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So having said all that I've said about Coldplay (see Day 17a), this album in particular is one of the few that most people agree is pretty good. Personally, some of my favorite Coldplay tracks are on this album, although there are also a few that I had never heard before starting this project. Above all, this album is known for its centerpiece single, Viva La Vida. This song is truly iconic. The soaring, bouncing strings that begin the song just instantly take you away to a world of kings and saints from the first moment. Viva La Vida has to be one of the most recognizable and loved songs of the 21st century. On Spotify, it has accumulated 3.1 billion streams, making it the 34th most streamed song of all time (the only Coldplay song higher is Yellow, with 3.5 billion streams). It won Song of the Year at the 2009 Grammy's as well, making it the last of 7 Grammy's they ever won. If you recall, Song of the Year is awarded to the artists specifically, highlighting the songwrit...

Coldplay's fourth album was released on June 6, 2008. The full title, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends is a bit of a mouthful. It's an interesting title because the phrase "Viva la vida" is Spanish (apparently it can be translated as either "Long live life," or "Live life" (1)), while the album cover is a famous French painting. I remember being confused about this when I was younger because I vaguely grasped that this album was referencing the French Revolution, but the "Viva la vida" did not appear to be French, based on my high school French knowledge. The phrase "Viva la vida" actually comes from a painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1). Apparently, Chris Martin found it inspirational that she would include these words in a painting despite all the hardships she endured in life. The painting on the album cover is of course, Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix ( La Liberté guidant le peuple) . Liberty ...