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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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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Keane have had to deal with their fair share of rumours, critical maulings, long tours, hard work etc etc, chiefly because they make music that sounds....well it sounds nice, inoffensive, pleasant, doesn't blow your socks off - but is hummable - nice. And nice music really annoys the so called 'serious' music critics. How do you slag something off if theres nothing wrong with it? Well, you can call it boring, label it 'bed-wetting' music, coffee-table, flash in a pan or 'it sounds like Coldplay' and then you totally forget what's important. The point being that Keane write solid, enjoyable, likeable tunes and despite the press wanting to paint 'Under the Sea' as some gigantic leap forward in terms of both attitude and sonics, it really isn't.
This second album isn't going to convert the naysayers wholesale but it will invite more favourable reviews in passing. Tom Chaplins voice is as as cherub-like as his face suggests and Tim Rice-Oxley has busied himself, squared away with a casio and a moog, to make his keyborads sound more like guitars. But whats the point in it all if there are no hooks? What if there is no 'Somewhere Only We Know'?
The vultures will gleefully strip em dry.
Thankfully 'Under the Sea' brims with some natty little pop tunes, that'll set a a flood of lighters ablaze in concerts and festivals the world over. 'Crystal Ball', 'Is It Any Wonder?'and 'Hamburg Song' are perfect examples of where Keane can tread in the future. Lets just hope that the reported band fall out and Tom's subsequent spell in rehab don't prematurely end a promising band's career.
'Under the Sea' is not a bad album by a long shot, its not great either.
It is 'nice' though.
This second album isn't going to convert the naysayers wholesale but it will invite more favourable reviews in passing. Tom Chaplins voice is as as cherub-like as his face suggests and Tim Rice-Oxley has busied himself, squared away with a casio and a moog, to make his keyborads sound more like guitars. But whats the point in it all if there are no hooks? What if there is no 'Somewhere Only We Know'?
The vultures will gleefully strip em dry.
Thankfully 'Under the Sea' brims with some natty little pop tunes, that'll set a a flood of lighters ablaze in concerts and festivals the world over. 'Crystal Ball', 'Is It Any Wonder?'and 'Hamburg Song' are perfect examples of where Keane can tread in the future. Lets just hope that the reported band fall out and Tom's subsequent spell in rehab don't prematurely end a promising band's career.
'Under the Sea' is not a bad album by a long shot, its not great either.
It is 'nice' though.
26 of 29 people found the following review helpful
Format: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
Format: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
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
quality classic!
Great service thrilled with the CD know it of old but needed to replace my well worn and scratched version. Amazon always a safe bet for quality service!
Published 5 months ago by Jane
Simply excellet
Excellent album, as everything else created by Keane! I like it even more than Train, as Iron Sea and their previous work is more the Keane I know and love.
Published 23 months ago by Lily Amar
What a powerful album!!
The second album of this great British band is in my opinion the best of them. The musical evolution is a excelent surprise from the very beginning of the album with the powerful... Read more
Published on 11 May 2010 by MARCELA GARCIA
Brilliant Slow Burner
At first I thought the album was terrible. I thought it was bland and asif they tried to follow a formulae and failed miserably. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2010 by Mr Jack D Westrop
A hugely disappointing follow-up album
I found this album hugely disappointing. I loved Hopes and Fears which had some outstanding tracks so was eagerly looking forward to hearing this album but when I did it was so... Read more
Published on 26 Nov 2008 by Kittycat63
Oh dear
mmmm.....I enjoyed the first album Hopes And Fears, especially the top class singles. There were a few so-so songs on there, but the majority of the album was a pleasurable listen. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2008 by Mr. Jonathan Robin Oxley
a personal Favourite
having heard their first album, i felt this one is going to be a bit better, and though some lyrics make no sense, i liked it a lot, infact, i loved it. Read more
Published on 7 July 2008 by Mohammad Jenabi
Little Gem
Keane is that kind of band that people dont really admit to liking. it's like you know the songs, like them, but never ever own an album. My word of advice.... Read more
Published on 19 May 2008 by Rachel Czajkowski
Superb, mature and melodic
There have been criticisms of this album, especially in comparison to Keane's first. This is wrong. Under the Iron Sea is deep, complex and varied, and should be highly rated for... Read more
Published on 9 May 2008 by Britpop Bob
dont over evaluate this. its only music!
jeff lyne of the electric light orchestra could have written and performed this album. get the point? Mr lyne is a musical genius. anyone want to argue with me on that one? Read more
Published on 8 April 2008 by Geoffrey Huxtable
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