Hopes And Fears - Keane

Advantages: Superb debut album - catchy tunes and moving lyrics
Disadvantages: Rather mournful in places

~~UPDATED FEBRUARY 2007~~ Despite all their recent fame and glory, there was no overnight success for Keane. Although they stormed into the charts with their debut album "Hopes & Fears" in 2004, they'd actually been around for nearly ten years beforehand, forming way back in 1995. They've been described by one source as "Radiohead covering Aha". Reassuringly, Keane claim their name has nothing to do with the former Manchester United midfielder; ...
...was inspirational to them in their formative years. Keane are without a guitar player and use the mix of keyboards, vocals and drums to create their music. The band is made up of Tim Rice-Oxley (31) on keyboards, Tom Chaplin (27) vocals and Richard Hughes (32) on drums. Originally from Battle in East Sussex, they used to rehearse and record in a little old room in Tim's parents' house. The road to fame and glory was not easy for Keane. Tim Rice-Oxley ... Read review

Advantages: Polished, well-crafted
Disadvantages: Too polished, too well-crafted

The music press are always keen to suggest that the latest band to appear on their radar is the 'new' version of the last vaguely similar band that came along, thus Bloc Party become the 'new Franz Ferdinand', the Bravery (yukkk) become the 'new Killers' and this little mob from East Sussex, Keane, have the unfortunate tag of the 'new Coldplay', unfortunate given that they find themselves in the shadow of The World's Biggest Band (give or take U2 ...
...shoegazing. Keane are vocalist Tom Chaplin, keyboardist Tim Oxley-Rice and drummer Richard Hughes. Note the lack of a guitarist. That'll be important later. The three look rather unremarkable and most unlikely rock stars, with the rosy-cheeked Chaplin looking like a choirboy who has been dragged out of the church and made to do fifty laps of the running track. You'd never catch them in tight Levi's and black eyeliner, much more likely an Oxbridge ... Read review

Advantages: majority if the songs are really good
Disadvantages: a couple of weak songs

I first stumbled upon Keane when i was travelling back home from college on a coach of which radio 1 was on and they played 'Everybodys Changing'. The very melodic notes caught my ear as well as the wonderful verses of which i wanted to known more about the band and i did this by buying the album. My risky purchase was a successful purchase. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The band Keane first formed in 1997 although they released their ...
...will hopefully be due more successful albums from them in the future! The band are made up of three members and these are as follows: Tom Chaplin : Vocals Tim Rice-Oxley : Piano Richard Hughes : Drums ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are twelve tracks on the album altogether and these consist of : 1. Somewhere only we know: This is a medium paced song which starts off with a piano playing very melodic notes blending in with ... Read review

Advantages: brilliant lyrics, Chaplin's vioce
Disadvantages: no extras

Who are Keane? This three piece from Battle are, Tom Chaplin on vocals, Tim Rice-Oxley on piano, keyboard and bass, and the gorgeous Richard Hughes on drums. The name “Keane” comes from Rice-Oxley’s nanny, Cherry Keane. Keane were brought to my attention as my partner told me about their stunning first chart success “Somewhere only we know”. Since then Keane have exploded onto the music scene with fans including, radio ones Jo Whiley and Jonathan ...
...Chaplin’s fantastic vocals, heart felt lyrics, (all written by the band) and the fact that they don’t rely on the use of guitars to really get their songs going. Keane have recently been on a small tour around the UK and when I saw that they were playing in my hometown of Bristol, I just had to get tickets. Keane well and truly blew me away with their incredible musical talent and now I couldn’t wait for their much anticipated album; but could Keane’s ... Read review

Advantages: Easy listening, great tunes, superb vocals
Disadvantages: I'm getting bored of this already

...for sheer, uncompromised musical pleasure, Hopes and Fears is a wonderful album. This is without a doubt my top summer recommendation. But don’t think that I’m going to write an entirely glowing review. Oh no. I do worry that the effect of Hopes and Fears won’t be a truly long-lasting one. Already, the Keane effect is starting to wear off on me. I think this is partly due to the fact that there is nothing striking or demanding ...
...listen to, but it’s also very easy to grow accustomed to and I’m not sure that the album will become a timeless classic. For many listeners, the album would lack the bite or edge that they look for in music and whilst you might enjoy listening to this on the radio, you probably wouldn’t go and buy the whole album. Dare I say it, I am already a little bit bored with it. Overall, I like the album a lot and “Hopes and Fears” ... Read review