Background:

Silent Cry is Welsh band Feeder's long-awaited album; following the hugely successful 2005 release "Pushing the Senses", which received mixed critical responses. The Guardian described the album as a "kind of emotional aural soup that will baffle the spikier members of their original punky fan base", whereas Q Magazine thought that the album would "Finally establish Feeder as major league players". I think the latter was definitely the more accurate review - as the album ended up at number 2 in the album charts; bettered only by Athlete's "Tourist". Nevertheless, this album seems to be a stepping-stone to success for the three-piece band; although admittedly I doubt that this album will surpass the sales of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida" to clinch Feeder's first ever No.1.

Feeder have recorded an album that is largely heavier than "Pushing The Senses", although they have retained their catchy melodies for which they are so famous. That said; are also a handful of songs such as "Silent Cry" that sound as though they could have been on their previous album. Feeder have kept their integrity intact and produced an album full of top-class songs. There is now no doubt that Feeder have established themselves as major league players in the Britpop genre with Snow Patrol and the likes.

That said, Feeder are by no means a highly respected musical act - they are the kind of band that is everybody's secret guilty pleasure. They write the kind of poppy, catchy songs that people sneak onto their iPods by changing the artist name to that of some obscure Scandinavian indie band. It saddens me that they are regarded as the band that everyone hates-to-love and loves-to-hate. Hopefully this review will help change your opinion of them.

Band Lineup:

Grant Nicholas - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Piano
Taka Hirose - Bass
Mark Richardson - Drums

Ex-members:
Jon Lee - Drums (committed suicide in 2002)

Track-By-Track

1. We Are The People - 4:42

This is the first track and the second single to be released from this album. It kicks off with heavy guitars and an addictive beat - instantly portraying Feeder's new musical image. Grant Nicholas said of this song: "It's time for change and only we, the people can do that... I wanted the song to be anthemic and sonically uplifting..." Fortunately, this track is just that. A great opening to the album that bears certain similarities to the band's massive 2001 hit single "Buck Rogers".

"We are the people
Who let this whole thing go
Just like the people you know
We are the reason
We're blinded by the goal
We are the people, you know"

2. Itsumo - 4:17 (Itsumo is the Japanese translation for "Always".)
Feeder follow up their first track with a huge song, which I think has been unfairly underrated by critics. It is full of layered melodies and booming basslines that are typical of Feeder's simple-yet-effective songwriting. This is one of my favourite songs off the album and definitely unmissable.

3. Miss You - 2:59
This track was released in early March 2008 as a precursor to the full-length album; and was available as a free download from the band's website. Within the first 24 hours it was downloaded over 8000 times. This is a flawless and typical Feeder track with an albeit simple chord structure that will not fail to have you nodding your head like the Churchill dog. I'm not sure exactly to what or whom the song is dedicated, but my guess is ex-drummer Jon Lee.
"Coming around, I'm coming around again,
Cautious now, until the bitter end.
(Just cant see it)
What is this, what have I become?
20 days, 7 hours alone

Your coming back, coming back, coming back
Its that I just don't see it,
coming back, coming back alone.

I miss you, each day
I miss you, why does it have to be this way?"

4. Tracing Lines - 3:48
As was the case with "We are the People", this song is hugely addictive and extremely similar to "Buck Rogers". In fact, just before the chorus there is a pause where I am set to hear the famous lyrics "I think we're gonna make it/I think we're gonna save it yeah/So don't you try to fake it anymore, anymore". However, it seems Feeder have decided against recycling their old songs, and have instead used a chorus which was surprisingly almost as catchy as the Buck Rogers one. Admittedly, "Tracing Lines" won't be their most successful track ever, but it is by no means a song that you shouldn't listen to.

5. Silent Cry - 3:26
From the first clean guitar chord in this track, you think to yourself "Why didn't they just put this track on Pushing the Senses?" - which can be seen as either a good or bad thing. In my opinion, this track is a great title track; and is the closest thing I have heard to a complete mixture of all the Feeder influences all in a single track. If you have iTunes and are contemplating whether or not to go out and buy this album, I recommend you use this track to make that judgement.

"Silence the cry
Stepping back further
Escape from the mind
My mind
Twisting inside
Looking for shelter
Find the divide in me"

6. Fires - 3:59
Fires has a much heavier and slower beat to it than other tracks on the album. It starts with an guitar intro that reminded me a lot of The Strokes. This is another consistently catchy track, which depending on your taste will either be amongst your favourites or you most hated. Personally I think it's a good, solid track that is well worth listening to.

7. Heads Held High - 4:04
Admittedly, even I don't like this song. Nicholas's voice is whiney and the verse consists of only two chords. Don't even bother with this song it is pretty abysmal; hopefully they won't write another one like this in future!

8. 8.18 - 3:45
Fortunately, this track seems to make up for the embarrassingly bad previous track. Throughout the track, one can hear that Feeder were heavily influenced by Snow Patrol - especially in the verse. Yet what I found most surprising was the inclusion of the Kazoo halfway through; which actually sounded great! The chorus and verses of this song are really addictive, and the drum part is slightly more adventurous here than elsewhere in the album. Definitely don't miss out on this track.

9. Who's The Enemy - 3:19
Feeder keep to the same sort of style in this track, and in my opinion this is one of the best songs in the album. The inclusion of the string arrangement works surprisingly well. Towards the end there is an interesting mix of James Bond and MUSE influences that put a smile on my face. Make sure you listen out for this track - its going to be amongst Britpop's best tracks of 2008.

10. Space - 0:35
This track is just a pointless little intermission - nothing really too special. To be honest I'm not sure why Feeder included it in the album.

11. Into The Blue - 2:37
Unfortunately, this is another song that isn't worth listening to. It has clashing guitars and out-of-key vocals & synths. Overall, this is the third track on the album that Feeder really would have been better off keeping as a staple track in the "Feeder - Worst Of" album.

12. Guided By A Voice - 3:51
Thankfully I found myself listening to the Feeder that I know and love whilst listening track. As ever, the guitars and drum parts are very simplistic; yet I found this song was just as catchy as the rest of them. As much as it pains me to say it, Feeder are musical geniuses. Yes, they may be formulaic - but that's no crime if it is a formula to success. The tracks that went wrong in this album were the ones where they were trying to be different to what they actually are.

13. Sonorous - 4:39
This song is definitely extremely MUSE influenced. The intro bears resemblance to the more acoustic of Matt Bellamy's guitars, whereas the outro is much heavier and reminiscent of "Knights of Cydonia" This is a brilliant and energetic finish to the album, and sums Feeder's new style up completely.

Conclusions
This is a very pop-influenced release, which makes it unsuitable for anyone that has an excessive musical self-respect. In my opinion, there's a reason they call it popular music; everyone and anyone can enjoy it. Unfortunately pop nowadays is associated with bland and musically dead songs, whereas with Feeder this is not the case.

Where To Buy
The album is set to be released on the 16th June '08 and is going to be widely available nationwide. iTunes will probably sell it for a price between £5.99 and £7.99. Zavvi and HMV will be selling it for £8.99, and the cheapest I have found it on the internet is £6.99 at www.cdwow.com whilst Amazon will have it at £7.98

© Bruno Crosier 2008 (please not: if, like soho_black you think i'm claiming ownership of the lyrics - i'm not. _obviously_)