no, i didn't really anticipate the Mike D tape (disc) being dislodged from my stereo in all that much of a hurry, for it is quite class. but such has happened, look you see. somehow - and i get that i shall be getting accused of not being a "proper fan", etc but just trying to be honest - Kasabian have gone against what i had expected and delivered a rather smart album in the form of act iii.
whilst i was (vaguely) aware they had a new album on the way i was all "meh" or "sigh" about it. for some reason i had gotten it into my head that i wasn't all that keen on the last two (2) releases they had gone done. no, this is not me in "camp Tom", for the reasons for his departure were as understandable as they were reasonable. however, looking at my reviews of the last couple (click here and follow the links back if you are interested) suggests that i enjoyed them at the time. neither has been played since, mind.
so sure (or certain) was i that i hadn't particularly cared for the previous offering off of Kasabian meant that i did not rush to "pre-order" it. now that i think, perhaps (and this i shall assign to being a senior moment) i got confused with the banal, bland, anonymous record off of someone called Blossoms that i randomly got at the same time. anyway, in the face of "social media" pressure (or reminders) via adverts i clicked on to order it. being honest again and i was delighted to find some "special exclusive live artwork cover" version of it which was about half the price of the "standard" disc. thank you very much, that will do.
it turned up in the post what i thought was a few days early. this, however, turned out to be a few days after the previously much treasured "day of release" date, thanks for that Royal Mail. for some reason i had it in mind the release date was 11th September, which would be a Kasabian thing, yet no, it was as point of fact released earlier (4th). oh. well, after noting the cover said that this was all "inspired (or based) on true events" and with interest seeing neither the front or back cover mentioned that it was Kasabian, i put it on.
honest response to the first song "proper" (after an intro thing) was that it reaffirmed my idea that i didn't really like the last one. i get why they didn't recruit a new vocalist to replace Tom, for Sergio felt it would be better for him to just do it, but then the first song, Soulmate, features him doing that "shout rap" thing. it sounds awful. nonetheless i carried on, going with the idea that at worst it was another album which is just north of 30 minutes (half an hour) from them.
yes i have ended up with the "proper" tape (disc) of the album too. for some reason they are doing a couple of gigs on the same day at a venue reasonably close to moi. having not seen them live it seemed like as good an opportunity as any. the gigs are being labelled as an "album launch", just three (3) months after the release of it. i am assuming they are "warm up" shows ahead of some major (large) venues they are playing a few days after, and expecting to hear just all of act iii in (mostly) full, with maybe a Fire or Club Foot thrown in for fan service. the ticket i got did say it included the album, but i had taken it as a given it would be issued at the gig rather than posted to me.
good job that i did leave it play, for the remainder of the record is less "shout rap", more frenetic, energetic, gloriously "this sounds awesome" rock. as in (you know) what made Kasabian such a class band. lyrically i am at a loss as to what the "true events" all are, except (conveniently) the tale can merrily be told with basic, simple and predictable rhyming couplets, but so what.
favourite tracks? not sure i could select just one, but mostly i have been quite taken by Hippie Sunshine and Hyper/Rising, with Superpowers along the way. pretty much all of them after Soulmate, i think, elect not to have "shout rap" on them, so they work just fine.
essentially (or effectively) this is just a really good rock album. the kind they would have you believe no one makes any more, since the charts tend to get dominated either by solo artists or this hideous (awful) trend of solo artists with someone else on a "featuring" credit. delighted to see that i am very much not alone in supporting the band and their quest (if not crusade) to make sure awesome rock and roll gets the correct level of attention.
sure, it did that very modern thing of immediately falling out of the top one hundred (!!) album chart the next week. which pretty much means that everyone who wanted to own it (or just hear it) did so within the first few days of its release.
oddly i have (somehow) become a "proper fan" of this album. well i assume so, since i went right ahead and bought a third (3rd) copy. during the first week of release they had a clear and obvious push to get the number one spot. to this end they offered a "special edition" download version for (just) south of £5, with the added bonus of posting you a "personalised" signed card.
anyway, that will do. little point (if any) exists in me writing something here that takes longer to read than one would need to spend hearing the whole album (entire). once again, then, it is quite class, with some truly epic rock odyssey adventures in the music.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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