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Post by greendemon on Dec 30, 2020 19:35:16 GMT 1
Which means, as I'm sure everyone predicted, my choice for F has to be Feeder. I discovered them as a teenager around the Echo Park era and they have been one of my favourite bands ever since. Not long after I got into them, the band suffered their most serious setback with the suicide of original drummer, Jon Lee - something that quite understandably had a big impact on their music as well as Grant and Taka themselves. That said, the albums that followed Lee's death - Comfort In Sound and Pushing The Senses -are two of their very best. I'll admit I don't own all Feeder's albums - though they have quite a few! - and I tend more towards their early material, but they made a really impressive return to form with Tallulah last year. I have seen them live a couple of times, most recently last November at Camden Roundhouse, which I think I'll remember for years to come as one of the best gigs I have ever been to. First few songs up later tonight or tomorrow!
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Post by Smurfie on Dec 30, 2020 19:36:55 GMT 1
Predicta points for everyone!
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Post by Panda on Dec 30, 2020 19:38:11 GMT 1
Frank Sinatra overlooked again...
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Post by greendemon on Dec 30, 2020 19:38:34 GMT 1
No ways. Fairground Attraction Flo Rida Oh god not no Florence and the Machine! At first I misread Fairground Attraction as Fairport Convention - who I could conceivably have done had I raided my dad's old record collection
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Post by Smurfie on Dec 30, 2020 19:39:00 GMT 1
Frank Sinatra overlooked again... And Fish from Marillion.
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Post by greendemon on Dec 30, 2020 19:39:42 GMT 1
Frank Sinatra overlooked again... He'll be under S. maybe.
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Post by Whitneyfan on Dec 30, 2020 20:24:48 GMT 1
Mine would be Fleetwood Mac by a long shot, but I might have had to extend it to a top 20 at least!
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Post by greendemon on Dec 30, 2020 20:30:03 GMT 1
Mine would be Fleetwood Mac by a long shot, but I might have had to extend it to a top 20 at least! Honestly I didn't consider them, just because there is so much music of theirs I don't know that I would have to substantially educate myself in order to make a good fist of a top 10! Tango In The Night is a cracking album, though.
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vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,431
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Post by vastar iner on Dec 30, 2020 23:05:08 GMT 1
I think my F would have to be...
Aggravating, challenging, antagonistic, frustrating...and yet scintillating.
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Roo.
Member
Posts: 17,866
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Post by Roo. on Dec 30, 2020 23:08:51 GMT 1
Mine would be either Fall Out Boy or Funeral For A Friend, but I didn't expect anything but Feeder here!
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Post by greendemon on Jan 4, 2021 18:08:31 GMT 1
Later than expected (you could say I forgot about tomorrow )... 10. Buck Rogers (Echo Park, 2001)I have a feeling placing this one so low might be controversial, especially considering that 'Buck Rogers' is the song that first brought Feeder to my attention. In fact, it almost didn't make it at all. What can I say - they just have too many great songs! 'Buck Rogers' was Feeder's eleventh single, but their first top 10 hit and is really the song that made their name. It's just a great, energetic song that will always be remembered as one of their classics (hard to believe, but in just under a week's time it will have been twenty years since its release ) and is an absolute belter live. To my surprise, this turned out to be the only single from Echo Park in the top 10 (though there is one more song to come from the same era). I usually find that the first album I hear by an artist ends up being my favourite, but Feeder is one of the exceptions. Echo Park is, I think, slightly overshadowed by the two that came before and the one immediately following, but there are definitely a couple I wish I'd been able to fit in (to be revealed at the end). And if you think this one's criminally low...
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Post by greendemon on Jan 4, 2021 18:11:07 GMT 1
9. Yesterday Went Too Soon (Yesterday Went Too Soon, 1999)
Like 'Buck Rogers', this is another fan favourite that is way too low. Though Yesterday Went Too Soon was Feeder's second album and made the top 10, I didn't discover it until 3 or 4 years after it came out. I'd probably now say it's my favourite record of theirs, though I've gone between this, Comfort in Sound and Polythene over the years. The title track is an anthemic ballad about the - let's be honest, fairly pedestrian - subject of a relationship ending, but it's a kind of song that Feeder have always done well, and has always been one of my favourites, while not being wildly exciting. And yes, it is magnificent live.
There are four absolutely brilliant songs on this album; two more are still to come in the top 10.
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Post by greendemon on Jan 4, 2021 18:11:50 GMT 1
8. Moonshine (Comfort in Sound, 2002)
Many bands don't survive something as traumatic as the suicide of a bandmate, and when they do, it's almost inevitable that that trauma will be reflected in the music they produce. It's hard to overstate how much of an impact it had on Feeder's music. Comfort in Sound is, as you'd expect, the sound of a band in mourning, and marks a clear shift in the band's direction away from the grungy alt-rock of their earlier days.
Most of the songs on Comfort in Sound are deeply imbued with grief, full of raw, unguarded lyrics that address the pain of a loss on this scale. Not every song is great but the album closer, 'Moonshine', is outstanding, with its contrasting dynamics and that soaring chorus. It's not often I'll get to the end of an album and be in the frame of mind to indulge a nearly seven-minute finale, but I think this is one of Feeder's best album tracks and probably the best album closer they've ever recorded.
Just one more to come from this album and I'd be surprised if anyone couldn't guess which one it is. There are also a couple more album tracks to come.
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Post by greendemon on Jan 4, 2021 18:31:05 GMT 1
Speaking of album tracks... 7. Anaesthetic (Yesterday Went Too Soon, 1999)From an album closer to an opener, and what an opener it is. I had to restrain myself from putting this one higher; on reflection, I think 7th is about as high as it should go. But I just love it so much! There's something wonderful about the contrast between the heaviness of the verses with that screeching riff and the sudden gentleness of the chorus. And then at around 2:40 when the bass comes back in is one of those gloriously satisfying moments in music that makes me want to leave a timestamped comment on the YouTube video with a chef's kiss emoji. It won't come as a surprise that I had Feeder on my shortlist for Haven Factor, but I'm grateful Hupin beat me to the punch as I'm not sure I'd have got them to 4th place! Had I mentored them, this one would probably have been my pick for the album track round.
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Post by greendemon on Jan 4, 2021 18:57:00 GMT 1
6. High (Polythene, 1997)
The first of two songs in my top 10 from Feeder's first full-length album, Polythene, and probably the one that most people might have expected. This is the kind of anthemic ballad I was thinking of a few posts back when talking about 'Yesterday Went Too Soon', but this one has always just hit me a little harder than the former. Thematically, the subject matter is rather different: whereas YWTS mourns the end of a relationship, 'High' is about friendship, youth and ageing. And also weed.
The last time I saw Feeder live, Grant Nicholas dedicated 'High' to Jon Lee - it was one of his favourite songs, so we're told - and the crowd sang every word of it. I'll remember that for quite some time.
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Post by greendemon on Jan 4, 2021 19:07:36 GMT 1
My #4 and #5 are in the midst of a ferocious battle for supremacy, so the top 5 will be up tomorrow. Still to come: 1 from Polythene1 from Yesterday Went Too Soon1 from Comfort in Sound1 from Pushing the Senses1 from none of the above
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Post by greendemon on Jan 5, 2021 13:47:11 GMT 1
The loser of the tussle for 4th place was... 5. My Perfect Day (Polythene, 1997)I didn't discover Polythene until around 2004, by which time I was already well-acquainted with Echo Park, Yesterday Went Too Soon and Comfort in Sound. It was instant love for me. Listening to it now, it shows its age (and the age of the band when they made it), but I still love it. This song was always one of my favourites and is tied up with memories of simpler, easier times (who ever knew life gets harder after being a teenager?) I toyed with putting it higher, but it just couldn't compete with my top 4, so it'll have to content itself with being my favourite Feeder album track. 'My Perfect Day' made an unexpected but very welcome appearance at the Camden Roundhouse gig - Grant said they hadn't played it live in years. One of many highlights
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Post by greendemon on Jan 5, 2021 13:56:23 GMT 1
And the winner... 4. Insomnia (Yesterday Went Too Soon, 1999)Thankfully not a Faithless cover I definitely have more sentimental attachment to 'My Perfect Day', but this one is just so damn good I couldn't put it any lower. This one was a single from 'Yesterday Went Too Soon', reaching #22 in the UK - a new peak for the band at the time, but it deserved to do so much better! It's a real headbanging file-next-to-Blink-182 slice of late 90s-early 00s US-influenced alt rock - as good as any of the bigger hits that people actually remember! Again, this is a well-established favourite of mine in Feeder's older repertoire and is one of those songs that makes me want to head to the nearest moshpit. And then there were 3...
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Post by greendemon on Jan 5, 2021 15:23:50 GMT 1
From the outset, this top 3 was pretty much set in stone!
3. Feeling A Moment (Pushing the Senses, 2005)
Pushing the Senses wasn't especially well-received when it emerged: in many ways a more polished extension of Comfort in Sound, it marked a continuation of the departure from their original, grungier sound and seemed to put them more in the Keane ballpark. It definitely isn't the album I reach for most, but it does have its moments of brilliance, including two outstanding singles, of which this is my favourite (the other will be appearing in the list of near-misses at the end).
'Feeling A Moment' is one of the most powerful songs Feeder have ever produced. It certainly has the best chorus: the soaring vocals that sound almost euphoric despite the deep sadness in the lyrics. Like many of their songs from Comfort in Sound or later, and this era in particular, it's difficult not to connect it to Jon Lee's suicide - it seems to be very openly about grief: 'Turning to face what you've become / Bury the ashes of someone'. Grant Nicholas has said of 'Feeling A Moment' that it was intended as a Part 2 of 'Just the Way I'm Feeling', but that it is also about recovery and being able to carry on despite everything.
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Post by greendemon on Jan 5, 2021 16:02:54 GMT 1
Speaking of which...
2. Just the Way I'm Feeling (Comfort in Sound, 2003)
No Feeder top 10 is complete without what many would consider to be their best song. Out of all the grief-laden songs on Comfort in Sound and Pushing the Senses, 'Just the Way I'm Feeling' is Feeder's most successful attempt at translating that emotional rawness and pain into something brilliant. Like 'Feeling a Moment', it's an album opener, and from the first time I heard it it struck a chord with my angsty teenage self. I didn't know it at the time, but I would keep coming back to it as a source of support for one of the most difficult periods in my life over the next ten years. It's been one of my favourite Feeder songs ever since.
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