Hardcore Black 666: Keen on Keane Music

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Keen on Keane Music

Image Source: http://www.jacuzzikillers.com

Who are Keane ?

They are a band that Big Passy has been getting into recently, ever since a friend gave him one of their CD's to listen to. Since then we have brought all three albums and love them to death.

Keane are:

Tom Chaplin - Lead Vocals

Tim Rice-Oxley - Bass, Piano and Keyboards

Richard Hughes - Drums

From Wikipedia:

Keane are an English piano rock band that was formed in Battle, East Sussex in 1995, and took its current name in late 1997. The group currently comprises of composer, bassist, and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, lead vocalist Tom Chaplin and drummer Richard Hughes. Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.

Keane achieved mainstream success with the release of their debut album, Hopes and Fears in 2004. The album won multiple awards and was the best-selling British album of 2004. Their second studio album, Under the Iron Sea continued the band's success, topping the album charts in the UK. Their third album, Perfect Symmetry was released in 2008. In May 2008, both Hopes and Fears (Nbr 13) and Under the Iron Sea (Nbr 8) were voted by readers of Q magazine within the best British albums ever, with Keane, The Beatles, Oasis and Radiohead the only musical acts having two albums in the top 20.

Keane are known for using a piano as their lead instrument instead of guitars, differentiating them from most other rock bands. The inclusion of a distorted piano effect in 2006 and various synthesizers were a common feature in their music that back then combined the piano rock sound used during their first album and the piano rock sound which developed on the second and third albums. Keane have also used instruments like the violin, saxophone and acoustic and electric guitar.

Here are some You Tubes clips covering songs from their most recent album: "Perfect Symmetry".

Keane - Perfect Symmetry (Title Track)

This song reminds me of early U2 with the drum backing, and the haunting Yamaha electric grand piano flowing throughout. The soundscape is very U2 October, but modernised but not over produced.

Here is another song from the "Perfect Symmetry" album. This has a nice keyboard brass sound, along with piano and great percussion.

Keane - Spiralling

Keane - Any Wonder

This is from the "Under the Iron Sea" album, and has a nice U2 feel about it.
I am a roller coaster addict and so the film clip is a great concept as well.

Keane - Again and Again

This song has a great big full sound very reminiscent of U2 and Simple Minds, with some extra nice echoing piano and keyboards added into the mix.

Keane - You Don't See me

This is one of the best songs I have heard so far this year.
The use of piano octaves in the recurring theme is so simple and sweet sounding, and works like a wonderful golden thread that stitches the whole song together. The rest of the tune is then left to Tom Chaplin to showcase his superlative vocals. This is indeed a brilliantly produced piece of music.

I don't think this is the offical video, (because the lip synching is not 100%), but is rather a video that someone else made and has put up onto YOu Tube? Anyway, enjoy.

Keane - The Lovers are Losing

The clip for this song is full of interesting scenes. However, it seems to bear absolutely no resemblance to the story being told in the lyrics.

Check out You Tube for plenty of other Keane music videos, especially the "KeaneVEVO" ones.

There are three Keane albums that we have here at Passy World, and all three are good.

1. Perfect Symmetry - Released: 13 October 2008.