Keane
Hopes and Fears

(Interscope)

First Appeared in The Music Box, August 2004, Volume 11, #8

Written by T.J. Simon

For the past few years, every decent ensemble to come out of the U.K., such as Travis, Elbow, and the Doves, has been branded the next Coldplay. The latest victim of this exercise in lazy journalistic group-think is Keane, and while comparisons to Coldplay aren’t off the mark, the band also recalls the over-the-top balladry of Queen, the ’80s pop of Tears for Fears, and the schmaltzy-but-fun excursions of Robbie Williams.

Keane’s full-length debut Hopes and Fears is a slickly-produced, 11-track collection with an intriguing gimmick: There’s not a single guitar on the outing. Instead, the group relies upon the steady keyboard playing of Tim Rice-Oxley and the soaring falsetto of vocalist Tom Chaplin to propel its music forward. Unfortunately, the songs on the album are largely hit and miss affairs. Somewhere Only We Know and This Is the Last Time are as good as anything to be found on the modern rock radio dial. The same is true for Can’t Stop Now and Bedshaped, but several otherwise decent tunes — such as We Might as Well Be Strangers, Sunshine, and She Has No Time — are plagued with lame drum-machine-style percussion.

Throughout Hopes and Dreams, Chaplin’s voice flies high like a young Freddie Mercury, but his lyrics need a serious shot in the arm. As for being a piano-based ensemble, the listener deserves to hear at least a little more swagger on the ivories à la Ben Folds Five, but alas, the keyboard accompaniments instead serve to give the album an orchestral feel without ever pulling their weight as the band’s lead instrument. While there’s clearly a smattering of tunes worth hearing on Hopes and Fears, it’s clear that Keane is a band whose best work is yet to come.

Hopes and Fearsis available from Barnes & Noble.
To order, Click Here!

Ratings

1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!

Copyright © 2004 The Music Box