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Amazon.co.uk Review
It's perhaps inevitable that Keane's debut album, Hopes and Fears, will draw numerous comparisons to Coldplay. Like them, Keane were discovered by indie label Fierce Panda, who released a single ("Everybody's Changing"). And, like Coldplay, Keane also do a fine trade in catchy and heartfelt indie-pop, all bruised verses and soaring choruses. But though their sound is sure to please fans of Coldplay and Travis, the reality is that Keane manage to sound that little bit more delicate. This could be down to the band's relatively unusual make-up: rather than guitars, the trio use a piano.
At its best, Hopes and Fears is reminiscent of Bends-era Radiohead and singer Tom Chaplin's voice is closer to Thom Yorke's falsetto then Chris Martin's cracked whine. On tracks such as the hit single "Somewhere Only We Know", they manage to squeeze an epic-sounding poignancy from their stripped-down sound (a lot of this is due to the album's superb production). Across 12 tracks, all this slow-burning melancholy skates a bit close to self-indulgence and you can't help but wish they'd rock out a bit. But Hopes and Fears is still a remarkable and surprisingly mature debut album from a young band with a bright future. --Robert Burrow
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Near-Perfect Debut,
By Alf Fly (Warwickshire, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hopes and Fears (Audio CD)
It's appropriate that this album is called Hopes And Fears, because I approached it with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Having bought and loved the band's initial single releases, could this album possibly live up to the expectations I had for it? The answer: very nearly. Certainly the piano-led tracks are a pleasant change in the current guitar-centric climate of indie music, and the quality of the songs is, for the most part, extremely high. The album loses its way somewhat on the penultimate track Untitled 1, which is probably the most uptempo track but which seems directionless and more than a little incongruous for that. The single releases are largely representative of the album's quality; standout track for me, though, is the beautiful, lilting She Has No Time, a song which tests lead singer Tom Chaplin's soaring falsetto to the extreme, and does not find him wanting.I'm still unsure whether the album will bear up to repeated listening, but at the moment I'm enjoying a wonderfully-written, heartfelt album by what I expect to become the biggest Indie crossover success since Coldplay.
33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
VERY KEANE INDEED ON THE BEST ALBUM OF 2004!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hopes and Fears (Audio CD)
Keane's debut album, Hopes & Fears, sounds like an instant classic. All of the tunes are quite simply brilliant, from the melodic Somewhere Only We Know (Track 1) right through until the emotional rollercoaster which is far many their best song, Bedshaped (Track 12). The only way that they could have improved this album would have been to put on it their excellent b-sides Snowed Under and To The Ends Of The Earth. But by their absence from the album it demonstrates the quality of the tracks that Keane have on the album itself. My personal favourite is Can't Stop Now, with its insistent beating rhythm and personal lyrics. It is my tip to be a single, as it sounds brilliant on the radio! And all this without a guitar anywhere... When Keane can use the booming piano and synthesizers of Tim Rice-Oxley, the thumping & pounding drums of Richard Hughes, and the soaring angelic Chris Martin/Aha..esque vocals of Tom Chaplin, what are guitars again? Must have album of the year! Buy it! Five Stars! *****
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved it,
This review is from: Hopes and Fears (Audio CD)
I absolutely loved this album, and I would not hesitate to buy another of Keane's records. I think they may have been slightly unfairly compared to Coldplay, as they have a slightly more upbeat repertoire of songs.I do, however, get annoyed by the excessive amount of breathing into the microphone, especially on "She has no time".
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