Product Description

'Silent Cry' is the sixth album from Welsh indie-rock outfit Feeder. Recorded and produced by the band themselves, the album sees Grant Nicholas and Co. return to the sound that graced their early releases, a mix of heavy guitars and anthemic songwriting, while creating their most accomplished recording to date. The singles 'Miss You' and 'We Are The People' are included.

Track Listing

1. We Are The People
2. Itsumo
3. Miss You
4. Tracing Lines
5. Silent Cry
6. Fires
7. Heads Held High
8. 8.18
9. Who's The Enemy
10. Space
11. Into The Blue
12. Guided By A Voice
13. Sonorous
14. Yeah Yeah
15. Every Minute

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1621 in Music
• Released on: 2008-06-16
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Feeder have long been the supply teacher of Brit-rock, the Scott Mills of pop-punk if you like--unremarkable yet undeniably able, and somehow proficient or lucky enough to exist beneath the radar, shrewdly outlasting most of their contemporaries. The single most memorable thing about their career is that they once rhymed "Devon" with "Lemon" in nonsensical disregard for lyrical cogency, but their 2006 singles collection contained 20 tracks (yes, TWENTY!), most of them instantly recognisable and entirely affable. None of us will live long enough to find out, but Feeder may well end up rivalling the cockroach in terms of covert resilience. And, as album number 6, Silent Cry, true to form, neither furthers nor hampers their progress. That is to say, it's exactly as good as they’ve always been--whatever you consider that to be. You know the drill by now--comfortable runs of clean guitar, Grant Nicholas’ earnest blue-eyed vocals, add distortion, rinse, repeat, fade. That they manage to squeeze fresh juice from such a well-wrung fruit is credit to a genuine songwriting flair. And though there are equally no real surprises, there are standouts that nudge their alignment just off-centre. Take "Tracing Lines" with its tight beats and itchy minimalism reminding of The Strokes (though also highlighting Nicholas’ comparative lack of charisma), "Miss You" which thunders along burning adrenaline like Foo Fighters at their most agile and closing track "Sonorous" with hurtling crescendos a la Muse. --James Berry

Customer Reviews

A grower!
Initially, I found this album to be disappointingly bland. Each song seemed to sound alike, with no stand-out tracks. This turned out to be a good omen; all my favourite albums are not immediately likeable. I could really appreciate the quality of 'Silent Cry' after four listens. It is quite an epic sound, with universal lyrics. 'Sonorous' gives a nod to the old grunge days; 'Into The Blue' has an indie disco influence; 'Tracing Lines' is upbeat pop. The guitars and rhythms are heavy, which signals a new burst of confidence, if not a return to the pre-CIS sound. However, a bit of piano or keyboard would have been welcome at points! The two extra tracks on the deluxe edition are probably not worth it, though, unless you are a completist.

Silent cry for help?
I once read a review in the Sunday Times which described The Automatic's debut album `Not Accepted Anywhere' as being the opposite of a 'grower'. Namely, one that sounds great on the first few listens but gradually fades from the memory once you realise there's nothing there to keep you going back. Having not listened to that particular album I was never entirely sure what it meant. But now I think I get it, because that's exactly how I feel about Feeder's latest effort. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Feeder fan, but for that very reason I can see that both musically and lyrically this rarely comes close to matching any of the best moments in Comfort in Sound and Echo Park.

The album starts off very promisingly with the first three tracks. `We Are The People' starts things off with the anthemic tone which is quickly becoming a staple of post-Echo Park album openers. It runs into probably the best track of the album 'Itsumo' with a simple 'We Are Family' organ outro, which is very nice indeed. 'Itsumo' is classic Feeder, it's almost as if Grant Nicholas got Pushing The Senses and Pilgrim Soul into a corner and continually crashed their heads together until they finally came out with this. Splendid.

The next track, 'Miss You', is a great example of why you should occasionally turn music up very loud. Drums and guitars clash together so well that you think there might be a very special album here if they followed this direction more closely. Unfortunately, the album takes a sharp downturn from here.

Next up is their second single 'Tracing Lines', which is entirely forgettable, exemplified by the opening lines 'I had a dream / I had a vision / I fell into water / The water was deep'. Now, if that passes for good lyrics in this modern world then say hello to your future Poet Laureate! A title track and a couple of acoustic numbers later and you wonder what's happened to this album. Finally faith is partly restored with 'Who's The Enemy' climaxing to a crescendo of noise (strings included) so big that you might wonder for a split second if Hope Of The States have returned.

The well-needed 40 second musical interlude 'Space' then delicately leads into 'Into the Blue', which starts to jump around right in front of you with its catchy drumbeat but then just runs away, just because it can...
The album does end on a good note however, 'Sonorous' going back to the heavier tone and distorted guitars earlier seen in 'Miss You'. Not only this, but the chorus of 'Don't give up / You have us / We'll find a way' is possibly the best lyrical sentiment on the album. And that would be it, only this is the deluxe version and there's extra tracks. But again, they're not worth extending this paragraph for, which I think could speak for half this album. I'd say that the extra money spent on the deluxe version is more worth it for the incredibly smart jewel slipcase than the extra tracks.

One of the major problems with this album is that there is a distinct lack of pleasant surprises which Feeder usually find time to provide. From Tangerine in Polythene to the almost absurdly placed (but great alarm clock) Godzilla in Comfort in Sound, there was usually something that you weren't expecting. But with this album, it's almost as if they're on cruise control. They seem to be continuously aiming for what they think the fans want but as a result the tone seems to stay the same throughout.

Despite some people saying that Feeder are no good at the quiet acoustic stuff, they should only need to listen to 'Tender', 'Piece By Piece' and 'Love Pollution' to realise that this isn't the case. This album needed some variety, it hasn't got it. Ironically, it could have done with having a couple of tracks less, ironic because many of the complaints about the previous album stemmed from it needing a couple of more tracks ('Shatter' & 'Victoria' would have done nicely there).

If you're new to Feeder, certainly make sure you check out both Echo Park and Comfort in Sound before you make this your lasting impression of the band. Yes, Silent Cry is a very listenable and overall solid album, but Feeder are capable of a lot better than this.

Download: 'Itsumo', 'Miss You', 'Who's The Enemy'

Stunning!
I must have listened to this album at least 50 times now. Every track is amazing! I can listen to this from start to finish and all over again. If I was to name the best tracks, I would be naming a few: "We Are the People", "Miss You", "Tracing Lines", "Fires", "Heads Held High", "Into the Blue", "Guided By a Voice" including the 2 bonus tracks, "Yeah Yeah" and "Every Minute".

I basically mentioned the whole album, and any other Feeder fan will mention the ones I didn't as their favourite. This album has it all. I definitely recommend getting it!

If you enjoyed the album, "Pushing the Senses", then don't delay for one second because you WILL love this album.