Search - Kasabian :: West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

Candidate for Album of the Year?

P. Rayner | Bellevue, WA | 07/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm old enough to have seen rock music recycle itself several times over. In some ways this makes me jaded, not easily impressed by the latest 'hot act'. However about once every decade or so artists come along who make such a huge impression on me that I buy everything they produce, never stop listening to them, and they take their place in the playlist I'll be jamming to when the guy with the long scythe comes for me. In the 60s it was Free (Paul Rodgers), Hendrix and Small Faces; in the 70s it was Bad Company (Paul Rodgers again), Skids (Stuart Adamson) and Santana; in the 80s it was Big Country (Stuart Adamson again), The Cure and R.E.M. In the 90s I was blown away by Pearl Jam and The Verve. Now, with no disrespect to The Cure and R.E.M., who both put out perhaps their best albums in 15 years in 2008, the last 5 years have for me been dominated by Kasabian and Interpol. About Kasabian: I have sons who are older than Tom, Serge & co but that doesn't detract from my awestruck reaction to Kasabian as a band. Everything I have ever loved about British music is emcompassed in Kasabian's first three albums and this latest offering, West Ryder, etc. is perhaps the best of them all. If a better album comes out this year I'll be surprised. Buy it, you won't be sorry."

One surprise after another

hempomatic | The Garden State, USA | 07/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a really interesting album. That isn't always a good thing, but in this case, it certainly is. I LOVE putting an album on, and not knowing where it's going from one song to the next, or even from the verse to the chorus of the same song. Only a very few albums have surprised me that way in the past decade or so. Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot comes to mind, but it wasn't as riddled with wonderfully infectious pop hooks as West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum is. I really want to see these guys live in a small club. I have no idea what the critics have to say about this album. If they like it, they are astute, if not, they are idiots, but that's always the way, isn't it? Thank God for the internet and streaming alternative music, or I would never have heard of Kasabian. It's a safe bet they won't be getting a lot of air play in this new world order of Britney, Beyonce, Kanye and Pink."

A Napoleon Complex

Nse Ette | Lagos, Nigeria | 06/13/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kasabian are an English Electro-Indie band and it seems they saved their best (so far, at least) for album #3 "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum". The album is a swirling richly layered Psychedelic affair with loads of chiming guitars, distorted effects and tight harmonies. Comprising a perfect dozen tracks, it has become a fast favourite of mine.



Lead-off single (and their biggest UK hit to date at #3) "Fire" starts off a gently galloping ballad that could soundtrack some Western movie, before kicking into an incredibly catchy Oasis-style rocker with cascading harmonies and a faint Disco feel. Brilliant, and possibly their best song yet!



Everything stands out really, from opening rocker "Underdog" (triumphant sounding stadium rocker with a blistering riff), the pulsing "Where did all the love go" (with a wall of Oo oo oos, a clap-filled chorus, and lyrics pondering "whatever happened to the youth of this generation?"), the brief instrumental "Swarfiga", the Lo Fi-sounding Garage rocker "Fast fuse" with crunchy guitars (The White Stripes would kill for this song), the wickedly catchy "Take aim" (theatrical intro, giving way to strummed and trilling guitars), and the pulverising bass/organ driven "Vlad the impaler" keeping the tempo up.



For ballads, we have the Spagetti Western-sounding pair of "Thick as thieves" (think The Kinks) and "Western rider silver bullet" (a poem recital by actress Rosario Dawson introduces this song festooned with spacey and Oriental sounding effects), the retro, echoing "Ladies and gentlemen (roll the dice)", the haunting shuffle of "Secret Alphabets", and closing acoustic ballad "Happiness" where they come all Radiohead/Oasis-like (backed by nice swelling choir harmonies).



Dressed like Napoleon on the album cover, and with swelling harmonies and cocky lyrics to match ("We are the last beatniks" from "Vlad the impaler") look for this to positively conquer."