|
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Purchase a product from the Music Store sold by Amazon.co.uk and receive £1 to use on an album download in our MP3 Store. Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors |
| 2. An End Has A Start |
| 3. The Weight Of The World |
| 4. Bones |
| 5. When Anger Shows |
| 6. The Racing Rats |
| 7. Push Your Head Towards The Air |
| 8. Escape The Nest |
| 9. Spiders |
| 10. Well Worn Hand |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
Editors were not the only band suckling on Joy Division’s bleak teat in 2005 when they released their debut The Back Room, and they never initially seemed the ones most likely to succeed either. They were like a pencil sketch of gothic depression, too tidy, too clean, too neatly attired to attain any lasting emotional credibility. But there was just one problem with that cursory diagnosis; the incendiary skinny-ribbed barrage of short, sharp, repetitive and achingly insistent singles, titled with an absolute maximum of two syllables as if to ram that point home. There was zero puppy fat on Editors’ bones, but what they did carry was toned and worked to perfection. But even considering that discipline, the competent grandeur of its follow up, An End Has a Start, takes you aback. Awash with constellation-scraping omnipresence, opening track "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" seems all around you at once, building, lifting and frankly doing a better impression of late 80s U2-sized epic than Coldplay mustered on X&Y. The album rebounds between that sense of rounded, accessible awe and the more industrious pounding in the engine room that they perfected on their debut, the latter particularly demonstrable on the title track and a truly hammering "Escape the Nest". Tom Smith’s rudimentary lyrics and forced baritone may lack some of the poetic depth that the music craves, but like their overall style he directs what he does possess with admirable precision. -- James Berry
Review
Back with their second album, Editors have kept to what they do best - gloomy, guitar-laden, electro-infused indie music. Not a bad idea either, An End Has A Start picks up the best of The Back Room and moves it on.
The slightly depressing and morose lyrics are still here, so are the ever-present guitar stylings, and the fast, pounding, pace. But it's bigger, slicker, more ambitious and better.
Take album opener ''Smokers At The Hospital Door''. This is a big song building from a drum beat to a swelling choir-assisted chorus giving it a full lush sound. It might have worked better towards the end of the record, but as a statement of intent, it's bang on. This is a band aiming for a big sound, a big album, and a BIG impact.
It's not all doom and gloom - redemption and family do get a mention, and there is the odd mention of hope. 'Every little piece of your life will mean something to someone', sings Tom Smith on ''The Weight Of The World''. Surprising subject matters for Editors, some of the finest purveyors of British misery.
The title track and ''Spiders'' are also highlights, while ''Push Your Head Towards The Air'', provides a quieter, more reflective moment that stands out all the more for being one of the few on the album.
Having said all that; while it's a very easy album to enjoy, it's harder to be blown away by it. If you liked their debut, then this will not disappoint you. But it may have more trouble converting the doubters.
Sometimes, good though it is, there is such a thing as too much frantic, wall-of-sound guitar playing, even if it is your signature sound... --Helen Groom
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent,
By aubergine (UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: An End Has a Start (Audio CD)
This is definitely my favourite album for a long time.
Editors have been a bit of a slow burn for me, I didn't know whether to like them or not because they sounded like Joy Division, but eventually decided that wasn't a bad thing. I found myself rushing out to buy this the day it came out and wasn't disappointed, I keep listening to it and still love it. It's definitely a bigger sound that the first album, which I like, and there's a lot of emotion in it - some of the songs made me want to cry, but in a good way, and I can't think of any other album I could say that about.
15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A more polished and adventurous sound,
By
This review is from: An End Has a Start (Audio CD)
This is an album of two halfs, one sublime, the other not quite so. Their first single Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors falls into the first catogary, a song that signaled the bands progress from the first album into a more polished and adventurous sound that doesn't dissapoint. This song is matched by the likes of The Racing Rats, while Escape The Nest is without a doubt the best song on the album. It builds into a chorus that signals the best of the brooding vocals sound with great guitar and drums to match.
However, for me the slower songs on the album aren't up to the same standard. While equally polished, and far from bad they just feel a bit forgettable. Even with this though this albums a improvment on the first, which shows great intentions to a band that could have an improving future. If you liked their debut then this albums well worth getting.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I am addicted!,
By
This review is from: An End Has a Start (Audio CD)
I can't get enough of this album. I have already memorized all the songs. The guitars are amazing, the drums: a heartbeat. These songs give me the goosebumps. It makes me feel the way U2 once did. They don't remind me in the least to Joy Division or Interpol. I mean, sure, Tom has the same monotone voice that gets compared to those bands. But, Editors are different. I don't find Editors to be as depressing as Joy Division. They invoke powerful emotion in me. I feel so awesome when I hear track 5 "When Anger Shows" in my car. I sing along and it's so brilliant!! I can't wait for album #3. I saw them play live 2 days ago at the Wiltern and I have to say, very few bands can rock harder live than they do on their album. The Editors did just that. They blew me away. My body is still sore from all the dancing and singing and screaming I did. Thank you, UK for the brilliant bands.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews |
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
