Find the colour, Sight And Sound (Comfort In Sound - Feeder)

Member Name: Andy.mack

Product:	Comfort In Sound - Feeder
Date:	13/01/04 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A more grown up mature album than the ones before, Superb tribute to Jon Lee

Disadvantages: Godzilla

Well having visited Feeder?s second and third albums I thought it was about time I had a look at their latest offering Comfort In Sound. Written recorded and released after the death of drummer Jon Henry Lee the album really comes across as a step on from Echo Park. The tracks all written by Grant were a kind of therapy to help him come to terms with his fiend and band mates death.

They brought in a replacement in ex Skunk Anansie drummer Mark Richardson to take over the duties on this album and I believe he has taken over on a permanent basis. In places the album sounds like a band that have had a few problems in others it does sound like the Feeder of old. Released back in October of 2002 the album signified a new popularity for the band and an ever expanding fan base.

Band
*****

Grant Nicholas: Vocals, Guitar
Taka Hirose: Bass
Mark Richardson: Drums and Percussion

Track 1: Just The Way I?m Feeling
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The song opens the album in a very slow manor with the guitar. The lead into the vocals is a constant guitar before a slow drumbeat comes in a bit louder. The song drifts along and shows the new mature Feeder straight from the off. This is a very good song and has been described as one of the best Grant has ever written. The way the album begins you do expect big things and they do deliver.

?I feel we're going down,
Ten feet below the ground,
It's just the way I'm feeling.?

Track 2: Come Back Around
************************

The next track is the first single taken from the album. Starting a bit more upbeat to Just The Way the vocals come in again after a short guitar intro with the drums this time added. A lot livelier than the previous track this has been played out a lot on the radio and again is a superb song. The lyrics sound brilliant and that new approach is evident for all to see.

?Holding back the questions, r>We're bruised with all rejection,
Gotta pull myself back in.?

Track 3: Helium
*************

The song starts louder again with the guitars and drums leading in a bit longer this time before the vocals actually come in. A good solid beat to the song it sounds like nothing Feeder have made before. Of course that isn?t a bad thing and Grants vocals have moved like on the other albums onto a different style and still sound good.

?Burn forever, learn to feed,
Find the pleasure it's yours to keep.?

Track 4: Child In You
******************

Another mellow track this starts a lot slower with the guitar and a couple of samples before the vocals come in quiet and thoughtful. They are followed close behind by the drums, which again carry a long a good beat mixed in with the vocals and guitars. The song is a bit like Tinsel Town from Yesterday Went To Soon and really makes you sit there and think about things again. The song has quite a slow pace, which really adds to the total impact of it.

?Close your eyes and drift away to some place new,
Where the skies are blue brings back the child in you,
Cross a lonely field as birds begin to speak?

Track 5: Comfort In Sound
**********************

The title track from the album and no doubt a future single when the time comes this is another of Feeder?s best songs. Starting with the guitars and drum beat leading a mid paced introduction to the vocals, which come in with a mellow vibe building into the chorus. This is another of those songs that shows another side of Feeder and the sort of effect Jon?s death had on Grant. Really the explanation about the song is in the title.

?Ease back the strain,
Come heal your pain,
Comfort in sound?

Track 6: Forget About Tomorrow
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The second single taken from the album, which I believe is to be released shortly. Starting in a
similar way to It?s A Beautiful Day by U2, the song comes in with a string arrangement with the guitars and drums taking the beat on and Grant?s vocals coming in perfectly with the song. Another with a very mature sound and a beautiful melody. After hearing it a couple of times you find yourself joining in with it as it is pretty simple lyrics done in a good way.

?Fall apart again,
You hold your face inside your aching hands,
The angels tears come flooding down again?

Track 7: Summers Gone
********************

A slow start again for what sounds like a darker song than the last few. Very mellow guitars and drums with the vocals coming in early on and really lingering in your mind. it keeps a fairly constant beat throughout the song, lifting a little bit for the chorus where it picks up a little before returning to the slower quieter part for the verse.

?You're feeling it too, just slipped away.
The love has gone,
The summer's gone away.?

Track 8: Godzilla
**************

To be perfectly honest this is the track that really lets the band and the album down, my least favourite on the album and possibly the worst Feeder track I have heard. Obviously the idea was to play off the name of Godzilla for the Japanese market but it didn?t work in my personal opinion. It starts with a distorted guitar before the drums come in and then the vocals. Something that normally gets a skip past when I?m listening to it. Luckily though it isn?t too long.

?Live life in overdrive,
Lost love in suicide

Godzilla?

Track 9: Quick Fade
*****************

Well it wasn?t going to be hard to follow up Godzilla with a better song. This one starts with a guitar intro into the drums and then eventually joined by the vocals. The vocals echo a little for a very mellow song that again sounds like a song dedicated to Jon and much more mature than anything before this album. T
he vocals really add a little feeling to the song and it sounds like Grant really does feel what he is singing about.

?I miss you more than words can say,
A part of me has torn away,
A china heart will always break?

Track 10: Find The Colour
**********************

This has to be my favourite track on the album and probably my second favourite Feeder track. It starts with a guitar as usual before Grant comes in with the vocals and then the drums enter after the first few lines. As the lyrics below show its a song about things everyone does and ways that everyone has felt. Again another song like the majority of the album you actually can feel the emotion in Grant?s voice.

?Conversation running dry,
Sending back another text,
Holding on to words you might regret?

Track 11: Love Pollution
********************

Again like with the other two Feeder albums you get to the last couple of tracks in what feels like a short space of time, especially for the range of emotion shown throughout the albums. This starts with a slower guitar intro, accompanied by strings before the vocals come in. The drums join in shortly after for what is another mellow track, drifting along with the drums giving a bit of direction.

?Holding back the undercover,
No respect in giving in,
You'd sell your soul to be another,
When love pollution's setting in?

Track 12: Moonshine
******************

The final song on the album, it starts with a drum beat on its own before the guitars come in and then the vocals. It?s another mellow track to finish the album off with a brilliant start it builds upon it to lift up a little for the chorus again. Another track that really shows the step on between Echo Park and Comfort in Sound. The song carries on with the much quieter sections for the verse and lifting up a bit for the chorus.

?Going over every minute every second in you
r mind,
Turning over catching fragments of a life before you die,
Going over every second, every minute left behind...?

So there we have it the third in my Feeder album op?s , the fourth will have to wait till I actually buy the first album, but I will review a Japanese special edition when I get it added. The album is available from CD-wow for £8.99 including two bonus tracks, Opaque and Emily. This really was a good way for Grant to release his demons and get it down on paper, the feelings about his friends death. Well worth the £8.99.

Cheers
Andy