| Music for the People | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 27 April 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2008 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 46:46 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Producer | Mike Crossey | |||
| The Enemy chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Music for the People | ||||
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Music for the People is the second studio album by Coventry-based indie rock band The Enemy, which was released 27 April 2009. It entered the UK charts at number two, losing out on the number one spot to Bob Dylan's Together Through Life .
Following a short break, the trio spent the majority of autumn 2008 recording in rural Wales at Monnow Valley Studio in South Wales with producer Jim Anderson and Mike Crossey. Whilst the plan was to capitalise on the buzz from their debut, the band didn't rush the sessions. "We totally took our time," Clarke stated. [1]
In early 2009, The Enemy completed the recording of the album. On their official Myspace blog, the band described the album as a "big step forward", deciding to "go back to basics with the recording and do it all on tape rather than computers which is how the vast majority of modern records are made, and as a result it sounds huge, like a proper old school rock record". [2] They also described the album as having a more "raw and punkier sound", [3] whilst Clarke noted that, although he was aiming to address various issues with the album's lyrics, the band took a less organised approach in writing them; [4]
I don't think my politics have changed. We've just got a broader perspective... We only ever wrote [lyrics] about the world around us. I can only think of Gallows and Jon McClure with us. There's a place for what we say, but it's down to the individual lyricist. You can't find an issue for the sake of it. And you need colourful bands like MGMT and Klaxons anyway, particularly in a recession, when you want escapism... I've never tried to write about a particular subject, I'd be terrible if I did. I don't even write my lyrics down. If they're any good, you'll remember them. We used to write in the car on the way to rehearsals, just to maximise the time. And, on this album, it was doing it in stolen moments between promo.
The lead single, "No Time For Tears", was debuted on BBC Radio 1 on 17 February 2009, including an interview with the band discussing tour dates and their "new sound". [5] The single was officially released on 13 April, with the album following a fortnight later on 27 April. As part of the promotion for the album, the band played a number of gigs in small, intimate venues throughout February 2009, in Lincoln, York, Dundee, Wakefield, Tunbridge Wells and Corby.
The video for the second single, "Sing When You're in Love", was debuted on T4 on 9 May 2009, and released on 22 June. [6]
The third single, "Be Somebody", was used as theme music for FIFA 10 by EA Sports and in ITV's FA Cup football coverage. [7] It is played pre-match at the Ricoh Arena by Coventry City. [8]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 55/100 [9] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [10] |
| Drowned in Sound | 2/10 [11] |
| entertainment.ie | [12] |
| The Guardian | [13] |
| The Independent | [14] |
| The List | 2/5 [15] |
| musicOMH | [16] |
| PopMatters | 4/10 [17] |
| Spin | 4/10 [18] |
The album received mixed reviews scoring 4.5/10 at aggregator website AnyDecentMusic?, [19] and 55/100 at Metacritic. [9] John Earls of Planet Sound saw the LP as a progression from the band's debut album, but found fault with the lyrical content. [20]
The album was pilloried for its alleged plagiarism. Commenting on the opening track "Elephant Song", Drowned in Sound noticed its similarity to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". [11] "Last Goodbye" and its use of strings was compared to The Verve. [11] [16] The chorus of "Last Goodbye" also bears a striking resemblance to Blur's "The Universal". "Nation of Checkout Girls" was also derided for sounding identical to "Common People" by Pulp, [11] while another song on their album "Don't Break The Red Tape" has also been criticised for sounding similar to "London Calling" by The Clash. [21] [11] [16] The BBC described the album as "terrible", asking, "What did the people ever do to deserve this?" [21] Drowned in Sound concluded: "Never has reaching the end of a record been met with such a massive sigh of relief". [11]
In The Independent , Andy Gill called the album's title "sinister...as if all other music were somehow against "the people" (whoever they are); or as if the band's modest creations had been officially sanctioned as fit for our ears". He was sceptical of the album's political content, writing that "I'm instinctively suspicious about this kind of eagerly populist music, which invariably hides naked commercial ambitions behind a facade of oppositional posturing". [14]
Start Something is the second studio album by the Welsh rock band Lostprophets, released on 2 February 2004 through Visible Noise in the United Kingdom and South Korea. The album was released internationally on 5 February 2004 through Columbia. The band began work on the album in 2003 after touring for support of their previous album, The Fake Sound of Progress. This is the second and last album featuring the original drummer Mike Chiplin.
Lifeblood is the seventh studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers, released on 1 November 2004 by Sony Music UK. Two singles were released from the album: "The Love of Richard Nixon" and "Empty Souls".
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"Bodies" is the debut single by the American rock band Drowning Pool, released in May 2001 from their debut album Sinner. "Bodies" is Drowning Pool's signature song and has been featured in various films, TV programs, and advertisements since its release. It was also the theme song for the 2001 WWF SummerSlam pay-per-view event, as well as that of the ECW brand in 2005 to early 2008, including the ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view events in 2005 and 2006. During 2001, the song became popular but was briefly taken off radio stations due to the September 11 attacks due to the nature of the lyrics, though the song is lyrically about moshing. It was also meant to be vague in order for the viewer to have their own interpretation.
The Enemy are an English indie rock band formed in Coventry in 2006. The band's debut album We'll Live and Die in These Towns (2007) went straight to number one in the UK Albums Chart on release. Their second album Music for the People (2008) went to number two on the UK Albums Chart. Streets in the Sky, their third studio album, was released on 21 May 2012 and was also their third UK top 10 album. Their fourth studio album, It's Automatic, was released on 9 October 2015. After disbanding in 2016, the band reunited in 2022 for two reunion shows in their hometown of Coventry and a UK tour.
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