"I'm on Fiiiiire!" (West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum - Kasabian)

Member Name: kerrypanda

Product:	West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum - Kasabian
Date:	04/08/09 (214 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A modern British rock classic?

Disadvantages: Never mind the plagarism!

Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno describes their latest hit album 'West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum' as the soundtrack to an imaginary film. It was produced by Dan The Automator (best known for his work with The Gorillaz) and was more than two years in the making.

I saw the video for their first single 'Fire', which featured the band holding up a bank with their guitars and stealing music scores instead of money (groan!) Although I thought the video was dire I really liked the track and downloaded it. The album was released a couple of weeks later, and after listening to the 30 second clips on itunes I downloaded the whole thing.

The cover is interesting. The concept is a fancy dress ball for the asylum inmates symbolising 'the escapism of madness'. The band are looking at themselves in a mirror, Tom Meighan is dressed as Napoleon, Serge seems to be Rasputin, Ian is possibly Henry VIII and Chris is holding a light bulb in his mouth through a bandanna. It's a shame we don't have massive vinyl album covers anymore as I'm sure it would look more striking than on a little ipod screen.

They use the same image, but in black and white, to promote the album in the press with a quote from William Burroughs, "Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead." I always find those 'sanity is overrated' quotes rather annoying, but it does effectively promote the 'Lunatic Asylum' theme.

Album Tracks

Underdog- "Feels like I'm lost in a moment, I'm always losing to win"
This is a good upbeat opening track. The song is about an East End pub fighter, the lyrics are simple and powerful - but then that seems to be the standard for most Kasabian songs! It has had quite heavy airplay, and it was featured on the Sony Bravia advert.

Where did all the love go -
This is the second single from the album, and I prefer this version, the single version seems pared down and a little bit muted somehow. There is an eastern influence to the music and I like Serge's swooping backing vocals during the choruses.

Swarfiga- is a drum driven instrumental piece, it seems a bit pointless to me. I always skip it.

Fast Fuse- "Heaven may come and heaven may call but I won't be there."
For me this easily stands out as best track. Excellent power vocals from Tom Meighan, and it moves along at a furious pace, with Serge doing his banshee bit in the background. Fab!

Take Aim- "Drug them and give them star prizes, lock them away in high rises."
This is a dark and sinister track, and it features the best lyrics. The intro has obviously been 'borrowed' from 'Paint it Black.' It's the first track on West Ryder which features Serge on lead vocals and he makes a good job of it.

Thick as thieves- "There we were, thick as thieves, frightened by shadows and the autumn leaves"
Can I describe this as a Dickensian pop song? That's what it sounds like to me. It also sounds like they ripped off the tune from 'I'm Only Sleeping' and stole the la la la la bit from The Kinks, but whatever! The Italian sounding guitars on this track and a few others are probably a nod to Serge's Italian heritage, and Tom sounds a lot like David Essex on this track!

West Ryder Silver Bullet-
Starts with a spoken sample from Sans Soleil "In that moment poetry will be made by everyone, and there will be emus in the zone." I researched why they'd used this and discovered it was just an in-joke because apparently they use the phrase 'in the zone' a lot.
This song makes me smile. If Tarantino made a Western this song would be heading up the soundtrack! The actress Rosario Dawson contributes lyrics, and there is an almost cartoon-like loping clip-clop to the music, which for some reason reminds me of the 'sheriff droopy dog' cartoons!

Vlad the Impaler- "You can't miss me, I'm still alive"
Great title for a start, and the intro is like a punked up version of the 'Roobarb and Custard' theme tune! It's quite a dancey track in the Black Grape style. Serge Pizzorno was writing this at the time when Heath Ledger died, and he included the line "Joker I'll meet you on the other side" as a tribute. Noel Fielding starred as Vlad in a video they made for the song when they gave the single away free to their fans. Warning: after listening to this track you could have the refrain "Get loose, get loose" stuck in your head all day!

Ladies and gentlemen (Roll the dice)- "I tell you something isn't right, the way I'm feeling kept me up all night."
Kasabian takes on the power ballad. This is a flawless track, a real 'end of the night' kind of song. The music makes me think of the Twin Peaks intro.

Secret alphabets-
I can't get into this. I've tried but I don't get it. It's sort of trippy and mystical with an eastern influence. The sound is like The Doors meet Stone Roses. It just seems a bit try-hard.

Fire- the infectious first single, it got to number three in the charts. I've read it described as sounding like two songs stuck together like The Beatles 'A Day in the Life' but it doesn't sound that jarring to me. Slow intense verses and soaring powerful choruses, accessorised with cheerful guitars and a funny twiddly bit in the middle.

Happiness- I have heard this track described as Primal Scream-esque, and also as sounding like 'Perfect Day'. It's another one I can't really get into. I think Serge's vocals are too weak. He sounds good when belting out the backing vocals for Tom, but he doesn't hit the mark here. The lyrics are too soppy for anything but a very masculine voice. Serge said in an interview that this song is the happy ending to his imaginary movie.

There are some epic songs on this album, the music is powerful and frantic, and you can play it in front of the kids - it's catchy and inoffensive. Kasabian cover several genres - alternative, dance, rock, pop - and carry them all off.

And just for fun, here are some of Serge Pizzornos thoughts on the new album.
'We know we've made the best album of the decade - if it doesn't sell who cares.'
'Sergeant Pepper made music for lonely hearts, we're making music for lunatics.'
'It's a punch in the stomach, a bullet between the eyes, the lyrics are almost like the Wu Tang Clan.'
'No-ones got the balls to do what we do. We've got our kahoonas out again.'
If that Spinal Tap style posturing hasn't convinced you to buy 'West Ryder' I don't know what will!

Summary: Currently, better than Oasis.