Prospekt's March


Prospekt's March is the sixth EP by British rock band Coldplay, initially released on 21 November 2008 in Europe and Japan, and worldwide the following week. It features several tracks left over from the studio sessions for Coldplay's fourth studio album, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. It is also available in the deluxe edition of Viva la Vida. This is their first EP since Remixes.
The cover features Eugène Delacroix's original painting Battle of Poitiers, similar to the cover art featured on Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. On 5 November, Coldplay offered an exclusive preview of the EP via their Facebook application and through their website.
There were two singles that anchored the EP. The song "Glass of Water" entered the iTunes Top 100 songs and went on to be performed live by the band on 4Music. "Life in Technicolor II" began its existence in the charts at No. 90 in the UK Singles Chart despite not being released as an official single. It was later confirmed to be the EP's first single. It later peaked at No. 28 upon its physical release on 8 February 2009. The song was nominated at the 52nd Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and Best Short Form Music Video.

Recording and release

Throughout the recording of Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay communicated to fans through their website, and some of the song titles were revealed during the recording. The name "Poppyfields" was first revealed in September 2007; in late October 2007, a message said that "Famous Old Painters" and "Glass of Water" had been written and were being considered for the album. "Prospekt's March" appeared for the first time in December of the same year; all the notes were signed by the pseudonym Prospekt, strengthening rumours that this would be the album's title. Those songs did not make it to the album's final track listing, so were featured on the Prospekt's March EP, except for "Famous Old Painters", which was never released.
In an interview for Coldplay's official website Chris Martin said that all the songs on the EP came very close to inclusion on Viva la Vida, and that they were "all part of the same family". In the same interview the frontman stated that the idea was always to put these songs out by the end of 2008.

Track listing

Coldplay confirmed five songs for Prospekt's March on 3 October 2008, all of which had not been completed in time for Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The playlist was changed to eight songs on 5 October. Six of the eight tracks are new recordings of the band.

Personnel

On the Billboard issue dated 3 December, Prospekt's March debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 77,000.

Charts and certifications

Charts

Certifications

Release history

Prospekt's March was released on 24 November 2008 in the United States and Canada, one day earlier than expected.
CountryDateFormat
United States24 November 2008CD, vinyl, 2CD
Canada24 November 2008CD
United Kingdom24 November 2008CD, vinyl, 2CD
Australia22 November 2008CD,
Argentina9 December 2008CD, 2CD
Brazil3 December 2008CD
Japan21 November 2008Digital
Japan17 December 2008CD
Japan14 January 2009CDx2
Taiwan28 November 2008CD, 2CD
Taiwan5 December 2008Vinyl
Spain25 November 2008CD
Sweden21 November 2008CD
Germany21 November 2008CD
Austria21 November 2008CD
Switzerland21 November 2008CD
Belgium21 November 2008CD
Netherlands21 November 2008CD
Ireland21 November 2008CD
Italy21 November 2008CD, 2CD
Denmark21 November 2008CD, EP
Norway21 November 2008CD
Pakistan21 November 2008CD
Finland21 November 2008CD
South Africa21 November 2008CD