The songs written during their time at the studio are lyrically "much more abstract, much more visual than before", and musically "less straight-forward, more oblique". Coldplay moved to "The Bakery", after finishing up their Latin American Tour, building a studio there. Recording Ĭoldplay used French revolutionary costumes during their Viva la Vida Tour as a reference to the album's revolutionary themesĪmbient musician and English record producer Brian Eno produced the album. Work on the album began in November 2006, only being interrupted by the Latin American leg of their Twisted Logic Tour in early 2007. However, Healy clarified that Coldplay was indeed "enjoying a much-deserved break", and that there was no timetable for the follow-up to the band's third studio album, X&Y. Dispelling such reports, Ambrosia Healy, spokesperson to Capitol Records, sent an e-mail message to MTV saying that there was no self-imposed hiatus. The new baby, and the fact that Coldplay had no touring or recording schedule at the time, had fans wondering if the band's new album would not be released until 2010. In October 2006, two weeks after bass guitarist Guy Berryman had a child, reports circulated that the band were taking a five-year hiatus. Viva la Vida was re-released on 25 November 2008 in a deluxe edition containing the original album and the Prospekt's March EP, which contained another hit, " Life in Technicolor II". By 2011, the album had sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. It won Best Rock Album at the 2009 Grammy Awards and was also nominated for Album of the Year. "Viva la Vida" became the band's first song to reach number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Five songs were released in promotion of the album " Violet Hill" and " Viva la Vida" in May 2008, " Lovers in Japan" and " Lost!" in November 2008, and " Strawberry Swing" in September 2009. Viva la Vida was both a critical and commercial success. The album cover of Viva la Vida is the 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix. Development of the album delayed the release date several times. The band forced themselves to explore new styles, as Eno required every song on the album to sound different. The album was Coldplay's first to be produced by Eno, and also their first album to not be produced by long-time Coldplay producer, Ken Nelson. Recording sessions for the album took place during June 2007 to April 2008 and featured production by Jon Hopkins, Rik Simpson, Markus Dravs, and Brian Eno. Lyrically, the album contains references to love, life, death and war. The album was named after a Spanish phrase that best translates into English as "Long live life". Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, often referred to as simply Viva la Vida, is the fourth studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 12 June 2008 on the Parlophone label.