Search - Stereophonics :: Keep Calm & Carry on

Carrying on in style

Nse Ette | Lagos, Nigeria | 11/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Their last 5 albums have topped the charts in their native UK, and there's nothing to suggest that this, their seventh album, is about to break that winning streak.



Kelly Jones and company have found a comfortable niche and produce catchy, edgy songs with enough flourishes/experimentation to make the next CD that much different from the last. The title of their new CD "Keep calm and carry on" is taken from a World war II propaganda poster and seems to be the guiding principle of their career.



"She's alright" is an Rocker with shades of REM. "Innocent" is a sunny Rocker with an incredibly cathcy chorus and "Oooooh" refrain. "Beerbottles" is a choppy moody Rocker, stark and haunting with sprinklings of jangly guitars, like the soundtrack to some futuristic Western movie.



Standouts abound on this disc; the Punk-ish "Trouble" ("I'm in trouble, you're in trouble, deep deep trouble's gonna burst our bubble"), the galloping "I got your number", the woozy Oasis-style ballad "Live 'n' love", the tender ballad "100mph" (remniscent of "Maybe tomorrow" or "It means nothing"), the gritty "Stuck in a rut", and closing Coldplay-style piano ballad "Show me how" (the latter two really showcasing Jones' raspy vocals).



Another winner!"

Buy from Amazon.UK

T. Hammond | Utah, USA | 11/29/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I ordered my copy from Amazon.uk and paid a total of $18.63 US dollars - that includes shipping. It took about a 12 days to get here. A great Stereophonics album. Love it!!! I do not understand why it is a import!! I can't believe the price you have to pay on this site! They DO have a US following."

Pretty Great Album, despite the import price

S. Jones | San Diego, CA | 12/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is a shame Stereophonics are not well known here in the US or that they have not made a larger organized effort to promote themselves here. It will probably be a year before Keep Calm and Carry on is released in the US officially, but thank god for imports.



One of the best things about this band is they do not rest on their past and try to recreate themselves every few years. This release is no different. Their last 2 releases have been all out rockers. While both good CD's, the last thing I wanted was a 3rd repeat of that.



KC&CO is definitely a new sound. It relys a lot less on guitars and more on the drums, bass and background vocals to fill in the sound. Some of the songs have a bit of a motown sound (Innocent for example), some are a bit more electronic (Beer bottle, Wonder), and there is tons of slow tempo "soul" as well (Show Me, Could you be the one).



If you are in the US and like the Stereophonics, don't let the import prices stop you from getting this. It is well worth it and one of their best releases. I cannot wait for them to make it to the US to tour for this and I hope the setlist is widely made up of these songs. It'll probably be late 2010 before they make it here, so it'll be along wait.



If you read this far and have no idea who the Stereophonics are, I recommend you pick up a few of their CD's. My fav's are "Language, Sex, Violence, Other" and "You Gotta Go There to Come Back". "Word Gets Around" is a fan favorite in the UK. That is their debut album and the lyrics very much have a hometown story telling feel to them centered around a small mining town in Wales named Cwmaman (I hope I spelled that right!). All the releases are good, but I would avod "Pull the Pin" and "Just Enough Education to Perform" as your first exposure to the band. They are solid releases, but not as focused as the other ones."