Comfort in Sound

by

Feeder

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I'd give this one 6 stars if I could.

I'd also put this album is great company of albums like "The Bends" by Radiohead, "All That You Cant Leave Behind" by U2, "Mellon Collie" by the Smashing Pumpkins...you know, the type of album when you first hear it, you go "WOW" and it gives your goose bumps. This album left me speechless.

I'm not sure what that last review only gave it three stars and then said the album "seems to get every note right.." In my opinion, this album is a masterpiece. I'm a fan of music by Radiohead, U2, among other bands. If you like bands such Coldplay, Travis, you will definitely dig this record, b/c like the recent strong albums from those bands, there is so much melody in each of these songs. As such, this album is already a huge hit in the UK and rightly so. I'd would be criminal if it didn't get the same notoriery in America. I wont go too much into the tragic circumstances prior to the making of the record (their drummer, Jon Lee, committed suicide before the making of the record), but I will go over each song:

Just The Way I'm Feeling--11/10. Best song on the album--in my opinion possibly the best rock song of the year. Slow rocker full of emotion and melody.

Come Back Around--9/10. Resilient 1st single. Feeder didn't come out with a slow song after the drummer's suicide; instead, their first single is a Foo Fighters sounding rocker that oozes sadness yet also is a strong rocking reaffirmation of life.

Helium--7/10. Slow, yet very heavy rocker. Good song but not among the top echelon of the album.

Child In You--8/10. Sounds like a child's melody, not too different from "No Surprises" from Radiohead yet more haunting and not as catchy as Radiohead's masterpiece. Great song though.

Comfort In Sound--10/10. Sounds very old Radiohead-like, with fuzzed up guitar effects. Great melody. The title and concept of finding "comfort in sound" is something many of us can relate to.

Forget About Tomorrow--10/10. Arena rocker, lush with strings and a very catchy melody. The emotion on this song is amazing.

Summer's Gone--7/10. Good song, though not a standout like the previous two songs.

Godzilla--5/10. The only song on this album that I'm not crazy about. Heavy, loud song, though tolerable. Grant Nicholas said in an interview that this is the last song Jon Lee (drummer) jammed to. Kind of a theurapeutic song when you need noise to get over something.

Quickfade--9/10. Feeder's paeaen to Jon Fee. Touching song with catchy chorus, fuzzy sounds, ("I miss you more than words can say/a part of me is torn away..").

Find The Colour--9/10. Great, incredibly catchy song. Great rocker, a little faster, with lots of melody.

Love Pollution--11/10. This slow rocker sounds like it was taken out of Radiohead's "The Bends". So much emotion, so much melody, the first time I heard this song I was really blown away.

Moonshine--9/10. Perfect ending to the album, a great song. Its has a quiet/loud dynamic that encapsulates many of the emotions on the record. A more perfect ending couldn't be had.

All in all, I think out of the 12 songs, 10 can be considered great songs, and of those at least half are masterpieces. Considering the circumstances, and then just focusing on the songs, it is truly the record of the year in my opinion.

I am very passionate about this album b/c it has so moved me. Download a few songs for yourself and then buy the album. I promise you wont be disappointed.

If it's true that artists must suffer for their art, then Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose of Feeder more than qualify. As part of the power pop outfit Feeder, they lost their drummer and friend Jon Lee in January 2002 to suicide. Nicholas and Hirose would be forgiven for packing up and heading home. But they didn't. Instead, they went back to the studio with renewed purpose and focus. The result is Comfort in Sound - an album full of big, dramatic rock that both mourns Lee's death and celebrates his life. Like AC/DC after Bon Scott's death, Feeder decided to throw a party and not a wake. In both cases, the move has paid off handsomely.

Almost every song on Comfort in Sound deals with the band's grief over Lee's death. But while the lyrics mourn the end, the music tends to mark a new begining of sorts, using powerful pop melodies to counter sadness with hope. That's the hallmark of many a legendary band (The Beatles, Husker Du), and Feeder are wise to follow suit. Songs like "Just the Way I'm Feeling," "Come Back Around," and the title track all serve to let Feeder rock out their despair. And they all work beautifully, using every trick in the book to soar (big guitars, swelling strings, multi-layered riffs). But none of it feels counterfeit, perhaps because we know the story behind the album already. The rockers are balanced with a series of ballads ("Child in You", "Quick Fade") that combine both the beautiful and the melancholy. And the final epic "Moonshine" combines the best of both - a sad, sweeping song that conveys all the mixed emotions of loss.

Comfort in Sound can feel homogenous at times, the unfortunate byproduct of Lee's death. But that's a small quibble with an album that seems to get every note right. Feeder likely won't gather the same kind of audience in America as fellow Britpop Gods Coldplay, but listeners looking to take a chance on Comfort in Sound will be rewarded by a band dealing with tragedy in the best way possible. Here's hoping Nicholas and Hirose don't have to deal with any more heartbreak in order to keep making great music.