| CD REVIEW Kasabian |
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Band : Kasabian I'm always a little apprehensive when coming across bands on major labels, because most of the the time the labels are simply jumping on a bandwagon and trying to make as much money as possible off a hype which they usually helped create in the first place. However, it would turn out that this Leicestershire-based act has been on major labels since the release of their 2004 self-titled official debut full-length (that one was on RCA, the following 3 have all been on Columbia). Originally composed of lead singer (and occasional live tambourine player) Tom Meighan, guitarist/ keyboardist (and main songwriter) Christopher Karloff, guitarist/ backing singer Sergio Pizzorno, and bassist Chris Edwards (whom all hailed from Leicester's Southern suburbs Countesthorpe and Blaby), the band was founded (when Meighan and Pizzorno were still attending college) under the name Saracuse. According to the info at the band's page on Wikipedia (whence this article was partly culled) mentions the early jams showed a strong influence from The Stone Roses. The first demo EP was handed over to the band on December 24, 1998. Saracuse did its first public appearance at the Vipers Rugby Club to celebrate Chris' 18th birthday with family and friends. Spotted rather early, the band changed its name to Kasabian (after Linda Kasabian, member of the Charles Manson cult– interesting detail: Kasabian is a common Armenian surname, which originates from the Arabic word 'kasab', meaning butcher or slaughterer) in early 1999. As far as I know, prior to the release of their eponymous debut album (released in September 2004 in several formats: CD, dual disc, double 10-inch vinyl, and digital download), the band only issued the non-album single Processed Beats in 2003 (actually, the album release may have been preceded by a couple of album singles). Released through major label RCA Kasabian eventually did fairly well for a debut album, selling Platinum twice in the U, in spite of only reaching #4 in the album charts (and charting also only in Ireland, France, Holland, and the US). Cutting the rest of the story short (if you're into a more complete one, consult the band's page on Wikipedia) the band finally found a steady drummer in Ian Matthews during 2004, and lost Karloff (up to that point one of the band's main songwriters) due to “artistic and creative differences” while recording sophomore album Empire (released through Columbia in August 2006, this time as CD, a CD+DVD package, double 10-inch, and digital download), and replaced him on stage with Jay Mehler (whom was eventually enlisted as regular member to the band in 2010). Empire went to #1 in the UK Album Charts, as would the albums following it, selling Platinum twice in the UK, Platinum in Ireland, and got a Gold certificate in Australia (in spite of only going to #67). It also went up to higher positions in other countries' album charts. The album was followed by the Fast Fuse EP (released on LP format through RCA in Oct. 2007), and prior to the release of 3rd full-length album West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum (released June 2009, again as CD, CD+DVD, double 10-inch, and digital download) the band released another LP-EP (in May '09) entitled simply West Ryder (through MusikExpress). WRPLA got the same certificates, and generally went up higher in the charts than before, except for in the US, where the band's debut was their highest charting. That increase factor also counts for Velociraptor, by the way, although the only certificate it got so far is a Gold one in the UK. Making the review job as easy on me as possible (because it would take too much of me at this moment to go into the album song by song), I found the band's page classifying the band in the genres Indie Rock, Space Rock, Neo-Psychedelia, and Electronica...and that's exactly what you can expect here. I mean, when one listens to the album unaware of the band's background, one might easily feel like these guys have a problem picking a specific genre...but actually that's exactly what this band is all about. Having made that acknowledgment, I have to say that I did not always find the lead singer's vocals as suitable. In the Space Rock tracks, for instance, he might put some more warmth, or try to sing at a lower key...but he doesn't, and that disturbed me somewhat. Still, the album took me several sessions to fathom, even after I got through the comprehensive info luggage, and that's a good thing. The band is obviously bringing music which is appreciated by both the fans (sales figures) and the critics (over the years, they've gotten 18 award nominations, of which they won 5), and maybe they're right up your alley too. If you hadn't come across their music yet, you might wanna go listen to some? I'm afraid that for audio files you'll have to make due with the 30-second samples provided by your trusted online sales sites (most specifically by iTunes), but there's several videos to check at the band's facebook page. 84/100 Tony. |