Keane - Under the Iron Sea of Commercialism

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Keane - Under the Iron Sea of Commercialism

June 19th 2006 02:56

Keane - Coldplay ripoffs or true genii?

Whenever I see mega-bands or even partially famous bands touring the world, I always wonder what was going through their head when they were first starting out. I mean, for instance, Chris Martin's original musical direction was an Nsync-inspired boy band, named "Pectoralz," something his hair obviously thought of, because his real musical talent only appeared when he shaved it off. But where would his current band, the ever-popular Coldplay, be today, if it wasn't for a mutual friend, Tim Rice-Oxley. Rice-Oxley, a pianist and singer in a small cover band, was considering naming his band Coldplay and, decided instead to give the name to Chris Martin. Martin even offered him a job as a keyboardist in the band, but Rice-Oxley turned it down. So where did good ol' Tim end up?

Keane's First Album, Hopes and Fears

It turns out that Tim Rice-Oxley became famous too, or at least is still in the process of doing so, through his own band, the relatively less known Keane. However, unlike Coldplay who made it big in 1999 with their Parachutes album, it took Keane a further five years to produce an album, called Hopes and Fears. Critics immediately labelled them Coldplay ripoffs, despite the irony in that statement, yet Keane endured and, now that they're on a roll, their second album has hit stores, Under the Iron Sea, exhibiting a much fuller sound to their first album.

Keane and Coldplay differ greatly in terms of song writing. Where Coldplay is heavy on structure, Keane strives for simplicity, churning out the pure emotions at the time. This is particularly relevant in the first track, Atlantic which, on first listen, can seem to drag slightly. However, if one will listen carefuly to the electronic piano infused with those ambient sounds and the electronic drum beat, one can be opened up into a world where the best of Athlete and Coldplay are combined, an experimental acoustic pop band that are willing to try anything.

However, this second album seems to have an almost split personality. Where the slow and fast songs on the first album at least had the heavy piano riffs in common, it seems that Keane is striving to hide the piano's true character within the fast songs on this new effort. Not that anyone can complain, but the wierdest thing about it is that, what sounds like a guitar... isn't - all the guitar riffs on the album are actually keyboard using guitar effects pedals. The end result, however, is amazing - tracks like Is it Any Wonder, Crystal Ball and The Frog Prince are at pop perfection, mixing those innovative piano/guitar riffs with the innocence and markedly different timbre of Tim Rice-Oxley's voice.

Under the Iron Sea

The strength of Rice-Oxley's songwriting always lies in his slow songs, and here is where he shines in all aspects. While Nothing in My Way tends to drag slightly, Bad Dream, and Try Again are beautiful, choir-backed songs that do not stretch Rice-Oxley's voice but let it sit into a comfortable range that drag's the listener along in a euphoric sense of wonder. But this album simply isn't complete without the crux - Hamburg Song, which follows along the lines of Fix You with the use of organs but, unlike Fix You, retains its mellowness throughout and for this you can certainly be grateful. Instead, the song builds up to a slow piano solo that is almost classical in a sense. I know many may hate me for saying this, but I can almost say that this song smashes Fix You out of the park in so many ways - from the structure, to Rice-Oxley's voice, to the piano solo, to the simple combination of it all.

Keane's second album is far better than the first, breaking off the chains of pure genericness and settling into a style that is completely their own - not Coldplay, not Athlete, and certainly not Radiohead, even though every critic in existence seems to think that every British indie band to emerge has to ripoff Radiohead somehow. The innocent and fairy-tale based lyrics of the second album are almost intimidating, but the melodies into which they fit bring the album to completeness, dragging the listener for more and more listens. Perhaps now they can get the credit they deserve, even if only for helping Coldplay to the top.

Keane - Under the Iron Sea of Commercialism

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