Standing on the Edge (Echo Park - Feeder)

Member Name: Padds2

Product:	Echo Park - Feeder
Date:	09/08/03 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No real weak tracks, some fantastic guitar pop rock, Buck Rogers

Disadvantages: Not going to change your life

Feeder may well have come to some attention over the death of their drummer Jon Lee by suicide. Sadly this came at a time the Welsh/Japanese band were starting to et some real success. ?Echo Park? is the album that really helped break the band into mainstream British rock and chart success. It is Feeder?s third full length LP, it does show a slight progression in their sound and a move into a more chart friendly pop-rock. This album spawned the top five hit ?Buck Rogers?, and several other singles, but the consistence of much of the album really shows off how many others could have been released. It is a simple, nice and easy album to listen to. A safe bet for many people, so while hardly pushing back the rock n? roll frontiers it is top quality pop-rock, showing off the bands and singer songwriter Grant Nicholas?s talents off to the full extent.

1. Standing on the Edge
The opening track of the album sums up a lot of what is good about the album. It has a rock side to it with the drums and guitars, but is more developed with good production adding quality. It mixes fast and slow sections with clear choruses. While not as spectacular in grabbing you at once, it is solid and attractive in its own way.

2. Buck Rogers
Still the bands highest placed single, Buck Rogers went top five while bringing more attention to the band. With its distinctive opening guitars and drums beats in the intro and the fact it is a very easy to sing along to, it is a live favourite. The song is full of energy and loud bursts of guitars, in a way that some songs can just make you feel better and warm, this song can do that with the simple but effective rock.

3. Piece by Piece
Not dissimilar to the opening track of the album in terms of sound, it is a slower down version with a more relaxed tone. Again has the structure with verse/chorus, building in anticipation off the chorus at times it picks up the pace, but is a beautiful song. It shows off the lyri
cs and vocals well for what it is, feel good music that works together so well.

4. Seven Days in the Sun.
Another single from the band keeps the high level of performance up in the opening few tracks on the album. It is a loud and fast, opening with a full on guitar riff and stays up with the pace. It is one of those summery songs that with the music can take you away, another feel good track but one of the best on the album.

5. We Can?t Rewind
Still the album cannot be faulted for throwing in any weak songs. This can be a classic all on its own, with less of the bouncy pop but much more power and emphatic feel behind the song. It is a very good song, the guitars and especially the drumming push the song through and really does not tire however many times you listen.

6. Turn
Still flawless, Turn was also a single for them. It is more up tempo than some of the other opening songs, but not explosive. It again gets the mix of the vocals and tune to become a real easy pop tune, but there is something more behind the lyrics with some really nice twists and phrases. The song has to be up there with the best of the album.

7. Choke
After the onslaught of the top tracks on the first six of the album, ?Choke? at seven is a bit of a comedown. It is one of the loudest and frantic songs on the album with some really big guitars, but seems to go over the top just a little. It almost tries too hard to blast you away and loses some of the qualities that go on the album. Still, it is not a bad song, it has a pulsating beat and plenty of guitar work to keep you happy there.

8. Oxygen
The album does begin to falter ever so slightly with these two tracks, again does not reach the high levels as before. It is a slightly darker feel to the music and depressed vocals, the song winds along in a very easy and mellow way, but ends up really going nowhere and is a real album track.

9. Tell all Your Friends
Mov
es the album right back into the zone of the starting few songs, with another belter. It comes back to the classic way they can mix the guitars, drums and bass into an almost perfect mix of pop-rock. It breezes through the song, another summery feel to it, and produced with a fine finish.

10. Under the Weather
The next track is not dissimilar, if not quite as good as the previous. It has some more lyrical lines that just appear above the usual bands can produce. They are not ground breaking or beautiful, but they do not try to do that. As a whole the song has a good chorus and more get up and go.

11. Satellite News
Fills in the last three songs with another fine tune. The longest song on the album, threatens slightly to move away from the usual three minute standard set. About as epic as the album tries to get, it is a really fine song. It will grow on you, compared to the other tracks it does need to be investigated and listened through a few times to really appreciate how good it can be.

12. Bug
It ends the album on a short, sharp and furious note, ?Bug? whips up a storm with some furious guitars. A much heavier approach, even compared to ?Choke? which is about the only track that comes near it. It is not too bad, more of a release of energy than some of the better crafted anthems earlier, it does round off a very complete album.

The album is out and widely available, and I have seen it popping up in a few of the bigger chains summers sales, so can probably be picked up on the cheap if you look around. I would really recommend you investing in this album if you have not already. It has several numbers on there to cheer you up, showing they can do singles and not drop off the quality on the album overall. It is a good starting place to look into Feeder, but the album does not manage to be as good as musically than ?Comfort in Sound? and especially ?Yesterday Went too Soon?. It is still a cracking album that shoul
d brighten up most peoples CD collections.

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