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Following the success of West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum, the millions of albums sold and the transformation to an arena filling band, Kasabian are now at the stage where many critics and fans will start to turn against them and it will become cool to not like Kasabian. Well if you are one of those that fall into that category then you are are going to be denying yourself of something very special. Kasabian have returned with their fourth album Velociraptor which is their most accomplished album to date. In an age where the art of an album as an entire piece of work is being lost, Kasabian have recorded an album which is consistent throughout, keeps the listener interested and wanting more.
The album opens with ‘Let’s Roll Just Like We Used To’ which starts things off in a gentle reflective mood “In fields when we were young, our hearts got lost in the circles”. The bass heavy ‘Days Are Forgotten’ which keeps us in familiar territory with the bands love for club beats. The biggest surprise for me with this album is how melodic and Beatlesesque in parts is ‘Goodbye Kiss’. It’s a beautiful upbeat song full of melody that is a real pleasure to listen to. ‘La Fee Verte’ sees Serge reborn as John Lennon, this song could easily fit on Sergeant Pepper or The White album, “Oh green fairy, What you’ve done to me, I see Lucy in the sky, Telling me I’m high”. John Lennon would have been proud of lyrics like that. This album shows how talented Serge is as a songwriter. ‘Velociraptor’ is going to be a live favourite so learn the chorus because you are undoubtably going to be chanting “VelocirapTAH! He’s gonna find ya! He’s gonna kill ya! He’s gonna eat ya!” at many a forthcoming festival. ‘Re-Wired’ is going to be another big live anthem next summer as it builds into a big sing a long chorus. ‘Man Of Simple Pleasures’ which takes Gorrillaz Clint Eastwood as backing and reinvents it into another great song. ‘I Hear Voices’ and ‘Switchblade Smiles’ is evidence of this bands talent for creating electronic music. ‘Neon Neon’ takes us back to a gentle ending for this already classic album.
Kasabian have continuously upped their game with each album they have released. Just when you are thinking where can they go next, they go and release what is their greatest piece of work so far. In doing so they have now moved into a stadium filling band. As the winter nights are beginning to draw in, I’m sitting here listening to Velociraptor and getting excited for summer 2012, as Kasabian are sure to be headlining stadiums throughout the country.
Rating: 9/10
Steve Tay
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