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 in 2008. "Viva la vida" is a Spanish phrase that translates into English as "long live life", "live the life", or simply "live life" (lit. "the life lives").
Lyrically, the album contains references to love, life, death and war. Recording sessions for the album took place from June 2007 to April 2008 and featured production by Jon Hopkins, Rik Simpson, Markus Dravs, and Brian Eno. 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.
The band forced themselves to explore new styles, as Eno required every song on the album to sound different. Development of the album delayed the release date several times. The album cover of Viva la Vida is the 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix.
