Wilderness Is Paradise Now | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 6 March 2006 | |||
Recorded | Rockfield Studio, Monmouth and Sawmills Studio, Cornwall 2005 | |||
Genre | Alternative rock | |||
Length | 42:47 | |||
Label | Parlophone Faith & Hope | |||
Producer | John Cornfield | |||
Morning Runner chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
TheMusicZine | link |
Gigwise.com | link |
FHM | |
Q | |
The Times | link |
The Guardian | link |
Clickmusic | link |
NME | 7/10 |
Room Thirteen | 11/13 link |
Drowned In Sound | 5/10 link |
Wilderness Is Paradise Now was the debut and only album by Reading based English rock band Morning Runner. Preceded by the release of single "Burning Benches", the album was released on 6 March 2006, and, despite failing to make a significant impact commercially, it gained generally favourable reviews.
All tracks written by Ali Clewer, Tom Derrett, Matthew Greener and Chris Wheatcroft.
The name of the album came from a romantic rhyme by Edward FitzGerald, translated from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam:
Ali Clewer, the band's drummer, read the poem and believed it corresponded well with the album: "The poem describes a place that is a wilderness becoming paradise because of the person who is keeping you company," Clewer explained, "a kind of optimism that seemed to resonate with many of the ideas on the album."
The album's cover art was designed by Tappin Gofton, who created the cover for Coldplay's third album, X&Y , and The Chemical Brothers' Push the Button .
The artwork was inspired by a small collection of Victorian book illustrations. The kind of imagery that Tappin Gofton were looking at in these old volumes was noticeably decorative, with many of the pieces displaying strong narrative themes, and it was these two distinct elements that formed the foundations for their ideas. Once they had agreed on the overall thematic look for the covers and a set of ideas for each release, they commissioned the illustrator Kam Tang, who they collaborated with to produce the drawings for the artwork.
The album was generally seen as a strong debut by critics on release. On the negative side, the band suffered occasional accusations that they were too similar to other piano-driven bands, such as Coldplay and Keane; The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan talking of Morning Runner filling a "vacancy for a new Coldplay". However, some critics refuted these, with NME's Paul McNamee saying "they're a band that could knock 10 bells out of Keane" and Phil Mongredien of Q stating that a Coldplay comparison "would be doing Morning Runner a disservice." Mike Pattenden from The Times said that it was the band's slower tracks which suggested that "Morning Runner are in it for the long haul." However, the group disbanded in October 2007 before they could release a second album.
Country | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 6 March 2006 | Parlophone Faith & Hope | CD | 356 0972 |
Japan | 15 March 2006 | Toshiba-EMI | CD | TOCP-66498 |
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