Comfort in Sound

Comfort in Sound
Studio album by Feeder
Released	21 October 2002
Recorded	2002
Genre	Alternative rock post-grunge post-Britpop
Length	48:04
Label	Echo
Producer	Gil Norton Grant Nicholas
Feeder chronology
Echo Park (2001) Comfort in Sound (2002) Picture of Perfect Youth (2004)
Singles from Comfort in Sound
"Come Back Around" Released: 30 September 2002 "Just the Way I'm Feeling" Released: 13 January 2003 "Forget About Tomorrow" Released: 5 May 2003 "Find the Colour" Released: 22 September 2003 "Comfort in Sound" Released: 6 December 2003

Comfort in Sound is the fourth studio album by Welsh rock band Feeder, released on 21 October 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.

The band returned to live performance after Lee's suicide, playing low-key slots at various festivals in the United Kingdom, before releasing the single "Come Back Around" and then the album. 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. It is also one of the most successful albums of all time to be released in the United Kingdom as an independent album, selling 512,359 units and giving the band their second top ten single, "Just the Way I'm Feeling". The album sold just over 501,000 as of June 2008 ^[update] .

Inside the inlay, there were also a number of illustrations by Aya Takano, including a picture per song for four of these only, each with a lyrical extract. The first three of these were released as singles from the album, all in their order of appearance in the booklet, which led to beliefs that the fourth song "Comfort in Sound", would be the fourth single, only for "Find the Colour" to be released in its place instead.

In late 2016, Comfort in Sound was played in full on Kerrang! Radio, as part of a classic albums series. Later on in February 2017, the album was inducted into Virgin Radio's "Classic Albums Vault". ^[1]

Release

The album was given a low-key promotional build up due to the death of drummer Jon Lee. Before the album's release, the band played a warm-up show at the Portsmouth Wedgewood rooms prior to performing at the Reading and Leeds festivals and at the Gig on the Green. Kerrang! magazine gave a rating of 5/5 (KKKKK), for the band's performance at Reading. Part of the band's appearance on the main stage at the 2003 Glastonbury Festival was featured on BBC Three and the full set was broadcast on BBC Radio 1 later in the year. The band went on to play an arena tour at the end of the year, with high ticket sales and selling out at the Bournemouth International Centre.

Lead single "Come Back Around" had 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 Lee's suicide, 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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
BBC Manchester	9/10 [3]
Contactmusic	(positive) [4]
Entertainment Ireland	[5]
The Guardian	[6]
iAfrica.com	[7]
Music Scene	[8]
Rockzone	B+ [9]

The album was well received by critics and was a commercial success. It initially entered the charts at #6 before dropping out of the top 75 after only four weeks. It charted at #178 on the 2002 year-end charts, selling just under 100,000 units. In 2003, the release of "Just the Way I'm Feeling" sent the album back to #13 and helped it to #66 in the 2003 end of year charts. The album re-entered the album charts in early 2005: in total, it spent 36 weeks in the top 75. As of October 2016 ^[update] , it has sold over 506,000 copies. ^[10]

"Just the Way I'm Feeling" gained over 15,000 UK radio plays and charted at #10 on the UK singles chart, with follow-up single "Come Back Around" reaching #14.

Accolades

• #5 in Rocksound's 2002 albums list ^[11]
• #37 in Q magazine's 2002 albums list ^[12]
• #27 in Planet Sound's 2002 albums list (incorrectly listed as "Come Back Around") ^[13]
• #32 in Kerrang! magazine's "Top 100 British Rock Albums of All Time" ^[14]
• Rock Sound – "Album of the Month" ^[15]
• Kerrang! – "Album of the Week" ^[15]
• Metal Hammer – "Album of the Month" ^[15]
• The Times – "Album of the Week" ^[15]
• Virgin Radio – Classic Albums Vault inductee, February 2017

Award nomination

• "Best Album" at the 2003 Q Magazine Awards. ^[16]

2025 Reissue

In February 2025, Feeder announced that remastered and expanded versions of Comfort in Sound will be released on 12 September 2025 on vinyl and 2CD formats. The reissue will be accompanied by an album tour in the United Kingdom starting in September.

'Comfort in Sound' is an album very close to our hearts and now feels like the right time to re-release it and let people re-discover it again or for the first time... We hit a brick wall after losing Jon, so as a writer I decided to put all those mixed feelings and emotions into writing songs of recovery. Those compositions became the ‘Comfort in Sound’ album, and I think it opened both myself up as a writer and the depth and soul of Feeder as a band.

— Grant Nicholas, Kerrang! ^[17]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Grant Nicholas

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Just the Way I'm Feeling"	4:22
2.	"Come Back Around"	3:13
3.	"Helium"	3:15
4.	"Child in You"	3:27
5.	"Comfort in Sound"	3:46
6.	"Forget About Tomorrow"	3:51
7.	"Summer's Gone"	4:49
8.	"Godzilla"	2:05
9.	"Quick Fade"	4:24
10.	"Find the Colour" (omitted from first pressings of European release)	3:57
11.	"Love Pollution"	4:13
12.	"Moonshine"	6:49

Asian bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Opaque"	3:59
14.	"Emily"	4:42

Personnel

Feeder Grant Nicholas – vocals, guitars, keyboards, production, additional arrangements Taka Hirose – bass Mark Richardson – drums, percussion Additional musicians Audrey Riley – string arrangements Enrico Tomasso – trumpet on "Helium" Charles Gillingham – accordion on "Quick Fade" Matt Page – piano

Production Gil Norton – production, additional arrangements Adrian Bushby – engineering, mixing Matt Sime – engineering, programming Feeder – mixing John Dunne – programming Bob Ludwig – mastering Aya Takano – artwork

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2002) Peak position Irish Albums (IRMA) [18] 27 Scottish Albums (OCC) [19] 4 UK Albums (OCC) [20] 6

Year-end charts Chart (2002) Position UK Albums (OCC) [21] 178 Chart (2003) Position UK Albums (OCC) [22] 66

References

1. "Vote "Comfort in Sound" into the Virgin Classic Vault!". feeder.rocks and Virgin Radio (UK) Twitter handle. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
2. Comfort in Sound at AllMusic
3. "BBC review".
4. "Feeder – Comfort in Sound Album". Contactmusic.com. 22 October 2002.
5. "Feeder – Comfort in Sound – Review by Andrew Lynch – entertainment ireland, Music, CD Reviews". 25 August 2007. Archived from the original on 25 August 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
6. "CD: Feeder, Comfort in Sound". The Guardian. 25 October 2002.
7. "writersclub.iafrica.com | nils_vd_linden | music reviews Feeder | Comfort in Sound". 18 October 2006. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
8. "Music Scene review". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
9. "Rockzone review". Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
10. Jones, Alan (14 October 2016). "Official Charts Analysis: Green Day claim top spot with Revolution Radio" . Music Week . Retrieved 27 November 2016.
11. "Rock Sound End of Year Lists 1999-2006 list". Rocklist.net. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
12. "Q Magazine's albums of 2002 list". q4music.com. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
13. "Planet Sound's Magazine's albums of 2002 list". oocities.com. Archived from the original on 26 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
14. "Kerrang top 100 British rock albums- 19th February 2005". Rocklist.net. Retrieved 7 February 2007.
15. ""Comfort in Sound" album sticker". Feeder Anorak fansite. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 8 February 2007.
16. "Q Awards 2003 nominations report". RTÉ. 25 September 2003. Retrieved 12 February 2007.^{[ dead link ‍]}
17. Garner, Emily. "Feeder announce Comfort In Sound reissue and UK headline tour". Kerrang. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
18. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Feeder". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
19. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
20. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
21. "UK Year-End Charts 2002" (PDF). UKChartsPlus . Retrieved 2 December 2021.
22. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2003". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 December 2021.