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Under the Iron Sea
Keane
Retail Price (not our price): $13.98
Release Date: 2006-06-20
Manufacturer: Interscope Records
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
If U2 hadn't already released a pair of career retrospective discs, this British trio's second album would neatly do the trick in one. Not much of a surprise since Keane spent a good deal of time supporting Bono and company following the release their breakthrough debut, Hopes and Fears. From the melancholic "Crystal Ball" to the sinisterly beautiful "Is It Any Wonder?" (a blatant homage to "Zoo Station"), Keane have perfected their forebear's dark stadium-rock formula on their second album, all the more miraculous considering it was once again done without guitars. If Under the Iron Sea sounds considerably edgier than its predecessor, that's because it was recorded while the band was on the verge of splitting. But the friction has also given Keane a renewed sense of purpose, breaking the mid-tempo monotony with vibrant material such as "Nothing in My Way" and "Try Again": soaring songs that make the band sound unsinkable. --Aidin Vaziri

2) Album Description
"Under The Iron Sea" was recorded at The Magic Shop in Soho, New York, and back at Helioscentric Studios, near Battle. In making this record we tried to confront all our worst fears, to ruthlessly scrutinise ourselves, our relationship with each other, with other people, and with the world at large, and to make a journey into the darkest places we could find. It made for an incredibly intense atmosphere during the writing and recording of the album, and the resultant songs and sounds very much reflect that. In the songs we created a kind of sinister fairytale-world-gone-wrong, a feeling of confusion and numbness represented by a dark place under an impenetrable iron sea. To express all this we created entirely new sounds by putting an old electric piano and various analogue synths through many different combinations of vintage guitar effects pedals, creating soundscapes that range from the percussive to vast oppressive walls of distortion. We were writing, singing and performing with a drive, intensity and fury that is almost unrecognisable from our previous music. It was important that this album had a strong visual presence too, and the start of that was the collaboration with Irvine Welsh on ¡®Atlantic¡¯ offered somebody who both inspired us, and found his own inspiration in our music. His resulting film echoes the importance of that visual identity we strove for. We wrote Under The Iron Sea because we needed a record that was going to make us feel alive again.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) Best album I've ever owned   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
My wife and I love Keane and have seen them in concert. We didn't think their last album could be topped, but "Under the Iron Sea" does that - it's brilliant. Be prepared for a different sound, but one that shows how deep the emotions of the band can go - and I DARE you to try listening to it later on and not singing along. Hauntingly beautiful melodies.

2) Stunning   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Layer upon layer of thick lush tones and numerous catchy tunes make this one of my favorite albums from my favorite trio. Thank you Keane!

3) An album of exceptional imagery and feeling   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Amazing melodies that may take a few listens to understand. They seem to create a great molody. Slow it down. Then open it up and add emotion and feeling for good measure. The vocals by Tom are incredible. His strong choir boy voice is impeccable. I wonder whether he could repeat his studio recording live. The arrangements are top notch. A definite theme to the album seems to have opened up the creative result of the 2nd album. Awesome work lads!

4) Emotional and airy   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
Keane's second album is drama at its best. Tom Chaplain's delicate voice carries Keane to heights unmatched by most guitar bands, and the intensity of songs like "Atlantic" and "A bad dream" are melancholy pop at its finest since the Smiths. "Nothing in my way" is like the "Somewhere only we know" of this album with its rhytmic flow and orchestral touches. All in all a nice follow up.

5) Radiohead plus Pink Floyd plus happiness = Keane   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
As my title suggests, if you like Floyd and Radiohead then Kean is probably something you'll enjoy. The difference being that Keane's music leaves you feeling relaxed and nice whereas the others make you want to fade into nothingness. I would never have discovered Keane on my own because I'm an angry old man but luckily a good friend was kind enough to get this and another Keane CD for me. While the remained unopened for several months on my shelf, while I occasionally scowled at them, eventually I decided I owed it to my dear friend to listen to them. I think it's safe to say Keane is now one of my favorite bands. And they might be your favorite band also. You just haven't discovered them yet. Good thing you read this review.