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Prospekt's March is the seventh extended play by Coldplay, initially released on 21 November 2008 in Europe and Japan and worldwide the following week, from 22 November to 9 December 2008.[1] It is the band's first EP in more than five years since Remixes (2003). The EP serves as a companion release to Coldplay's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends (2008), featuring leftover tracks from the studio sessions that, according to Chris Martin, came close to making it onto the main album. It was additionally packaged with a reissue of the album, entitled Viva la Vida (Prospekt's March Edition).

On 5 November, Coldplay offered an exclusive preview of the EP via their Facebook application and through their website. The track "Glass of Water" entered the iTunes Top 100 songs, being also performed live by the band on 4Music.[2] Upon the EP's release, "Life in Technicolor II" entered the UK Singles Chart at number 90 despite not being a promotional effort. The band would later confirm the song as the EP's official single and release its physical version on February 8, 2009, which made the track rise to a new peak of number 28.[3] One year later, it was nominated for the 52nd Grammy Awards in the Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Short Form Music Video categories. As of March 2009, Prospekt's March has sold 77,000 copies worldwide.

Background and recording[]

Throughout the recording of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends in 2007, Coldplay communicated to fans through handwritten notes posted on their website signed under the pseudonym Prospekt, and some of the song titles were being revealed during this process. The titles "Rainy Day" and "Poppyfields" (previously "Poppy Fields") were first revealed on September 5, 2007, and were being considered to make the album's track listing;[4] on October 26, 2007, a message said that "Famous Old Painters" and "Glass of Water" had been written and were being recorded for the album.[5] "Prospekt's March" appeared for the first time in early December of the same year and was already in its mixing stages.[6] Due to Prospekt's signature on all the public notes, rumours began to surface that this would be the album's actual title, which remained untitled until then.[7][8] Those songs did not make it to Viva la Vida's final track listing, being later all included on Prospekt's March, except for "Famous Old Painters", which remains unreleased.

Release and composition[]

Coldplay first mentioned the upcoming release of Prospekt's March on 30 August 2008, in an interview with Steve Lamacq and R.E.M.'s singer Michael Stipe on BBC Radio 6 Music; Chris Martin and Will Champion revealed the band would release a new studio album by the end of 2009 and an EP that would be entitled either Prospekt's March or Prospekt's Songs, originally planned to be out on December 26, 2008, or “something like that”. When Chris questioned Stipe's opinion about which title would go better with the record, both the R.E.M. frontman and Will opted for March instead of Songs.[9][10][11]

On 5 October, Coldplay disclosed the EP's title and its track listing, although no release date was initially revealed along with the announcement.[12] On the following day, a handwritten note by Chris posted on the band's website stated the EP would be released in November; Viva la Vida (Prospekt's March Edition), a special two-disc edition of Viva la Vida featuring both the EP and the album, would be made available along with the EP's release. Chris also remarked that, though the songs featured on the EP led to many arguments within the band regarding they sounding “too catchy or too heavy for Coldplay songs”, the group thought that they would “complete the Viva la Vida picture” as a whole.[13] The official artwork was unveiled on October 14, 2008, along with a worldwide scheduled release for the physical copies on November 21-25, according to the region.[14] A clip of the band performing "Glass of Water" live in Antwerp, Belgium, could be viewed in anticipation of the EP on the band's website.[15][16]

Speaking at the Q Awards on October 6th, Chris likened the EP to “unfinished homework” they were handing in late, as the songs had not been completed in time for Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends.[17][18] In an interview for Coldplay's website, Chris said that all the tracks on the EP came very close to inclusion on Viva la Vida, stating that “they're all part of the same family”. In the same interview, the frontman stated that the idea was always to put the songs out by the end of 2008.[19]

The EP features eight tracks overall: six new songs and two reworked versions from Viva la Vida, "Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)" and "Lost+. Coldplay's collaboration with American singer Kylie Minogue, "Lhuna", was reportedly expected to be included on the EP after being left out of Viva la Vida, however, it was made available as a standalone charity single two weeks after the EP's release.[20][21][22]

Artwork[]

The artwork for Prospekt's March features Eugène Delacroix's original 1830 painting The Battle of Poitiers, following the art pattern used in the cover art of Viva la Vida, which included another Delacroix painting, Liberty Leading the People.

Chart performance[]

Prospekt's March debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 with 77,000 copies sold.[23]

Track listing[]

All tracks written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, and Chris Martin, except "Lost+", which was co-written by Shawn Carter.

Prospekt's March

No. Title Producers Length
1. "Life in Technicolor II" Eno • Dravs • Simpson • Hopkins 4:05
2. "Postcards from Far Away" Dravs • Simpson 0:48
3. "Glass of Water" Dravs • Simpson 4:44
4. "Rainy Day" Dravs • Simpson • Emily Bart-Smith 3:26
5. "Prospekt's March / Poppyfields" Dravs • Simpson • Hopkins 3:39
6. "Lost+" (with Jay-Z) Eno • Dravs • Jay-Z 4:18
7. "Lovers in Japan (Osaka Sun Mix)" Eno • Dravs 3:58
8. "Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground" Dravs • Simpson 2:29

iTunes bonus video

No. Title Length
9. "Viva la Vida" (music video) (Anton Corbijn version) 4:08

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 67/100
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic 3Star fullStar fullStar halfStar empty
The A.V. Club B
The Guardian Mixed
NME 3/Template:PluralStar fullStar fullStar emptyStar empty[24]
Pitchfork 6.0/10
Rolling Stone 2Star fullStar halfStar emptyStar empty

Prospekt's March received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 67 out of 100 based on 7 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[25] Writing for The A.V. Club, Josh Modell was positive towards the EP and called it “more than a companion” and “just a quickie disc of extras” to Viva la Vida, stating the record “actually stands as the sturdiest Coldplay collection since A Rush of Blood to the Head.”[26] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine described the EP as an “enjoyable, worthwhile for the devoted” collection, adding that the exclusive tracks are “all good, all holding their own with the main text of Viva la Vida.”[27] Ryan Dombal from Pitchfork called it a “relatively noble” record and praised Brian Eno for conferring a “pristine, impeccable” production, although noticing that Chris Martin would need “to consider his lyrics more.” He added, "[...] his [lyrical] consistency isn't where it needs to be in order for Coldplay to elevate to the supreme stadium-filling, critic-salivating level they so desire.”[28]

In a less enthusiastic review, Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone opined the new songs felt “too conservative after Viva's world-music-laden sprawl”, considering the tracks "Glass of Water" and "Prospekt's March / Poppyfields" the EP's lowlights due to their “heavy-handed[ness]” and “imagistic lyrics”, respectively.[29] The Guardian's Killian Fox, however, praised "Glass of Water", but criticised Jay-Z's involvement on "Lost+" for sounding “horribly out of place on an organ-led Coldplay number.”[30]

References[]

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20140820182456/http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=159&page=0
  2. https://www.facebook.com/application.php?id=34613766253
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20120213004018/http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=262
  4. https://timeline.coldplay.com/article/prospekt-the-arguments-about-tracklisting-have-begun/
  5. https://timeline.coldplay.com/article/prospekt-the-next-few-weeks-will-be-intense/
  6. https://timeline.coldplay.com/article/prospekt-the-ups-and-downs-come-thick-and-fast/
  7. https://www.gigwise.com/news/39950/coldplay-set-may-release-date-for-fourth-album
  8. https://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/19307200.html
  9. https://youtu.be/eaGYiZEbkas?t=114
  10. https://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20081007_coldplay.shtml
  11. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/sep/01/coldplay.confirm.ep.album
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20090722181136/http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=153
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110838/http://coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=150
  14. https://www.coldplay.com/prospekts-march-artwork-revealed/
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20081014105620/https://www.coldplay.com/video_gow.php
  16. https://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20081007_coldplay.shtml
  17. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CAZ-9taiwc
  18. https://www.digitalspy.com/music/a132035/coldplay-eight-track-ep-details-revealed/
  19. https://web.archive.org/web/20101008192356/http://coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=204&page=0
  20. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/coldplay-confirm-december-08-ep-new-full-length-for-2009-248462/
  21. https://www.mtv.com/news/1593941/coldplay-will-issue-ep-of-viva-la-vida-leftovers-in-december-new-lp-in-2009/
  22. https://web.archive.org/web/20090722181136/http://www.coldplay.com/newsdetail.php?id=153
  23. https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/kanye-edges-gnr-ludacris-for-no-1-debut-266167/
  24. https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-coldplay-9998-342086
  25. https://www.metacritic.com/music/prospekts-march-ep/coldplay
  26. https://www.avclub.com/coldplay-prospekts-march-ep-1798205344
  27. https://www.allmusic.com/album/prospekts-march-mw0000802614
  28. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12467-prospekts-march-ep/
  29. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/prospekts-march-ep-190154/
  30. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/nov/23/coldplay-prospekts-march
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