

Then watch this:

Man, YouTube logic is a slippery slope but its late so I’m going down it. See you later.

Coldplay’s new album, Viva La Vida, is available in all stores today. Go get it! Check out a full first review of the album here. For Coldplay tour dates read this.

As Spencer previously posted, Coldplay have recently announced the dates of their upcoming tour, but it seems that choppy waters have arose across the pond. Due to what the band referred to as “production delays”, they have been forced to postpone the start of their tour for two weeks, now starting in LA on July 14th. The tour will now wrap in Boston on August 4th. They are offering refunds for those that can not make the new dates. The free shows in London, on the 16th, Barcelona on the 17th, and New York on the 23rd are still scheduled as planned. I am no musical genius, but what causes “Production delays”?? And is this going to foreshadow what is to come? Get it together Coldplay! We are all counting on you!!

Here’s a complete review of the new Coldplay release from the Sun in the UK

An album by some band I had never heard of landed on my desk yesterday.

I nearly lobbed it in the drawer of unheard music next to SCOUTING FOR GIRLS’ last release.

But the innocuous sleeve with an obscure codename was in fact holding the biggest album of the year — possibly the decade.

I can bring you the first full review of the new COLDPLAY CD, out on June 12.

And I think epic is the word. The full title — Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends — should have been a clue.
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As I mentioned last month, with the exception of a few (a very few) newer artists like Coldplay, Capitol Records is banking on their roster of time-honored pop rock heavyweights (read: Dinosaurs) to pay the bills. Enter Beach Boys’ backwards beating brain and ticking heart, Brian Wilson.

BRIAN WILSON RETURNS TO CAPITOL RECORDS / EMI, HIS ORIGINAL LABEL HOME
NEW STUDIO ALBUM, ‘THAT LUCKY OLD SUN,’ TO BE RELEASED SEPTEMBER 2nd

“You don’t have to climb the Capitol tower, or play the Hollywood Bowl, if there’s a roll in your heart, and a rock in your soul…” (lyrics from That Lucky Old Sun’s “California Role”)

Hollywood, California – May 19, 2008 - He is one of popular music’s most deeply revered figures, a legendary writer, producer, arranger and performer of some of the most cherished music in rock history. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to call Brian Wilson one of the most gifted and influential pop composers of the last 50 years. Today, Wilson announces his return to Capitol Records / EMI, his original label home. Wilson’s new studio recording, That Lucky Old Sun, will be released by Capitol/EMI on CD, CD/DVD, limited edition vinyl and digitally on September 2 (September 1 internationally).

Brian Wilson’s return to Capitol Records / EMI, where The Beach Boys caught their first hit wave with the 1962 classic, “Surfin’ Safari/409,” is a triumphant homecoming for one of the world’s most gifted and beloved musical talents.

“I’m thrilled to be back home with Capitol, and I’m looking forward to sharing That Lucky Old Sun with everyone,” says Brian Wilson. “This music is really special to me.”

“We are delighted to be working with Brian Wilson for his new album, That Lucky Old Sun,” says Guy Hands, Executive Chairman of EMI Music. “We all remember the feeling we got when we first heard The Beach Boys’ music. My particular favorite classic is ‘Surfer Girl.’ It always reminds me of driving an open top car down the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Barbara to Malibu. Brian Wilson is an iconic talent with enormous musical influence all over the world and we are very proud to be representing him.”

A musical love letter from Southern California, That Lucky Old Sun shimmers with sun-dappled choruses and arrangements that swell and swirl as if carried by the Pacific tides. One of the songs, “Midnight’s Another Day,” has been described by MOJO magazine as “glorious.” The album is narrated in transitional interludes spoken by Wilson as ‘That Lucky Old Sun,’ the storyteller. The narratives, cameos on life and the heartbeat of Los Angeles, propel the album’s musical story.

Concert dates after the… (more…)