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About Under The Iron Sea
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 Product Description Their critically acclaimed debut LP 'Hopes and Fears' took the band from childhood friends to one of the most iconic and reputable acts from the UK. In keeping with the deft beauty of their trademark melodies, Keane have written a second album that mines from the depths a mesmerizing and grittier dynamic. Keane have returned with an album that boasts a bolder, smoldering and more intense sound but which retains the classic song-writing of "Hopes and Fears." About the Artist Band: Tom Chaplin Richard Hughes Tim Rice-Oxley We grew up and went to school together in and around a small town called 'Battle' in the south of England. There is not much to do in Battle, but in the late 1980s, during school holidays spent playing football, we discovered music, like most kids do, and pretty soon were swapping our favourite new albums and artists. Tim had a few piano lessons at school, but quickly bored of the endless scales and classical music, so gave up trying, only to discover that he could play Buddy Holly tunes with what he had picked up. That was it, the start of years playing the songs he enjoyed listening to on a Casio keyboard, programming a pocket-sized sequencer, and trying to write his own songs to play to his friends. As soon as Rich started out on the drums we started playing together, recruiting a guitarist; Dominic, and soon after, a singer; Tom. Music was the only thing we all wanted to do. We had nobody to teach us aside from the tapes in our walkmans, and our Beatles? songbooks, so it took a while to get the hang of playing and writing. By 1999, we moved to London to seek a record deal and conquer the world. Two years on, without a record deal, and with one less member, the three of us fled back to the countryside, broke and downhearted, suffering the ill-effects of two years spent in dead-end jobs by day, and dank rehearsal rooms by night. Salvation arrived, as ever, in the form of music; an opportunity to go to a dilapidated farmhouse in France and record some new demos. The guitar lines were forgotten, and a new sound gradually emerged. ? Pianos and keyboard took over and Tom?s voice found the space it needed. We headed back home, eager to play our new songs to people. By January 2003 we?d been given the chance to release a record on tiny-but-legendary indie label, Fierce Panda, whose head honcho had seen us play at the 12 Bar Club in London. We went back to Battle and recorded 'Everybody's Changing'. The song was made 'Single of the Week' by influential Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq, and gradually picked up by others. All 500 copies sold, and we could barely believe it. We took toured the UK for the first time, playing to packed houses and empty rooms. We paid for the fuel and food with what we had earned the night before, ?the money safely stored in a plastic food container. The lure of a real band that was getting played on the radio and touring the UK was too much to resist, and pretty much all of the big labels had got their chequebooks out. We sign
