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- Age 29
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- Seen Jul 28, 2014
Okay, so I am not entirely sure if this is where you place music reviews, and if it isn't then I apologise so, so much!
But Hi, I'm Ryan. You may have seen me around, and I write a lot! Something that I do write occasionally are reviews. I wrote one today on an album I have recently listened to and I wanted to share my review with you all. So, without further adieu...
And, please, do criticise and praise where necessary. If you've listened to album, feel free to voice your opinions on it too!
Keane. A three piece alternate rock group that experienced their birth in the wake of Coldplay's vast success, such as many other bands did, Snow Patrol and Travis being no exception. Of course, this has led to Keane being labelled as the Coldplay knock-offs. It was this label that sparked my interest in reviewing Keane's first album. Are they really Coldplay knock-offs? Does Keane have a strong debut album on their résumé? Is Hopes and Fears actually any good?
To begin with, I feel that it may be best that at the time of recording the band had only three members: a pianist; a bassist and a drummer. Of course, there are the vocals too to accompany this unique and, arguably, daringly brave combination of instruments. Whilst the lack of variation in instruments does limit the band, it also allows them to create some new sounds for their audience that their unique combination is capable of creating. Unfortunately, Keane is unable to do this, which results in an album that is about 50 minutes of music that, more or less, sounds the same. However, this is not a problem if the music is good, right?
It is on Keane's debut album. The first four tracks are the album's strongest, creating for an excellent opening to what could have been a fantastic album. However, it is questionable as to whether it is the tracks that are the strong or whether after four tracks you start to become bored of hearing what is essentially the same song with different lyrics over and over again. It does not help that the albums two best (and most famous) songs, Somewhere Only We Know and Everybody's Changing, are featured within the first four songs. Even if Everybody's Changing follows the pattern that the rest of the album does in which it becomes repetitive after a few minutes, it does have a message that can easily be applied to life, which seems to make it pleasant. It is understandable why their strongest two songs were their first two singles.
However, after its rather strong start, the album starts to go down hill. The songs begin to become boring and seem to lack any real spark. A method of song making is established and is stuck to for the rest of the album. Their lack of variation concerning instruments really does begin to work against them. The songs seem to become too reliant on the vocals of the lead singer, Tom Chaplin, with the instruments becoming mere background noise. This would not become too much of a problem is Tom Chaplin's vocals were not extremely annoying. Sure, they fit the tone of the songs very well, but that does not stop them from sounding like a strangled cat when he attempts to hit the high notes. What makes the songs On A Day Like Today and Untitled 1 enjoyable in comparison to most of the final two thirds of the album is that the drum and bass combo are more dominant than Chaplin's vocals.
A problem in the album that comes through in this review is that there just is not much to talk about. Everything is the same. At least with some albums you can criticise where the band experimented and failed. With Hopes and Fears, you can only criticise the lack of experimentation and how it works against them, as well as how tedious the vocals can be. The song Can't Stop Now is only so enjoyable because it is an upbeat song present in a wave of slow, dull songs that all sound the same. It actually left me screaming 'Please Stop Now!'
The album would not have suffered from a grand finisher, but uses the song Bedshaped instead. The song is not necessarily bad, but it is the same song as we have heard for most of the album. In fact, putting Can't Stop Now as the finisher of the album would have redeemed the album immensely, for it would have been a song that would have screamed: "This isn't over! This is us!"
Overall, the album just comes off as bland. When it does hit the right notes, it does so pretty well. But the problem is that it does not hit those notes often enough. Sure, it is a nice album to have on quietly when you are working, but it does not work well as anything but background noise. More songs with the drum and bass combo would have been welcome, and even a little more dominant piano work would have been fantastic. If the album had been up to the quality of the first third of the album then maybe it would not be an album you listened to and thought: "Oh God, when is it over!" but, you see, it is not, which is a shame, because the album had such potential to be something so much more.
*Just a finishing side note: They do not sound like Coldplay that much. Coldplay's inspiration is evident, but it is not dominant.
Star songs: Somewhere Only We Know, Everything's Changing.
Avoid: This is the Last Time, She Has No Time, Your Eyes Open.
40/100.
But Hi, I'm Ryan. You may have seen me around, and I write a lot! Something that I do write occasionally are reviews. I wrote one today on an album I have recently listened to and I wanted to share my review with you all. So, without further adieu...
And, please, do criticise and praise where necessary. If you've listened to album, feel free to voice your opinions on it too!
'Hopes and Fears' by Keane Review (2004)
Keane. A three piece alternate rock group that experienced their birth in the wake of Coldplay's vast success, such as many other bands did, Snow Patrol and Travis being no exception. Of course, this has led to Keane being labelled as the Coldplay knock-offs. It was this label that sparked my interest in reviewing Keane's first album. Are they really Coldplay knock-offs? Does Keane have a strong debut album on their résumé? Is Hopes and Fears actually any good?
To begin with, I feel that it may be best that at the time of recording the band had only three members: a pianist; a bassist and a drummer. Of course, there are the vocals too to accompany this unique and, arguably, daringly brave combination of instruments. Whilst the lack of variation in instruments does limit the band, it also allows them to create some new sounds for their audience that their unique combination is capable of creating. Unfortunately, Keane is unable to do this, which results in an album that is about 50 minutes of music that, more or less, sounds the same. However, this is not a problem if the music is good, right?
It is on Keane's debut album. The first four tracks are the album's strongest, creating for an excellent opening to what could have been a fantastic album. However, it is questionable as to whether it is the tracks that are the strong or whether after four tracks you start to become bored of hearing what is essentially the same song with different lyrics over and over again. It does not help that the albums two best (and most famous) songs, Somewhere Only We Know and Everybody's Changing, are featured within the first four songs. Even if Everybody's Changing follows the pattern that the rest of the album does in which it becomes repetitive after a few minutes, it does have a message that can easily be applied to life, which seems to make it pleasant. It is understandable why their strongest two songs were their first two singles.
However, after its rather strong start, the album starts to go down hill. The songs begin to become boring and seem to lack any real spark. A method of song making is established and is stuck to for the rest of the album. Their lack of variation concerning instruments really does begin to work against them. The songs seem to become too reliant on the vocals of the lead singer, Tom Chaplin, with the instruments becoming mere background noise. This would not become too much of a problem is Tom Chaplin's vocals were not extremely annoying. Sure, they fit the tone of the songs very well, but that does not stop them from sounding like a strangled cat when he attempts to hit the high notes. What makes the songs On A Day Like Today and Untitled 1 enjoyable in comparison to most of the final two thirds of the album is that the drum and bass combo are more dominant than Chaplin's vocals.
A problem in the album that comes through in this review is that there just is not much to talk about. Everything is the same. At least with some albums you can criticise where the band experimented and failed. With Hopes and Fears, you can only criticise the lack of experimentation and how it works against them, as well as how tedious the vocals can be. The song Can't Stop Now is only so enjoyable because it is an upbeat song present in a wave of slow, dull songs that all sound the same. It actually left me screaming 'Please Stop Now!'
The album would not have suffered from a grand finisher, but uses the song Bedshaped instead. The song is not necessarily bad, but it is the same song as we have heard for most of the album. In fact, putting Can't Stop Now as the finisher of the album would have redeemed the album immensely, for it would have been a song that would have screamed: "This isn't over! This is us!"
Overall, the album just comes off as bland. When it does hit the right notes, it does so pretty well. But the problem is that it does not hit those notes often enough. Sure, it is a nice album to have on quietly when you are working, but it does not work well as anything but background noise. More songs with the drum and bass combo would have been welcome, and even a little more dominant piano work would have been fantastic. If the album had been up to the quality of the first third of the album then maybe it would not be an album you listened to and thought: "Oh God, when is it over!" but, you see, it is not, which is a shame, because the album had such potential to be something so much more.
*Just a finishing side note: They do not sound like Coldplay that much. Coldplay's inspiration is evident, but it is not dominant.
Star songs: Somewhere Only We Know, Everything's Changing.
Avoid: This is the Last Time, She Has No Time, Your Eyes Open.
40/100.
