Comfort in Sound
Encyclopedia
Comfort in Sound is the fourth studio album by the British rock
band Feeder
, released on October 21, 2002 and also the first to be released by the band after the suicide of drummer Jon Lee earlier in the year. The album was recorded at RAK Studios in London
during most of 2002, and was produced
by Gil Norton
.
Following a return to the live stage after Jon's suicide, by playing low-key slots at various festivals in the United Kingdom, the album was released after "Come Back Around
" was released as a single. Three further singles—"Just the Way I'm Feeling
", "Forget About Tomorrow
" and "Find the Colour
"—followed the album's release. The album received positive reviews from the music press and was received well by the public, reaching number six on the UK Albums Chart
. Although charting one place lower than presuccessor Echo Park
, Comfort in Sound had a much stronger chart run of 36 weeks on the weekly top 75 album chart, in comparison to the nine weeks of Echo Park.
Due to containing their second top ten single "Just the Way I'm Feeling", which gave them a more stronger audience and return to mainstream attention, while being the last album they released before headlining arenas for the first time, which in turn increased their popularity at music festivals turning them into a headline act at the 2005 Download Festival
, as well as being their most critically and commercially acclaimed studio album, Comfort in Sound is often considered as Feeder's Magnum opus
.
, and Gig on the Green. The Reading and Leeds shows seen one of the most talked-about events of that year's festival, in which the tent was overcrowded beyond its allowed capacity, and seen many people having to watch from outside as a result. Kerrang!
magazine gave a rating of 5/5 (KKKKK), for the band's performance. Before these three were played, a warm-up show at the Portsmouth
Wedgewood rooms took place two days before Reading. All of the festival shows were played on the second stage, to maintain the low-key status of the shows and albums build-up. Before being invited to the Reading/Leeds festival, the bands original plan was to release the album and not play any shows during the year, with the airplay of the albums first single "Come Back Around
", to promote the album on pre-release. The single got its first airplay on BBC Radio 1's "The Evening Session" show, and was A-listed by the station. The song was originally recorded as an instrumental demo in 2001, with the lyrics shortly written afterwards. After the death of Jon Lee, Grant Nicholas re-wrote the lyrics to relate to their friend and colleague's death, when the final version was recorded with Mark Richardson on drums. A completely instrumental version of the album was issued to television and radio media.
" gained over 15,000 UK radio plays and charted at #10 on the UK singles chart, following up "Come Back Around" which charted at #14. Their Glastonbury appearance was very well received by the press, and given coverage on BBC Three
and BBC Radio 1
later in the year. Despite infamous negative comments from Lauren Laverne
on BBC Three's late-night coverage regarding the band and age range of the bands fanbase (both views strongly disagreed on by the fans), many critics and attendees to the festival gave their performance a positive response.
The album quickly dropped out of the top 75 after entering at #6 spending only four weeks on the chart. It would not be until the airplay release of "Just the Way I'm Feeling" that the album re-entered the top 75 before making a top 40 re-entry the following week. On single release week the album re-entered the top 20 and then in two weeks climbed to its second re-entry peak of #13. The album then spent an uninterrupted number of 12 weeks on the top 75 bringing the total up to 16. It would not be until the release of "Forget About Tomorrow" that the album would re-enter the top 75, peak at #21 on its second re-entry and this time spend 10 weeks on the top 75 bringing the total up to 26 weeks; "Forget About Tomorrow" would meanwhile chart at #12. After a brief one-week re-entry, the single release of "Find the Colour" (which charted at #24) and a limited CD/DVD version of the album was released, the album re-entered for a three week spell peaking at #45 bringing the total up to 30. 2004 at first seen a one-week re-entry, with the album missing out on two extra weeks when it stalled at #76 twice in a row. The album then made its last ever chart entry to date when it spent five weeks on the top 75 peaking at #41 due to the then forthcoming release of Pushing the Senses
. It is often disputed if the band peaked or not with the success of Comfort in Sound.
The band's reputation was highly risen, and turned them in to an act who were playlisted on the radio due to their public response, rather than the playlist departments of the respective stations opinions of the songs. This seen the album's fifth single, being the title track despite only being available to a limited quantity of 3,000 copies on the arena tour (and a limited download), playlisted on Radio 1's B-List despite its non-commercial availability. The album itself made enough grossings from sales alone, which enabled it to be profitable after the costs spent on the album were recouped. The album also sold more than expected by their record label Echo, after previous albums at the time sold in the region of 150,000 copies on average per release, with Echo originally pressing 100,000 units for the first week of release. As a result, despite not winning their Brit Award nomination for "Best British Rock", Feeder seen their then latest album become a commercial success, with Echo pressing four times more copies to meet demand helping the occurrence of the first ever profit-making year in the Echo label's then nine year history of 6.3 million pounds, although the label intended to be a non-profit company with financial support from their owners Chrysalis
. This as a result influenced Echo to run as a profit-making business instead, and upstreamed the value of the company.
Touring was also a then peak for the band, in which they played a UK sell-out 21 date tour in March-April 2003 in front of 60,000 people, which also aided the albums chart longetivity. The success of the tour followed by their main stage debut at Glastonbury (they were third on the final day's bill), influenced them to play an arena tour at the end of the year. Although the tour was not a sell-out, they sold out their Bournemouth International Centre
gig, sold a wide majority of the tickets for the Birmingham National Indoor Arena
gig and got mostly positive reviews by the music press for the shows that were covered.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band Feeder
Feeder
-Technology:* Feeder , any of several devices used in apiculture to supplement or replace natural food sources* Feeder , another name for a riser, a reservoir built into a metal casting mold to prevent cavities due to shrinkage...
, released on October 21, 2002 and also the first to be released by the band after the suicide of drummer Jon Lee earlier in the year. The album was recorded at RAK Studios in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during most of 2002, and was produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Gil Norton
Gil Norton
Gil Norton is a British record producer known for his work with such bands as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, The Distillers, Maxïmo Park, Counting Crows, Terrorvision, The Triffids, Del Amitri, James, The Feelers, The Beekeepers,...
.
Following a return to the live stage after Jon's suicide, by playing low-key slots at various festivals in the United Kingdom, the album was released after "Come Back Around
Come Back Around
"Come Back Around" was the first single released from British rock band Feeder's 2002 album Comfort in Sound. It was their first release after drummer Jon Lee's death earlier in the year...
" was released as a single. Three further singles—"Just the Way I'm Feeling
Just the Way I'm Feeling
"Just the Way I'm Feeling" is the second single to be released from Feeder's fourth album Comfort In Sound. The single was due to be released on 6 January 2003, almost a year to the day the band's drummer Jon Lee committed suicide in his Miami home. Technical glitches on many on the CDs were found...
", "Forget About Tomorrow
Forget About Tomorrow
"Forget about Tomorrow" was the third single to be taken from Feeder's 2002 album Comfort in Sound.The single charted at number 12 in the UK...
" and "Find the Colour
Find the Colour
"Find the Colour", is a single from UK rock band Feeder, and was fourth to be taken from their album Comfort In Sound during 2003.The single made #24 in the UK charts. The version on the single was an edit of the album version, with the song easing up to end and the guitar rifts being loudened and...
"—followed the album's release. The album received positive reviews from the music press and was received well by the public, reaching number six on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. Although charting one place lower than presuccessor Echo Park
Echo Park (album)
-Personnel:*Taka Hirose – bass*Bob Ludwig – mastering*Grant Nicholas – guitar, keyboards, vocals, producer*Jon Lee – drums-Accolade:...
, Comfort in Sound had a much stronger chart run of 36 weeks on the weekly top 75 album chart, in comparison to the nine weeks of Echo Park.
Due to containing their second top ten single "Just the Way I'm Feeling", which gave them a more stronger audience and return to mainstream attention, while being the last album they released before headlining arenas for the first time, which in turn increased their popularity at music festivals turning them into a headline act at the 2005 Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...
, as well as being their most critically and commercially acclaimed studio album, Comfort in Sound is often considered as Feeder's Magnum opus
Magnum opus
Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...
.
Release
The album was given a low-key promotional build up due to the death of their late drummer Jon Lee. Before the albums release the band played a small number of festivals at Reading/LeedsReading and Leeds Festivals
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend, sharing the same bill. The Reading Festival is held at Little John's Farm...
, and Gig on the Green. The Reading and Leeds shows seen one of the most talked-about events of that year's festival, in which the tent was overcrowded beyond its allowed capacity, and seen many people having to watch from outside as a result. Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
magazine gave a rating of 5/5 (KKKKK), for the band's performance. Before these three were played, a warm-up show at the Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
Wedgewood rooms took place two days before Reading. All of the festival shows were played on the second stage, to maintain the low-key status of the shows and albums build-up. Before being invited to the Reading/Leeds festival, the bands original plan was to release the album and not play any shows during the year, with the airplay of the albums first single "Come Back Around
Come Back Around
"Come Back Around" was the first single released from British rock band Feeder's 2002 album Comfort in Sound. It was their first release after drummer Jon Lee's death earlier in the year...
", to promote the album on pre-release. The single got its first airplay on BBC Radio 1's "The Evening Session" show, and was A-listed by the station. The song was originally recorded as an instrumental demo in 2001, with the lyrics shortly written afterwards. After the death of Jon Lee, Grant Nicholas re-wrote the lyrics to relate to their friend and colleague's death, when the final version was recorded with Mark Richardson on drums. A completely instrumental version of the album was issued to television and radio media.
Reception
While being well received by critics, it also had a similar response commercially. The album charted at #66 in the 2003 end of year charts, and also peaked at #6 on the weekly listing spending 36 weeks on the top 75. It also spawned a major radio and TV play hit in which "Just the Way I'm FeelingJust the Way I'm Feeling
"Just the Way I'm Feeling" is the second single to be released from Feeder's fourth album Comfort In Sound. The single was due to be released on 6 January 2003, almost a year to the day the band's drummer Jon Lee committed suicide in his Miami home. Technical glitches on many on the CDs were found...
" gained over 15,000 UK radio plays and charted at #10 on the UK singles chart, following up "Come Back Around" which charted at #14. Their Glastonbury appearance was very well received by the press, and given coverage on BBC Three
BBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
and BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
later in the year. Despite infamous negative comments from Lauren Laverne
Lauren Laverne
Lauren Cecilia Fisher , known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, television presenter, author and singer...
on BBC Three's late-night coverage regarding the band and age range of the bands fanbase (both views strongly disagreed on by the fans), many critics and attendees to the festival gave their performance a positive response.
The album quickly dropped out of the top 75 after entering at #6 spending only four weeks on the chart. It would not be until the airplay release of "Just the Way I'm Feeling" that the album re-entered the top 75 before making a top 40 re-entry the following week. On single release week the album re-entered the top 20 and then in two weeks climbed to its second re-entry peak of #13. The album then spent an uninterrupted number of 12 weeks on the top 75 bringing the total up to 16. It would not be until the release of "Forget About Tomorrow" that the album would re-enter the top 75, peak at #21 on its second re-entry and this time spend 10 weeks on the top 75 bringing the total up to 26 weeks; "Forget About Tomorrow" would meanwhile chart at #12. After a brief one-week re-entry, the single release of "Find the Colour" (which charted at #24) and a limited CD/DVD version of the album was released, the album re-entered for a three week spell peaking at #45 bringing the total up to 30. 2004 at first seen a one-week re-entry, with the album missing out on two extra weeks when it stalled at #76 twice in a row. The album then made its last ever chart entry to date when it spent five weeks on the top 75 peaking at #41 due to the then forthcoming release of Pushing the Senses
Pushing the Senses
Pushing the Senses is the fifth album by the British rock band Feeder. It was released on Echo, Liberation Music and PIAS on 31 January 2005 in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Europe, while being released on Pony Canyon in Japan on 10 February 2005...
. It is often disputed if the band peaked or not with the success of Comfort in Sound.
The band's reputation was highly risen, and turned them in to an act who were playlisted on the radio due to their public response, rather than the playlist departments of the respective stations opinions of the songs. This seen the album's fifth single, being the title track despite only being available to a limited quantity of 3,000 copies on the arena tour (and a limited download), playlisted on Radio 1's B-List despite its non-commercial availability. The album itself made enough grossings from sales alone, which enabled it to be profitable after the costs spent on the album were recouped. The album also sold more than expected by their record label Echo, after previous albums at the time sold in the region of 150,000 copies on average per release, with Echo originally pressing 100,000 units for the first week of release. As a result, despite not winning their Brit Award nomination for "Best British Rock", Feeder seen their then latest album become a commercial success, with Echo pressing four times more copies to meet demand helping the occurrence of the first ever profit-making year in the Echo label's then nine year history of 6.3 million pounds, although the label intended to be a non-profit company with financial support from their owners Chrysalis
Chrysalis Group
Chrysalis Group is a UK media company. It was founded by Chris Wright, who remains chairman and was listed the 1,000th richest person in the UK in The Times Rich List 2009...
. This as a result influenced Echo to run as a profit-making business instead, and upstreamed the value of the company.
Touring was also a then peak for the band, in which they played a UK sell-out 21 date tour in March-April 2003 in front of 60,000 people, which also aided the albums chart longetivity. The success of the tour followed by their main stage debut at Glastonbury (they were third on the final day's bill), influenced them to play an arena tour at the end of the year. Although the tour was not a sell-out, they sold out their Bournemouth International Centre
Bournemouth International Centre
The Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, Dorset, is one of the primary venues for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment and events in southern England...
gig, sold a wide majority of the tickets for the Birmingham National Indoor Arena
National Indoor Arena
The National Indoor Arena is a large indoor arena and is owned by the NEC Group. It is situated in central Birmingham, England and was opened in 1991, as the largest indoor arena at the time in the UK...
gig and got mostly positive reviews by the music press for the shows that were covered.
Personnel
- Grant NicholasGrant NicholasGrant Nicholas is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist of the rock band Feeder, along with bassist Taka Hirose and drummer Karl Brazil.-Early years:...
– vocals, guitars, keyboards - Taka HiroseTaka HiroseTakashi "Taka" Hirose is a Japanese musician who is the current bass guitarist for the rock band, Feeder.-Biography:...
– bass, vocals - Mark RichardsonMark RichardsonMark Richardson may refer to:* Mark Richardson , British Olympic sprinter* Mark Richardson , New Zealand ex-cricketer, turned sports commentator and journalist* Mark Richardson , Australian rules footballer...
– drums, percussion
Accolades
- #37 in Q magazineQ (magazine)Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
's 2002 albums list.
- #27 in Planet SoundPlanet SoundPlanet Sound was a Teletext music page on ITV and Channel 4 in the UK. It was broadcast on analogue Teletext from page 340, and on digital Teletext from page 820. From May 24, 2007, Planet Sound was also available to read online via the Teletext website...
's 2002 albums list. (Listed as "Come Back Around").
- #32 in Kerrang! magazine's "Top 100 British Rock Albums of All Time" list.
- Rock Sound – "Album of the Month".
- Kerrang! – "Album of the Week".
- Metal Hammer – "Album of the Month".
- The Times – "Album of the Week".
European version
Japanese/Korean/Hong Kong version
- "Just the Way I'm Feeling"
- "Come Back Around"
- "Helium"
- "Child in You"
- "Comfort in Sound"
- "Forget About Tomorrow"
- "Summer's Gone"
- "Godzilla"
- "Quick Fade"
- "Find the Colour"
- "Love Pollution"
- "Moonshine"
- "Opaque"
- "Emily"
Original version
This was an original track listing for the album, songs with a * after them were dropped from the final track listing, and have never since been released but some might have been working titles for songs that did make the album.- "All in All"*
- "Walk"*
- "Just the Way I'm Feeling"
- "Come Back Around"
- "Find the Colour"
- "Helium"
- "Child in You"
- "Ascend"*
- "Godzilla"
- "Before We Find Out"*
- "Crystal"*
- "Late"*
- "Forget About Tomorrow"
Chart performance
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
6 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
27 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
98 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
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| Top 75 IRMA Irish Recorded Music Association Irish Recorded Music Association is the Irish record industry association. IRMA is a non-profit association set up to manage and control the music industry in the Republic of Ireland.-Goals and activities:... Irish Albums Chart |
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| Top 100 Japanese Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... Chart |
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