Echo Park - Feeder > Reviews > Feels Like Heaven

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Mediocre
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money	Good

Advantages:	Sweetly sung vocals, infectious choruses, powerful instrumental construction .
Disadvantages:	Some of the lyrical choices are a little questionable .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Released in 2001, 'Echo Park' is the third studio album from Feeder; a twelve track construction of music featuring such infectiously catchy single releases as 'Buck Rogers' and 'Seven Days in the Sun' also. The album has a run time of just over 45 minutes in length and a strong 45 minutes of music it is too. The 'Echo Park' album consists of powerful guitar riffs a plenty, some super drumbeats, and the excellent vocal tone of front man Grant Nicholas is always a strong sound to hear. After the release of this album the line-up of Feeder was to change due to the suicide of the bands original drummer Jon Lee, this therefore resulted in a change in sound and direction for the band but 'Echo Park' is I feel the last truly great Feeder album to have been released. 'Echo Park' takes on more of a commercial rock sound than the first two Feeder albums ever did, it's a sound that has here worked out well for the band however and always this release has plenty to offer I feel.

Throughout this album the melodies are always strong, the choruses to the tracks brilliant, and never is the music of Feeder ever short of energy or excitement here. This 'Echo Park' album has plenty to offer to the listener; always the band proves it's worth here through producing a number of finely structured musical creations. Any band that can successfully put forward lyrics such as 'get a house in Devon, drink cider from a lemon' is in my opinion hugely talented. The lyrics are often utterly ridiculous here, it just doesn't matter however as the music is so fun and upbeat. Feeder could be singing anything here and still the music would have you grinning from ear to ear due to the exceptional song structure and fine melody of the music.

'Seven Days in the Sun' has always been my favourite track from this album, it's excellent from start to finish and never is there a dull moment with this one. The lyrics are as ever dreadful, the music is packed full of energy however and the chorus to this track is just absolutely excellent. Always I sing along at the top of my voice when I listen to this one; I just can't help myself. The guitars are incredibly well put across in the music here, the drumbeats providing an incredibly firm base for the vocals to lie atop of and vocally the track certainly doesn't disappoint. The drumbeats are so powerful throughout this track and are in fact excellent in every track on this album. It was such a great loss to the musical world when Jon Lee committed suicide in early 2002, his super drum work does however live on in the three Feeder albums that he helped contribute to ('Polythene', 'Yesterday Went Too Soon', and of course this 'Echo Park' album also).

As I've mentioned before; compared to the first two Feeder albums 'Echo Park' is an incredibly mellowed out album, a lighter and more commercially accessible sound was here displayed than ever before and this I feel was something that here benefited Feeder greatly. I love the first two Feeder albums, I also have a great appreciation for what was done here however and a number of the album tracks here are I feel incredibly impressive. If you listen to the successful single 'Buck Rogers' then you'll notice that the guitars are in fact really quite heavy here, this is something that is true of a lot of the tracks present on this album and always the guitar sound created here has plenty to offer. The guitar sound is full, powerful, and an absolute joy of a sound to hear present in the bands music. Tracks such as 'Tell All Your Friends', 'We Can't Rewind', and 'Choke' also do I feel best display the great guitar work of the band on this album. 'Choke' particularly is really quite a heavy track; every element of the sound is strong here and really well put across by the band in order to provide an extremely powerful overall sound.

The 'Echo Park' album from Feeder is one that I feel sounds absolutely excellent. From start to finish this album is full of power, energy, and excitement also and never does the music disappoint. The great talent of Feeder as a band is always here displayed, the lyrics are often a lot of fun and the choruses always here are excellent. Every track on this album is so well structured, always listening to this 'Echo Park' album is an absolute pleasure and not once does the music created here sound anything short of sensational. The voice of Grant Nicholas is always full of enthusiasm and passion here, every line is sung like he truly means it and this is something that is greatly refreshing to hear. Instrumentally this album has much to offer, vocally it is superb, and overall I must say that a note is rarely put wrong here. If you're going to be picky then the lyrics are not the most intelligent in the world here, this just doesn't matter however as the album is so packed full of life and the melodies so strongly constructed here that the lack of lyrical intelligence is something that can really be overlooked. I most certainly recommend investing in this 'Echo Park' album; it's a strong musical creation from the supremely talented Welsh three-piece that is Feeder. A large number of the tracks are so infectious here that you'll still find yourself singing along to them in many months to come.