keepers 6
keeper avg .545
Compared to Hopes and Fears which limited its musical palate to dry piano, synth, bass, and drums Iron Sea is a technicolor production. Not better so much as more colorful due to the addition of guitar and a lot more studio effects. Opener "Atlantic"**** begins as sonic-ally dark as the sunniest melody on Hopes and Fears was bright, with synth orchestral arrangements the scale of The Wall. "Is It Any Wonder"**** adds a deluge of those aforementioned guitars, treated with some screaming wah and phase. The energy and melody of "Put It All Behind You"***** make it the album's best track, while the guitars are limited to percussive squawks. Of course, some tracks nearly eschew the use of these new effects, at least in an obvious way ("Nothing In My Way"****, "Leaving So Soon", "Crystal Ball") and would sound at home on the previous album. The beautiful and somber "Hamburg Song"**** relies almost totally on a simple reed organ, but for the most part they are still piano and guitar based stadium-ready pop-rock. Though this territory has already been covered by Coldplay, Tom Chaplin's powerful pipes and Chaplin's/Tim Rice-Oxley's skillful melodies make Chris Marten sound like a muppet-singing hack. The skipping rhythm and atmospheric washes of "Broken Toy" seem borrowed from Radiohead - though the song isn't the strongest, I appreciate the arty touches, and imitating Radiohead beats being the umpteenth band to aspire to be watered-down U2 (cough cough, Coldplay). "The Frog Prince"**** is another basic piano-driven track, finishing the album with Keane's basic formula, which is still a good one.
Comments