Album Review: Coldplay - Coldplay Live 2012

Whether it's the old fans that prefer Parachutes, the new fans that love the new electronic-flavoured Mylo Xyloto, or those who just adore it all – Coldplay have really made an effective mark on the music industry. So much so, that on first listen of their new live record, performed in France this September, it is possible to sing along with almost every lyric, whether adored or purely overexposed. Although it appears to pay homage to everything old fans love to criticise, it highlights the hits that made them a household name to begin with, placing them alongside the commercial tunes that struggle to go anywhere.

The most effective recordings are spread among the band's first three albums and are appropriately segregated from each other so the new material can fit right in without dropping the exciting atmosphere. Chris Martin and the boys have a knack for building this amazing adrenaline from the beginning of a song, most clear in God Put A Smile Upon Your Face, with its wild drum beat and infectiously loud guitar that almost reaffirms them as a powerhouse rock band. Martin's swearing and the song's madness are effectively contrasted by Yellow's beauty, as minimal piano builds to a peak that brings goosebumps of nostalgia. Meanwhile, the harmonically perfect Fix You is performed as if it was the first time, adding a slight guitar-flavour to the beginning to rejuvenate what could have been stale.

Rihanna makes a special guest appearance co-performing Mylo Xyloto track Princess Of China in a version that far exceeds their tune-lacking attempt at the Grammys earlier this year. Despite the impressive guest, this song, as well as many of the newer tracks, falls short of achieving the same strong connection with the audience. Paradise, for example, more grates than excites with an absent spruce-up desperately needed to give it life again. Closer Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall is probably the strongest of the new material but doesn't have the same adrenaline-inspiring build or capacity for sing-a-long like Clocks, In My Place or even fourth-record title track Viva La Vida that occur much earlier and could have easily completed the album and set.