Tom Warke reviews his album of the week, Feeder’s Generation Freakshow…
Alternative rock band Feeder, were formed back in 1991 in Newport, Wales.
With minor band changes in their early years, the current line up consists of lead singer Grant Nicholas, drummer Karl Brazil and Japanese bass guitarist Taka Hirose. The band was originally called Real but it was changed to Feeder, named after Grant’s pet goldfish.
In 1997 the band released their first full-length album, ‘Polythene’. The album included singles such as ‘Crash’ and ‘High’. ‘Yesterday Went Too Soon’ was released in 1999 as Feeders second album, which they self-produced. The bands reputation started to grow and as the album was released it entered the UK album charts at 8th. Some of the album’s lyrical themes came from Grant’s personal experiences, for example ‘Day in Day Out’ came from his previous daily work in a supermarket and ‘Insomnia’ originated from his experiences after gigs on their US tour.
The album ‘Echo Park’ was released in 2001, this is where Feeder made their mainstream breakthrough with the single ‘Buck Rogers’. The single was that popular it reached 5th in the UK Singles Charts and they were also invited on to Top of the Pops. Feeder had single success with another song on the album ‘Seven Days in the Sun’ which topped at 14th.
In 2002 drummer Jon Lee committed suicide in his Miami home, resulting in the band keeping out of the public eye for most of the year. However, later that year Feeder released the album ‘Comfort in Sound’, which included singles such as ‘Just the Way I’m Feeling’ and ‘Come Back Around’. Since Jon Lee’s passing the band has gone on to release another three studio albums, ‘Pushing the Senses’ (2005), ‘Silent Cry’ (2008) and ‘Renegades’ (2010).
‘Generation Freakshow’ is the band’s eighth studio album, released on 20th April.
The main single from the album is ‘Borders’ which is a great track, a typical Feeder song with heavy guitar rhythms and a powerful chorus leaving any crowd wanting to sing along. Another great track is the albums opener ‘Oh My’, again this song has the typical traits of a Feeder song. As much as they like to produce guitar riffing, drum beating tracks, Feeder always show a softer more mellow side, this can be shown with the smooth sounding track ‘Quiet’.
My favourite song from the album is ‘Borders’, such a great sing along track and a typical Feeder classic. After 21 years, Grant Nicholas’s lyrical talent still hasn’t wavered and this album is more of a sustained progression of the band as opposed to a finale. Feeder aren’t out to battle positions with this album, but more to reward their ongoing followers with another masterpiece to add to their collection.
Generation Freakshow is available to buy on iTunes for £7.99, with individual tracks available for 99p – click on the ad below to buy now.
