Release Date: April 05th 2024. Record Label: Big Teeth Music/Townsend Music/Absolute Label Services. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Black/Red - Tracklisting
Black (Disc 1)
1. Droids
2. ELF
3. Playing With Fire
4. Vultures
5. Sahara
6. Hey You
7. The Knock
8. Perfume
9. AI Man
Red (Disc 2)
1. Sleeping Dogs Lie
2. Scream
3. Submarine
4. Lost In The Wilderness
5. Memory Loss
6. Unconditional
7. Here Comes The Hurricane
8. Soldiers
9. Ghosts On Parade
Members
Grant Nicholas – vocals, guitars, keyboards, percussion, production and string arrangements
Taka Hirose – bass
Review
Post-Grunge Heroes FEEDER return with their twelfth album Black/Red which is a double album comprising eighteen tracks running for around sixty six minutes in length. I’ve been a fan of FEEDER since the late 90’s and the release of their classic debut album Polythene and I’ve seen live about thirteen times but I stopped listening to them back in 2010. As I concentrated on covering other areas of music but I’ve revisited them quite a lot recently and that was down to their 2019 release Tallulah.
Black/Red sees FEEDER returning to their early Post-Grunge and Alternative Rock sound with an album packed full of potential future classics from the band. They still deliver the usual anthemic and stadium sized rock anthems the band are known for such as ELF, Playing With Fire, Vultures, AI Man, Sleeping Dogs Lie, Scream, Lost In The Wilderness, Soldiers and Ghosts On Parade.
The record has an eclectic sound with FEEDER also bringing an Electro Rock influence to the album with an Indie Rock swagger which they’ve done time and time again throughout their epic and long career. Grant Nicholas adds some socially aware lyrics to the album which can be quite politically minded at times. His vocals are impressive as ever when he’s delivering soaring riffs and catchy singalong choruses.
The instrumental sound is always optimistic and quite muscular within the Heavy Rock and Post-Grunge moments with a subdued Psychedelic energy appearing within the album. FEEDER are quite reminiscent on this album by venturing to their early Post-Grunge roots with songs that could have easily come off Echo Park and Comfort In Sound. Obviously there’s no iconic songs such as Buck Rogers, Seven Days In The Sun, Just A Day, Just The Way I’m Feeling and HIGH which are perhaps the most well known tracks the band is known for.
However, Black/Red offers more first rate songs to solidify FEEDER’s reputation as one of the unsung heroes of the British Post-Grunge and Hard Rock scene. The band has been going strong for over thirty years now and they’ve seen it all. Grant Nicholas and Taka Hirose are stronger than ever with Black/Red perhaps being their most impressive and brilliantly emotional release since Comfort In Sound. The production values are exquisite with FEEDER delivering the best music I’ve heard from them in years.
This is the end of the trilogy of albums that began with 2022’s Torpedo. So there are similar themes and sounds heard with these albums but with Black/Red being the most authentic sounding especially with the socially aware lyrics that accompany the more daring tracks on the album. There’s a positive energy resonating for every single part of the album and I can’t cover every aspect as it’s quite a mammoth album running across eighteen tracks but FEEDER demonstrates time and time again why they’re one of the most essential Hard Rock acts from the UK Rock Scene.
Black/Red also sees FEEDER hungrier and heavier than ever before which is a great sign for their loyal and dedicated following which I’m glad to be part of. This is classic sounding FEEDER through and through with an album that ranks as one of the band’s best releases alongside Polythene, Yesterday Went Too Soon, Echo Park and Comfort In Sound.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Prescription PR for the promo.
Black/Red is available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl now via Big Teeth Music/Townsend Music/Absolute Label Services
Links
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