Perfect Symmetry (Keane album)

Perfect Symmetry
Studio album by Keane
Released 13 October 2008
Recorded January – July 2008
Studio
Genre Pop rock, alternative rock, synthpop
Length 50:43
Label Island
Producer Jon Brion, Stuart Price, Keane
Keane chronology
Live 06
(2006)		 Perfect Symmetry (2008) Night Train
(2010)
Singles from Perfect Symmetry
  1. "Spiralling"
    Released: 4 August 2008
  2. "The Lovers Are Losing"
    Released: 20 October 2008
  3. "Perfect Symmetry"
    Released: 29 December 2008[1]
  4. "Better Than This"
    Released: 16 March 2009
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(64/100) [2]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [3]
Entertainment Weekly(B+) [4]
Uncut [5]
musicOMH [6]
The Guardian [4]
Rolling Stone [7]
Q Magazine [7]
Digital Spy [8]
PopMatters [9]
Spin [10]
NME [11]
BBC(unfavourable) [12]

Perfect Symmetry is the third studio album by English rock band Keane, released on 13 October 2008 in the United Kingdom.[13] According to international Island Records manager, Jon Turner, "the general international feel is of excitement and 'Spiralling' is a favourite track of the US company."[14]

Background

Perfect Symmetry is a departure from Keane's established piano-pop sound, with the band employing guitars for the first time since their early musical beginnings and a larger reliance on synthesizers than their previous effort Under the Iron Sea, as well as experimenting with other instruments such as the musical saw, saxophone and string arrangements. Also most notable is the emergence of a 1980s' synthpop-influenced style on most songs such as "Spiralling" and "Again and Again". The album is the result of a more relaxed and creative recording process in comparison to the tense sessions for Under the Iron Sea. One of the only piano-driven songs on the album is the track of the same name. Jesse Quin joined Keane from this album as a studio and live support member. He became an official member three years later.

Cover

The cover for the album was revealed on 5 September. Tim Rice-Oxley explained that the imagery of the band are photographs of bigger than life-size sculptures of the band members, made by Korean artist Osang Gwon. It was implied that these sculptures will form the basis of the album's image and promotion up to the date of release.[15]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Keane. 

No. TitleProducer(s) Length
1. "Spiralling"  Keane 4:19
2. "The Lovers Are Losing"  Keane 5:04
3. "Better Than This"  Keane 4:03
4. "You Haven't Told Me Anything"  Keane, Jon Brion^ 3:47
5. "Perfect Symmetry"  Keane 5:12
6. "You Don't See Me"  Keane 4:03
7. "Again and Again"  Keane, Stuart Price* 3:50
8. "Playing Along"  Keane 5:35
9. "Pretend That You're Alone"  Keane 3:47
10. "Black Burning Heart"  Keane, Stuart Price* 5:23
11. "Love Is the End"  Keane 5:37
Total length:
 50:43
Notes

(^) denotes additional production
(*) denotes co-producer

Bonus DVD

  1. Making of Perfect Symmetry documentary
  2. Track by track commentary
  3. "Spiralling" (Live Rehearsal)
  4. "Spiralling" (Demo)
  5. "The Lovers Are Losing" (Demo)
  6. "Better Than This" (Demo)
  7. "You Haven't Told Me Anything" (Demo)
  8. "Perfect Symmetry" (Demo)
  9. "You Don't See Me" (Demo)
  10. "Again and Again" (Demo)
  11. "Playing Along" (Demo)
  12. "Pretend That You're Alone" (Demo)
  13. "Black Burning Heart" (Demo)
  14. "Love Is the End" (Demo)

Singles

The first full single from the album was "The Lovers Are Losing", released on 20 October 2008. The next single was "Perfect Symmetry", released on 29 December 2008. In March 2009, "Better Than This" was released as the fourth single.

Themes

Main article: Spiralling

"Spiralling" is a song performed and composed by English band Keane, released on 4 August 2008 at 10:59 (CEST) as the first single of their third album, Perfect Symmetry. It was released in a similar fashion to that of "Atlantic" as a digital download only single; however, it was available as a free download from Keanemusic.com for the first week of release. On 31 July, the message "When we fall in love, we're just falling in love with ourselves" appeared on the band's website in reference to the track. On 11 August 2008, the song was released as an official digital download on iTunes. The song was said to be inspired by wrestling legend Ric Flair who Tom Chaplin described as a personal hero for his try hard mentality in the ring. His trademark "woo" inspired the song. Frontman Tom Chaplin described the song as "a train of thought about human endeavour, built on an outrageous groove".

Main article: The Lovers Are Losing

"The Lovers Are Losing" is a song performed and composed by English rock band Keane, released on 20 October 2008 as the second single from their third album, Perfect Symmetry. It was played for first the time on Hit40uk on 24 August 2008.

Main article: Better Than This

The album's eleventh song "Love Is The End" was featured on the 18th episode from the sixth season of the series One Tree Hill.[16]

Perfect Symmetry World Tour

The Perfect Symmetry World Tour started 29 September 2008 and finished 29 October 2009, with 121 shows. During the Perfect Symmetry album release week, the band did some free shows in the UK.

Personnel

Keane

  • Tom Chaplin – vocals, guitar
  • Tim Rice-Oxley – piano, keyboards, guitar, percussion, synthesizers, composition, backing vocals
  • Richard Hughes – drums, percussion, backing vocals
  • Jesse Quin – bass, guitar (on "Black Burning Heart"), percussion, backing vocals

Additional personnel

  • Stephen Hussey – violin (on "Love Is the End")
  • Chris Fish – cello (on "Love Is the End")
  • Jo Silverston; Ian Harris – musical saw (on "Love Is the End")
  • Jim Hunt – saxophone (on "Pretend That You're Alone")
  • Anaël Train – French vocal (on "Black Burning Heart")
  • Jake Davies – engineering
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing and additional production
  • Stuart Price – co-production (for "Again and Again" and "Black Burning Heart")
  • Jon Brion – additional production (for "You Haven't Told Me Anything")
  • Scott Johnson – on Studio Tech
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Beth Louise Warren – band assistance and recording co-ordinator
  • Osang Gwon – sculptures for booklet
  • Rob Chenery at Tourist – design and art direction
  • Shamil Tanna – photography
  • Adam Tudhope – managing

Chart performance

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 33
Argentinian Albums Chart[17] 1
Belgian Albums Chart 8
Canadian Albums Chart 7
Dutch Albums Chart 3
German Albums Chart[18] 10
Irish Albums Chart 4
Mexican Albums Chart[19] 1
Portuguese Albums Chart 5
Swiss Albums Chart 6
Spanish Albums Chart 7
Swedish Albums Chart 18
UK Albums Chart 1
U.S. Billboard 200 7

Sales and certifications

Country Sales Certification
United Kingdom 300,000+ Platinum
Argentina[17] 20,000 Gold
United States 135,000[20]
Worldwide 850,000+

See also

References

  1. ↑ Keanemusic - Next single revealed, 6 November 2008
  2. ↑ "Perfect Symmetry Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  3. ↑ Leahey, Andrew (2008-10-13). "Perfect Symmetry - Keane". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  4. 1 2 Leah Greenblatt (2008-10-15). "Perfect Symmetry Review | Music Reviews and News". EW.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  5. ↑ "Album review: Keane - Perfect Symmetry - Review". Uncut.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  6. ↑ "Keane - Perfect Symmetry | album reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  7. 1 2 "Critic Reviews for Perfect Symmetry at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  8. ↑ Published Thursday, 9 October 2008, 18:06 BST (2008-10-09). "Keane: 'Perfect Symmetry' - Music Album Review". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  9. ↑ Bergstrom, John. "Keane: Perfect Symmetry < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  10. ↑ Wood, Mikael. "Keane, 'Perfect Symmetry' (Interscope)". SPIN.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  11. ↑ "NME Album Reviews - Keane". Nme.Com. 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  12. ↑ "Music - Review of Keane - Perfect Symmetry". BBC. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  13. ↑ "Archive". keanemusic.com. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  14. ↑ "Music Week: Keane return in Perfect Symmetry". Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2008.
  15. ↑ Keanemusic.com - Album Cover Art Revealed
  16. ↑ Default (2009-03-23). "One Tree Hill Music". www.oth-music.com. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  17. 1 2 "Representando a la Industria Argentina de la Música". CAPIF. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  18. ↑ "KEANE | Archive | Keane News, Blogs, Photos, Behind the scenes video, User comments and Tour announcements | Global chart positions". Keanemusic.com. 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
  19. ↑ "Mexican Charts". Retrieved 21 February 2009.
  20. ↑ Ayers, Michael. "Keane Boarding the Night Train This May". billboard.com. 26 February 2010.

External links

Preceded by
Dig Out Your Soul by Oasis		 UK number one album
19 October 2008 – 25 October 2008 		Succeeded by
Black Ice by AC/DC
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