Every Coldplay Album Ranked Worst To Best

Coldplay had experimented on their previous records, but always tended to stay in the lanes of pop and rock. On Viva La Vida, the band took a giant leap by making a record that was a bit more serious with the help of legendary producers like Brian Eno. This would either be a career low point or throw the band into the stratosphere.

In their case, this is where all the experimentation of the previous records paid off. Chris Martin sounds invigorated in his vocal delivery as the band takes cues from world music, alt rock, and classical instrumentation. Even though X&Y had some stunning moments, Viva La Vida as a whole has a kind of transcendence captured in its grooves. The band still has a great knack for pop on songs like the title track and "Strawberry Swing," but their incorporating of world rhythms on "Lost!" and the hard-hitting gravitas of "Violet Hill" leaves the listener in pure musical euphoria.

After almost a decade of recorded output, Viva La Vida stands as a record that will go down as a true modern classic. With the world at their feet, Coldplay stepped forward with everything they had and delivered a stunner.