Bush and Blair at Violet Hill

"Violet Hill" video expounds the Coldplay politik
POSTED BY Jordan Kurtz // 05/17/2008 11:15 AM

“Bush conducts a military band, Tony Blair strums an electric guitar, and Bush dances, all in time with the music.”
-Pitchfork

I thought it was a joke when I read it. After finally finding a way to capture grandiose emotions, and realize the importance of musical risk taking, I guess I wasn’t sure what sort of holistic aesthetic experience Coldplay would undertake this time around.

Their previous video for The Hardest Part was proof that they could try to be funny, confusing, or thought provoking (even if it failed). As much as I might pine for the days of “singing on a beach at sunrise” type videos or “walking backward singing lyrics forward” type videos, it seems as though this new “let’s make a statement!” idea, for better or worse, might be here to stay.

It’s a pretty great video. Whether or not its the right video for this song (it is an alternate mind you) remains to be seen.
Patrol Magazine