Common Dreads
Encyclopedia
Common Dreads is the second studio album by Enter Shikari
released on June 15, 2009 and June 16 in the US. Recording of the album began in September 2008 and ended in late February 2009. The album was produced and mixed by Andy Gray at Arreton Manor. Guitar production was carried out by Dan Weller of WellerHill and the defunct band SikTh
.
In late September, the band posted a video on their Youtube channel of "Antwerpen" filmed live in "The 'Low". This track was to become the first track released, made available as a free download, linked from the band's MySpace
page. A video has now been released for the single "Juggernauts".
The new album was recorded in Arreton Manor situated on the Isle of Wight
. Several new songs were played live in the tours and festivals leading up to the new album. The album has a political motive behind it and references to the current economic climate is a topic that is covered.
The new single, Juggernauts, was premièred on Thursday the 15th of April on Radio 1's Zane Lowe show, and a video was released viewable on their website. "Rou" Reynolds told Kerrang!
that the song was inspired by the book Tescopoly by Andrew Simms.
On Monday 8 June 2009, the album was made available to stream to the public from the NME
website for free. It released officially on the 15th of June 2009 through Ambush Reality.
It entered the album charts at number 16 selling 15,000 copies in its first week.
It was announced via the Enter Shikari website that the second single from the album would be "No Sleep Tonight", to be released on the 17th of August 2009.
Enter Shikari's song Wall premièred on Zane Lowe's show on 29 September 2009, but is not scheduled for release as an official single.
The next official single was Zzzonked, with the official video being released on Ambush Reality/Enter Shikari's official Youtube Channel on the 7th Oct 2009. This was recorded at Norwich on the first leg of their European tour in 2009, The video can be seen here.
The album has a distinct stylistic change to Take to the Skies
, most notably, more use of clean vocals and a mixture of more electonic music genres, including Drum and Bass
, Electro house and Dubstep
, as well as the trance
and electronic hardcore which was explored on their debut album.
and Metal Hammer
gave very positive reviews, Kerrang! rating the album 5/5. The album also has its critics. Digital Spy gave the album 3/5 calling it 'hit and miss'. Pete Paphides of The Times
gave the album 2 stars out of 5, describing it as "a titanically inadvisable mash-up between Gallows and John Craven’s Newsround." Similarly, Lauren Murphy of entertainment.ie
described it as "an overkill of brawn, insufficient brain."
Additional personnel
Production
Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari are a British band, that combine post-hardcore with elements of various electronic genres, formed in 2003 in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The band is named after a boat belonging to Roughton "Rou" Reynolds' uncle, and a character in a play which he wrote before forming the band, both of...
released on June 15, 2009 and June 16 in the US. Recording of the album began in September 2008 and ended in late February 2009. The album was produced and mixed by Andy Gray at Arreton Manor. Guitar production was carried out by Dan Weller of WellerHill and the defunct band SikTh
SikTh
Sikth were a progressive metal band from Watford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.-Early days:SikTh formed in late 1999, but consolidated their line-up in March 2001...
.
History
Enter Shikari began work on their second album towards the end of 2008 and started demoing songs in "The 'Low" (episodes released on YouTube by Enter Shikari showing their progress.)In late September, the band posted a video on their Youtube channel of "Antwerpen" filmed live in "The 'Low". This track was to become the first track released, made available as a free download, linked from the band's MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page. A video has now been released for the single "Juggernauts".
The new album was recorded in Arreton Manor situated on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. Several new songs were played live in the tours and festivals leading up to the new album. The album has a political motive behind it and references to the current economic climate is a topic that is covered.
The new single, Juggernauts, was premièred on Thursday the 15th of April on Radio 1's Zane Lowe show, and a video was released viewable on their website. "Rou" Reynolds told Kerrang!
Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
that the song was inspired by the book Tescopoly by Andrew Simms.
On Monday 8 June 2009, the album was made available to stream to the public from the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
website for free. It released officially on the 15th of June 2009 through Ambush Reality.
It entered the album charts at number 16 selling 15,000 copies in its first week.
It was announced via the Enter Shikari website that the second single from the album would be "No Sleep Tonight", to be released on the 17th of August 2009.
Enter Shikari's song Wall premièred on Zane Lowe's show on 29 September 2009, but is not scheduled for release as an official single.
The next official single was Zzzonked, with the official video being released on Ambush Reality/Enter Shikari's official Youtube Channel on the 7th Oct 2009. This was recorded at Norwich on the first leg of their European tour in 2009, The video can be seen here.
The album has a distinct stylistic change to Take to the Skies
Take to the Skies
Take to the Skies is the debut studio album by Enter Shikari. On March 25, 2007, it reached #4 in the Official UK Album Chart selling 28,000 copies in its first week. It has been released as a standard CD, a limited CD + DVD edition and a double LP version with an embossed gate fold sleeve...
, most notably, more use of clean vocals and a mixture of more electonic music genres, including Drum and Bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
, Electro house and Dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
, as well as the trance
Trance
Trance denotes a variety of processes, ecstasy, techniques, modalities and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.The term trance may be associated with meditation, magic, flow, and prayer...
and electronic hardcore which was explored on their debut album.
Lyrics
There is a drastic lyrical change in the new album. The band formerly wrote lyrics concerning various different subjects and made frequent use of metaphors. In Common Dreads, the band's lyrical subjects concern socio-political topics, like in "Step Up", a song that critiques free world trade. The song "No Sleep Tonight" speaks about the ecological situation of today. The song "Fanfare for the Conscious Man" contains lyrical connotations to the injustice of the various wars the government were engaging in whilst Enter Shikari were writing the album, the line, "Our gracious queen should grasp her crown, and take a good fucking swing at Blair and Brown" confirms the anti-war views of this song. The band expresses further political ideas in the song "Juggernauts" where the closing line is; "The idea of community will be something displayed in a museum", when coupled with the anti-capitalist and hopeless tone of previous lyrics, can be interpreted as a Pro-Collectivist stance. They are outspoken against the Afghanistan War and Iraq War, Israeli treatment of Palestinians, mainstream media and supportive of GreenPeace, Stop The War Coalition, Unite Against Fascism and the Zeitgeist movement. Rou has also said he believes that leaders are unnecessary.Reception
Common Dreads has polarised critics. Ultimate-Guitar rated the album with an overall rating of 9.3/10. Similarly, music magazines Kerrang!Kerrang!
Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
and Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
gave very positive reviews, Kerrang! rating the album 5/5. The album also has its critics. Digital Spy gave the album 3/5 calling it 'hit and miss'. Pete Paphides of The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
gave the album 2 stars out of 5, describing it as "a titanically inadvisable mash-up between Gallows and John Craven’s Newsround." Similarly, Lauren Murphy of entertainment.ie
Entertainment.ie
entertainment.ie is a Dublin-based Irish website which provides extensive cinema, TV, live music, theatre, comedy, exhibition and festival listings for free, as well as celebrity gossip, music and movie news, movie and DVD reviews, CD reviews and up-to-date lottery results.The site was developed in...
described it as "an overkill of brawn, insufficient brain."
Tracklisting
Personnel
Band- Roughton "Rou" Reynolds - Lead vocals, additional guitars, lap steel guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, programming, samples, electronics, trumpet, trombone, bongos, piano, church organ, percussion, lyrics
- Chris Batten - Bass, backing vocals
- Liam "Rory" Clewlow - Lead guitar, rhythm guitar, backing bongos, backing vocals
- Rob Rolfe - Drums, percussion
Additional personnel
- Andy Gray - Vocals on "Hectic"
- Dan Weller - Additional guitars
Production
- Enter ShikariEnter ShikariEnter Shikari are a British band, that combine post-hardcore with elements of various electronic genres, formed in 2003 in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The band is named after a boat belonging to Roughton "Rou" Reynolds' uncle, and a character in a play which he wrote before forming the band, both of...
- Production - Andy GrayAndy Gray (musician)Andy Gray is a British songwriter, composer, and record producer.-Film scores:*TT3D: Closer to the Edge *CSI Miami original song*Saab Saab North America...
- Production, recording engineer, mixing engineer - Dan Weller - Production
- Tom Young - Mastering
Chart performance
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
16 |