Album: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
Artist: Kasabian
Singles: Vlad The Impaler (free download), Fire
It's finally here! After what seems like forever, the new album by Kasabian has finally seen the light of day. And it doesn't disappoint. So, we begin with...
Underdog
A brilliant opener to the album, with a great riff throughout. Electric and powerful, this sums up the brilliance of this album. In my opinion, the best of the album. And possibly, the best of Kasabian.
Where Did All The Love Go?
A quick segue from the end of Underdog leads into another great song. It's immediately catchy, with a sing-along chorus that will sound fantastic live. Then it breaks down into some psychedelic solo, which makes the song damn near perfect for me.
Swarfiga
Oh dear. I cannot see the point of this song, and it doesn't sound great either. Two minutes of pointless spooky sounding nonsense. Oh well, at least it's the only bad song on the album. Back to the good ones, starting with...
Fast Fuse
A reworked version, by the sounds of it. I never particularly liked the heavy guitar intro, but once we're past that, we're into Kasabian at their most fantastic. Very good.
Take Aim
A slow intro gives way to a dark guitar sound with some deep vocals, before that gives in to a Spanish-sounding song with a powerful, catchy drumbeat, with an awesome chorus.
Thick As Thieves
A bouncy track, reworked from the 2007 EP. It is one of the catchiest on the album, with another great chorus: "Hey ho, where did it go?" Fantastic. This and the last two tracks almost make up for the horrors of Swarfiga. Almost.
West Ryder Silver Bullet
A duet with Rosario Dawson is what this was labelled as. However, she's more a backing singer here than anything else. A good backing singer, mind you. Anyway, a really weird spoken word intro gives way to a slow, deep song, with some fantastic guitar, leading into a powerful and beautiful singing part, followed by a psychedelic yet awesome breakdown, before starting again and repeating the fantastic formula. Then comes some really powerful drums that show this song off in style.
Vlad The Impaler
I admit this song has grown on me a lot. I gave it 6/10 in the first review. It's much more 8 or 9 now. Nevertheless, it sounds completely out of place on the album. Oh well, it's not as bad as Swarfiga. (You may have noticed, I really don't like that song.) Anyway, great song, but out of place on this album.
Ladies And Gentlemen (Roll The Dice)
A slow yet brilliant song, although there are no defining qualities of it I can really talk about. I'll leave that to professional reviewers.
Secret Alphabets
A psychedelic intro leads us into an electric-sounding piece with a catchy little guitar riff heard in certain parts. But again, nothing absolutely jaw-dropping. Just good.
Fire
Odd, seeing the first proper single at second-to-last on the album. Like Vlad The Impaler, it has grown on me since I reviewed it last (7/10) but I still think it sounds so much better live. Oh well, it bounces along as a nice slow track before bursting into its chorus where the "I'm on fire" bits prevent us from hearing what Tom Meighan is singing in the background. Oh well, it's good.
Happiness
A beautiful, slow closer to the album. After hearing this song, the album seems as though it has been made complete perfectly. Just ignore Swarfiga (Had to get one more "don't like Swarfiga" reference in) and you have a perfect Kasabian album.
In general, a fantastic Kasabian album. Definitely their best. Blame Swarfiga for the loss of one point here.
For the record, their previous albums: Kasabian (8/10), Empire (8/10)
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