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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
As its foreboding name might suggest, Under The Iron Sea finds Sussex balladeers Keane setting sail for somewhat darker waters. Prompted by their involvement in Live8 and Make Poverty History, continuing conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, and personal strife that saw the band’s friendship stretched to breaking point, tracks like "Is It Any Wonder?" and "A Bad Dream" find choirboy-voiced vocalist Tom Chaplin giving voice to a generation distrustful of its leaders, upset by war and discord, but unsure of all the answers. Songwriter Tim Rice-Oxley matches this bleaker spirit with a darker sound, swapping his trademarked piano for synthesiser that, on mid-album instrumental interlude "The Iron Sea", achieves a cold experimentalism reminiscent of Brian Eno. Fans of the inclusive balladry showcased on Keane’s debut album, 2004’s Hopes And Fears, will not be disappointed, however. "Crystal Ball" is the band’s finest moment to date, a soaring number with an optimistic hook ("Crystal ball/Save us all/Tell me life is beautiful") that’s a immediately catchy and characteristically unshakable, while the closing "The Frog Prince" revives fairytale’s ability to satirize, amid a backdrop of flourishing piano and glittering effects. --Louis Pattison
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Epic maturity,
By
This review is from: Under the Iron Sea (Audio CD)
I have listened to this album hundreds of times now and am still finding new emotional depths and nuances. If Hopes & Fears was Keane's suite of optimistic, romantic teenage bittersweet songs then Under the Iron Sea is much darker and deeper - conveying a dive under the sea in a bathyscape with its lyrics of alienation, despair, suffocation within oneself, betrayal, longing, regret. The variety of tracks is impressive, from the gorgeous, heart-wrenching Hamburg Song to the rock-out that is Is it Any Wonder? My personal favourite is Leaving So Soon? The soaring vocals are breathtaking. Tim Rice-Oxley is a master songwriter and keyboardist, and Tom Chaplin has such a pure achingly beautiful voice. In spite of all the darkness and emotional pain of the album (mirroring real life experiences), the final track suggests a re-surfacing into the world of light and laughter. Best album of 2006.
60 of 69 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Similar but different.,
By
This review is from: Under the Iron Sea (Audio CD)
Having been to the album preview gig at ULU earlier in May, I have heard 11 of the 12 tracks on the album and have to say that Keane have made a beauty of an album. It still retains the features which made Keane so popular on the last album but have added new sounds and deeper meaning to their lyrics. Bad Dream and Frog Prince are the undoubted stand out tracks although the haungting Atlantic and upbeat Is it any wonder are fantastic. I'm not sure whether many who dislike Keane will be swung by this album but those who already love Keane will love this album and proves how talented the lads from Sussex are
68 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Even better",
By
This review is from: Under the Iron Sea (Audio CD)
Having bought Hopes and fears the day It came out I am a long standing fan of this group. So its with some uncertainty that I appraoched this new CD with all the reports of the new direction and darker element to it. After a few listens However I need not have worried. Every song its beautifully crafted, melodious and catchy. The only weak link if there is one is the instrumental "Iron sea" which can drag on. But with tracks such as gorgeous opener "atlantic" and superb "chrystal ball" not to mention "bad dream" and "nothing in my way" its only a tiny complaint. Sadly many wont Give the CD a chance as It appears popular to for "music snobs" to dismiss Keane out of hand. But then again they are missing out so they are the losers
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