I rarely look forward to new music these days -- I wonder how my colleague Mike Oz endures so much banality -- but when I heard the first two tracks in recent weeks off Coldplay's new CD, I was raring to hear the rest of it.

The British band is sometimes regarded as a shallow version of U2. Or slammed that their fame surpasses their talent. Or just labeled banal.

But "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," which dropped today, is a reach for finer form. It helps that one of the producers, Brian Eno, is a chief U2 collaborator.

Some reviewers, like this one in Rolling Stone, are not entirely impressed. But I'm not looking for a masterpiece. I appreciate that they've tried a different course -- little of Chris Martin's trademark falsettos, more attempts beyond mid-tempo pacing, more experimental sounds. They haven't made a total departure here, but they have stretched outside their normal boundaries.

Martin's lyrics still aren't the strongest, but he's getting better at imagery. (In the song "Viva La Vida," he writes: "Revolutionaries Wait/For my head on a silver plate/Just a puppet on a lonely string/Oh who would ever want to be king?")

And Coldplay has always had an ethereal, melodious sound. That's still very much present here. But there's a bit more sophistication. And more uplift.

The CD begins with "Life in Technicolor," basically a short, colorful instrumental. "Cemeteries of London" follows, beginning in a more typical Coldplay manner, with a slow-paced intro. But it soon picks up the pace with a melody that (and this is sometimes a criticism of the band) could easily fold into a film scene.

From there, the band loops wherever it wants.

"Viva La Vida," right from the start, sweeps and soars with its strings. A big drum booms, bells are heard. Rather than brood, Martin delivers a spirited, ironically uplifting tune about a paranoid ex-king ruing his fate. "Strawberry Swing" has the resonance of a Celtic twang. "Yes" diverts into some Middle Eastern string work.

For me, there are more hits than misses on this CD. The guitar work is more inventive, with less dependence on the piano tinklings that Martin has resorted to in the past. Coldplay's sound is haunting and moody but, this time, not too heavy on the moody. There are degrees of joy here and less of Martin's look-at-me-I'm-a-serious-artist tendencies.

On the other hand, you have to appreciate a guy and band members who put on the CD cover Eugène Delacroix's 1830 painting "Liberty Leading the People," depicting the French Revolution. If you can't produce a masterpiece, why not use one visually?