Pushing the Senses
Encyclopedia
Pushing the Senses is the fifth album
by the British rock band
Feeder
. It was released on Echo
, Liberation Music
and PIAS
on 31 January 2005 in the United Kingdom
, Australia
, New Zealand
and Europe
, while being released on Pony Canyon
in Japan
on 10 February 2005. Despite mixed reviews, the album was a commercial success, in which it was a top five album in Feeder's native United Kingdom, and its lead single "Tumble and Fall
" was a top five single. This made the album Feeder's most successful in terms of peak chart position, but did not experience the same chart longetivity as presuccessor Comfort in Sound
, which spent 36 weeks on the UK top 75 chart in comparison to the 15 weeks spent by Pushing the Senses.
The album represented a similar musical style as seen on 2002's Comfort in Sound
, and featured more songs written on a piano and also had, as described by frontman Grant Nicholas
, more of an "organic" sound than that of the latter. Inspirations were that of John Lennon
within some of the songwriting.
Most critics criticised the bands approach to what was described as Keane and Coldplay
style music, and "departing" from their trademark sound heard on their first three albums, while Q
magazine stated that the album could "finally establish Feeder as major league players".
. Frontman Grant Nicholas said he did not think the album needed them. He also called the album the band's "Recovery album" as he felt he was more at ease writing the songs than he was with Comfort in Sound, after the loss of their drummer Jon Lee, alongside stating that he was inspired by artists such as John Lennon within the piano playing and writing the songs. Grant told Kerrang! in May 2004, "I've done some recording on my own in a little studio up by where I live in North London. I demo the album in its full form before the rest of the band play on it. Its difficult to know at this stage what it will turn out like, but so far its slightly more mature sounding". Grant later added "Each album is a journey and a reflection of the past, there is some stuff that touches on what has happened, but there are songs about love, songs of loss and songs about the future. I don't want to give too much away but there's one track called "Bitter Glass". Its quite dark but uplifting too. Its about pulling yourself out of a big hole".
Feeder and Gil Norton
recorded the bulk of Pushing the Senses in 2004 at Abbey Road Studios
, London
, England
. Ken Nelson recorded "Frequency" in Liverpool
with the band, as Grant felt he could capture the organic sound. Grant recorded the piano first with the rest of the track built around it. Grant said the album as a whole does have a retro sound to it, but the band did not want it to "sound too retro". The title track was one of the first songs Grant wrote for the album in 2003, and was at first written on a piano before being translated to guitar, and also said that he could have easily recorded the song with strings. "Tumble and Fall
", which became the album's first single, saw Grant describe the recording process as "old fashioned", with bass player Taka Hirose
saying that the band should include it on the album. The song was recorded with the vocal and an acoustic guitar
at first, and then the other parts of the music built around it.
In an interview with the band's official website Feederweb, Grant explained that "Feeling a Moment
", was played back with the intro playing backwards, in which he explained: "This was one of the first songs written for the album. I actually started recording that song in the studio on my own at the Crypt. The song was written at home, as soon as I had that intro, the vocal “woo who” bit—what ever you want to call it—that was a really important hook for the song." In a DVD packaged with limited quantities of the album, Grant is seen playing a piano during the recording sessions, and once said that "[he] don't rate himself as a piano player". He also stated that Feeder are a band, and even though he writes all the songs, he makes sure drummer Mark Richardson
and bass player
Taka Hirose have their say in the process of their creation.
, Chris Heath said that "Feeder are in danger of being a schizophrenic band, unrecognisable from their once 'trademark' sound and prone to style swings on a whim." The Guardian
said the album was a "kind of emotional aural soup that will baffle the spikier members of their original punky fanbase". However, Q
magazine reviewer Paul Brannigan was impressed, and wrote that the album could "Finally establish Feeder as major league players". Metacritic
, a website which aggregates the albums reviews from selected publications, gives an overall score of 52/100 indicating "Mixed or average reviews" from a total of six. Grant said that positive reviews are good to have, "but at the end of the day do not sell records". In a 2008 interview with Kerrang!
, Grant expressed his annoyance with the Coldplay comparisons, in which he said they were only made because he played a piano on the album. Kerrang! were brutal towards the band for all of their review, with Ben Meyers referring to them as a "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
", including comparisons to a "Pastel box". A year later the album was marked as "Avoid" in a round-up of the bands material, which included the usual Coldplay and Keane comparisons the album suffered on release, although still conceded that the album is Feeder's most successful.
In a review for BBC.co.uk
, Lisa Haines praised the sound of Pushing the Senses, stating "The brand of raucous rock anthem which catapulted them to fame is virtually absent here, the band's new sound is far more thoughtful and understated. 'Feeling A Moment' and 'Tumble And Fall' are prime examples. Both have Coldplay inspired soaring vocals and catchy melodies, but a little of their lyrical hand wringing seems to have crept in too", and later said "That's not to say the album is bad, because there is a lot to like here. 'Pilgrim Soul' and title track 'Pushing The Senses' see Feeder thrash furiously away at their instruments, which should appease those who prefer their earlier work".
Q magazine included the album in its list of the top fifty albums of 2005, ranking it at number thirty-nine with the second single "Feeling a Moment" being voted the ninety-eighth best track of the year by their readers. At the 2005 Kerrang! Awards
, Feeder received a nomination for "Best British Band", the same award they won two years previously.
"Tumble and Fall", the third track on Pushing the Senses, was chosen as its lead single, because their European label Play it Again Sam (PIAS), were getting more involved with the band, believing the song would be a crossover to make them successful in Europe after touring with Coldplay in 2003. The single became the band's most successful single release since "Buck Rogers
", reaching the top five in the UK. Grant claimed that "Tumble and Fall" is a love song, but can be interpreted in any way. In an interview with Feederweb, Grant said of the song: "Again this is about the ups and downs of life. Its about life in general and how you deal with it. It covers the journey of life and how you have to take the ups with the downs. I wasn’t going to record this song. It took me a long time to finish it, to be happy with it, because the song went through various stages. I wasn’t sure if we really needed a tune like that on the album. But I decided to go to the studio to record an acoustic version just to see what happened and that’s how the song started. It was a completely one take vocal, live with the acoustic guitar and we built everything else around it. It is an acoustic track that grew into what it is now. So that was the only song that we recorded like that on the album, so it is a bit different for that reason and is probably why it has an organic feel to it".
The second single, "Feeling a Moment", received a positive review from Q magazine, in which the song was compared to "Beautiful Day
" by U2
, in which Paul Brannigan stated that the song "Has the optimistic soaring feel of U2's Beautiful Day...". It charted at number thirteen in the UK Singles Chart, and was originally going to be the album's first single.
"Pushing the Senses", the third single, was released in July of the same year, but became the band's lowest charting single since "Day in Day Out
" from 1999, when it entered the UK chart at number thirty. Grant Nicholas described it as "One of the most upbeat songs on the album", while comparing it to "Classic Feeder". This was followed-up in November with "Shatter / Tender", in which "Shatter" was a b-side on "Tumble and Fall" and eventually left off the album after the band felt it would not fit in with the rest of the tracks, but was included on the Japan
ese release. A petition
was set up to release the song as a single, and was also included alongside album track "Tender" on the end credits of the Europe
an dub of the Russia
n film Night Watch
. The single reached number eleven in the UK singles chart. "Tender" was described by Grant as "a healing song" and was written on the piano.
"Bitterglass" was one of the earlier songs written for the album, while being one of Grant's favourite songs it is also seen by him as one of the darker songs on the record, and refers to the events of Jon Lee's suicide although Grant noted that it is also uplifting and gives an optimistic feeling in its chorus, while also giving a hypnotic feel alongside stating that the piano in the verses gives "a kind of haunting melody". Other tracks on the album that did not see a single release such as "Morning Life" was a track Grant wanted to be "very atmospheric", and "something that would be great when you are driving around in your car", while also wanting it to have a "cinematic intro". Grant later claimed that "Morning Life" was a track many of the bands fans started to "pick up on" after buying the album, and also said "another version is a possibility". "Pilgrim Soul", the eighth track on the album was described by Grant as its most heaviest and said it will appeal to older fans. He said the album needed the track to "give it a lift at the end of the record" and that the "sing-a-long chorus" is what makes a song work. The chorus was explained as positive and the verses as dark, with the answer to the verses revealed in the chorus.
The album closes with two similarly sounding tracks titled "Pain on Pain" and "Dove Grey Sands". Grant stated he wanted the album to end so the listener wanted the album to last longer, but also leave the listener with the feeling that "you have been on a really nice journey" and that it "felt like the perfect outro". It also "evolves round the acoustic guitar". "Pain on Pain" on the other hand was seen as "quite a different track" for the band and "felt very uplifting". The music has no guitars in it but "just a few little odd bits" and was also described by Grant as having "a real sell out vocal".
, at their highest chart position to date at number two (blocked from the top position by Athlete
's Tourist), and sold 42,951 copies. The album remained on the chart for fifteen weeks, which was much less than the 36 spent on the chart by Comfort in Sound
. The album reached the top one-hundred in The Netherlands
, Austria
, Switzerland
, Flanders
and Japan
with a top twenty appearance in the Republic of Ireland. Pushing the Senses became Feeder's first release to chart on the top twenty of the European Top 100 Albums
, where it peaked at number eleven. Although the overall performance of the album was less than what was anticiapted by Echo, it is still alongside The Singles their most successful release in terms of peak chart position.
12 inch vinyl, and a double disc version which included the album on one disc and the DVD extras on the other. The first disc is a standard stereo CD while the second disc, which is a DVD-Video
, contains a documentary on the recording of the album, a 5.1 stereo mix and lyric screen for "Victoria" and a short film documenting the making of the music video
for "Tumble and Fall". A series of depot sessions in which selected tracks from the album are performed, completes the set.
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
by the British rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Feeder
Feeder
-Technology:* Feeder , any of several devices used in apiculture to supplement or replace natural food sources* Feeder , another name for a riser, a reservoir built into a metal casting mold to prevent cavities due to shrinkage...
. It was released on Echo
Echo Records
The Echo Label was a record label started by Chrysalis Group in 1994, and linked with Pony Canyon in Japan. The Chrysalis Group were the original owners of Chrysalis Records, which they sold to EMI....
, Liberation Music
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...
and PIAS
PIAS Recordings
[PIAS] Recordings is the recorded music division of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent artist and label services company.The record labels that operate under the [PIAS] Recordings umbrella are: Play It Again Sam, Wall of Sound and Different Recordings.Aside from the three London...
on 31 January 2005 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, while being released on Pony Canyon
Pony Canyon
is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966 , which publishes music, DVD and VHS videos, movies and video games. It is a subsidiary of Japanese Media Group, Fujisankei Communications Group.-History:...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on 10 February 2005. Despite mixed reviews, the album was a commercial success, in which it was a top five album in Feeder's native United Kingdom, and its lead single "Tumble and Fall
Tumble And Fall
"Tumble and Fall" was the first single released from British rock band Feeder's 2005 album Pushing the Senses. It reached #5 in the UK charts, the group's highest placed single along with "Buck Rogers"....
" was a top five single. This made the album Feeder's most successful in terms of peak chart position, but did not experience the same chart longetivity as presuccessor Comfort in Sound
Comfort in Sound
Comfort in Sound is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Feeder, released on October 21, 2002 and also the first to be released by the band after the suicide of drummer Jon Lee earlier in the year...
, which spent 36 weeks on the UK top 75 chart in comparison to the 15 weeks spent by Pushing the Senses.
The album represented a similar musical style as seen on 2002's Comfort in Sound
Comfort in Sound
Comfort in Sound is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Feeder, released on October 21, 2002 and also the first to be released by the band after the suicide of drummer Jon Lee earlier in the year...
, and featured more songs written on a piano and also had, as described by frontman Grant Nicholas
Grant Nicholas
Grant Nicholas is a Welsh musician, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist of the rock band Feeder, along with bassist Taka Hirose and drummer Karl Brazil.-Early years:...
, more of an "organic" sound than that of the latter. Inspirations were that of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
within some of the songwriting.
Most critics criticised the bands approach to what was described as Keane and Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
style music, and "departing" from their trademark sound heard on their first three albums, while Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine stated that the album could "finally establish Feeder as major league players".
Recording and production
Pushing the Senses contains music in the same rock styles featured on Feeder's 2002 album Comfort in Sound, but it focuses more on pianos, rather than a string orchestra. Only "Pain on Pain" on the album mainly used strings, including samples from a mellotronMellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
. Frontman Grant Nicholas said he did not think the album needed them. He also called the album the band's "Recovery album" as he felt he was more at ease writing the songs than he was with Comfort in Sound, after the loss of their drummer Jon Lee, alongside stating that he was inspired by artists such as John Lennon within the piano playing and writing the songs. Grant told Kerrang! in May 2004, "I've done some recording on my own in a little studio up by where I live in North London. I demo the album in its full form before the rest of the band play on it. Its difficult to know at this stage what it will turn out like, but so far its slightly more mature sounding". Grant later added "Each album is a journey and a reflection of the past, there is some stuff that touches on what has happened, but there are songs about love, songs of loss and songs about the future. I don't want to give too much away but there's one track called "Bitter Glass". Its quite dark but uplifting too. Its about pulling yourself out of a big hole".
Feeder and Gil Norton
Gil Norton
Gil Norton is a British record producer known for his work with such bands as Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen, Foo Fighters, Tribe, Jimmy Eat World, Dashboard Confessional, Feeder, The Distillers, Maxïmo Park, Counting Crows, Terrorvision, The Triffids, Del Amitri, James, The Feelers, The Beekeepers,...
recorded the bulk of Pushing the Senses in 2004 at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Ken Nelson recorded "Frequency" in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
with the band, as Grant felt he could capture the organic sound. Grant recorded the piano first with the rest of the track built around it. Grant said the album as a whole does have a retro sound to it, but the band did not want it to "sound too retro". The title track was one of the first songs Grant wrote for the album in 2003, and was at first written on a piano before being translated to guitar, and also said that he could have easily recorded the song with strings. "Tumble and Fall
Tumble And Fall
"Tumble and Fall" was the first single released from British rock band Feeder's 2005 album Pushing the Senses. It reached #5 in the UK charts, the group's highest placed single along with "Buck Rogers"....
", which became the album's first single, saw Grant describe the recording process as "old fashioned", with bass player Taka Hirose
Taka Hirose
Takashi "Taka" Hirose is a Japanese musician who is the current bass guitarist for the rock band, Feeder.-Biography:...
saying that the band should include it on the album. The song was recorded with the vocal and an acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
at first, and then the other parts of the music built around it.
In an interview with the band's official website Feederweb, Grant explained that "Feeling a Moment
Feeling A Moment
"Feeling a Moment" is a song by Welsh rock band Feeder, from their 2005 album Pushing the Senses. It was released as the second single from the album, and reached #13 in the UK Singles Chart and #32 in Australia. At the end of 2005, it was voted 98th best song of the year by the readers of Q...
", was played back with the intro playing backwards, in which he explained: "This was one of the first songs written for the album. I actually started recording that song in the studio on my own at the Crypt. The song was written at home, as soon as I had that intro, the vocal “woo who” bit—what ever you want to call it—that was a really important hook for the song." In a DVD packaged with limited quantities of the album, Grant is seen playing a piano during the recording sessions, and once said that "[he] don't rate himself as a piano player". He also stated that Feeder are a band, and even though he writes all the songs, he makes sure drummer Mark Richardson
Mark Richardson (musician)
Mark Richardson is an English drummer, of the UK rock band Skunk Anansie and formerly of Little Angels and Feeder.-Personal life:...
and bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Taka Hirose have their say in the process of their creation.
Critical response
Pushing the Senses received mixed reviews from music critics. In a review for DotmusicDotmusic
Dotmusic was a music website that existed as a standalone website from June 1995 to December 2003. Initially intended as the web complement to the UK music industry trade magazine Music Week, the site was relaunched in December 1998 as a website for music fans.In addition to music news, reviews,...
, Chris Heath said that "Feeder are in danger of being a schizophrenic band, unrecognisable from their once 'trademark' sound and prone to style swings on a whim." The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
said the album was a "kind of emotional aural soup that will baffle the spikier members of their original punky fanbase". However, Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine reviewer Paul Brannigan was impressed, and wrote that the album could "Finally establish Feeder as major league players". Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, a website which aggregates the albums reviews from selected publications, gives an overall score of 52/100 indicating "Mixed or average reviews" from a total of six. Grant said that positive reviews are good to have, "but at the end of the day do not sell records". In a 2008 interview with 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...
, Grant expressed his annoyance with the Coldplay comparisons, in which he said they were only made because he played a piano on the album. Kerrang! were brutal towards the band for all of their review, with Ben Meyers referring to them as a "Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
In Utero
In Utero is the third and final studio album by the American grunge band Nirvana, released on September 13, 1993, on DGC Records. Nirvana intended the record to diverge significantly from the polished production of its previous album, Nevermind...
", including comparisons to a "Pastel box". A year later the album was marked as "Avoid" in a round-up of the bands material, which included the usual Coldplay and Keane comparisons the album suffered on release, although still conceded that the album is Feeder's most successful.
In a review for BBC.co.uk
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Lisa Haines praised the sound of Pushing the Senses, stating "The brand of raucous rock anthem which catapulted them to fame is virtually absent here, the band's new sound is far more thoughtful and understated. 'Feeling A Moment' and 'Tumble And Fall' are prime examples. Both have Coldplay inspired soaring vocals and catchy melodies, but a little of their lyrical hand wringing seems to have crept in too", and later said "That's not to say the album is bad, because there is a lot to like here. 'Pilgrim Soul' and title track 'Pushing The Senses' see Feeder thrash furiously away at their instruments, which should appease those who prefer their earlier work".
Q magazine included the album in its list of the top fifty albums of 2005, ranking it at number thirty-nine with the second single "Feeling a Moment" being voted the ninety-eighth best track of the year by their readers. At the 2005 Kerrang! Awards
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...
, Feeder received a nomination for "Best British Band", the same award they won two years previously.
Songs
Buck Rogers
Anthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
", reaching the top five in the UK. Grant claimed that "Tumble and Fall" is a love song, but can be interpreted in any way. In an interview with Feederweb, Grant said of the song: "Again this is about the ups and downs of life. Its about life in general and how you deal with it. It covers the journey of life and how you have to take the ups with the downs. I wasn’t going to record this song. It took me a long time to finish it, to be happy with it, because the song went through various stages. I wasn’t sure if we really needed a tune like that on the album. But I decided to go to the studio to record an acoustic version just to see what happened and that’s how the song started. It was a completely one take vocal, live with the acoustic guitar and we built everything else around it. It is an acoustic track that grew into what it is now. So that was the only song that we recorded like that on the album, so it is a bit different for that reason and is probably why it has an organic feel to it".
The second single, "Feeling a Moment", received a positive review from Q magazine, in which the song was compared to "Beautiful Day
Beautiful Day
"Beautiful Day" is a song by the rock band U2. It is the first track from their 2000 album, All That You Can't Leave Behind, and it was released as the album's lead single. It was a commercial success, helping launch the album to multi-platinum status, and is one of U2's biggest hits to date...
" by U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, in which Paul Brannigan stated that the song "Has the optimistic soaring feel of U2's Beautiful Day...". It charted at number thirteen in the UK Singles Chart, and was originally going to be the album's first single.
"Pushing the Senses", the third single, was released in July of the same year, but became the band's lowest charting single since "Day in Day Out
Day in Day Out
"Day in Day Out", is a single from the UK rock band Feeder, and was the first single to be taken from their debut top 10 album Yesterday Went Too Soon....
" from 1999, when it entered the UK chart at number thirty. Grant Nicholas described it as "One of the most upbeat songs on the album", while comparing it to "Classic Feeder". This was followed-up in November with "Shatter / Tender", in which "Shatter" was a b-side on "Tumble and Fall" and eventually left off the album after the band felt it would not fit in with the rest of the tracks, but was included on the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese release. A petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
was set up to release the song as a single, and was also included alongside album track "Tender" on the end credits of the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an dub of the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n film Night Watch
Night Watch (2004 film)
Night Watch is a 2004 Russian supernatural thriller film directed by Timur Bekmambetov. It is loosely based on the novel The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, and is the first part of a trilogy, followed by Day Watch and ending supposedly with Twilight Watch .-Plot:In the prologue, which...
. The single reached number eleven in the UK singles chart. "Tender" was described by Grant as "a healing song" and was written on the piano.
"Bitterglass" was one of the earlier songs written for the album, while being one of Grant's favourite songs it is also seen by him as one of the darker songs on the record, and refers to the events of Jon Lee's suicide although Grant noted that it is also uplifting and gives an optimistic feeling in its chorus, while also giving a hypnotic feel alongside stating that the piano in the verses gives "a kind of haunting melody". Other tracks on the album that did not see a single release such as "Morning Life" was a track Grant wanted to be "very atmospheric", and "something that would be great when you are driving around in your car", while also wanting it to have a "cinematic intro". Grant later claimed that "Morning Life" was a track many of the bands fans started to "pick up on" after buying the album, and also said "another version is a possibility". "Pilgrim Soul", the eighth track on the album was described by Grant as its most heaviest and said it will appeal to older fans. He said the album needed the track to "give it a lift at the end of the record" and that the "sing-a-long chorus" is what makes a song work. The chorus was explained as positive and the verses as dark, with the answer to the verses revealed in the chorus.
The album closes with two similarly sounding tracks titled "Pain on Pain" and "Dove Grey Sands". Grant stated he wanted the album to end so the listener wanted the album to last longer, but also leave the listener with the feeling that "you have been on a really nice journey" and that it "felt like the perfect outro". It also "evolves round the acoustic guitar". "Pain on Pain" on the other hand was seen as "quite a different track" for the band and "felt very uplifting". The music has no guitars in it but "just a few little odd bits" and was also described by Grant as having "a real sell out vocal".
Chart performance and sales
Pushing the Senses debuted on the UK albums chartUK 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...
, at their highest chart position to date at number two (blocked from the top position by Athlete
Athlete (band)
Athlete are a British rock band formed in Deptford, London, comprising Joel Pott , Carey Willetts , Stephen Roberts and Tim Wanstall...
's Tourist), and sold 42,951 copies. The album remained on the chart for fifteen weeks, which was much less than the 36 spent on the chart by Comfort in Sound
Comfort in Sound
Comfort in Sound is the fourth studio album by the British rock band Feeder, released on October 21, 2002 and also the first to be released by the band after the suicide of drummer Jon Lee earlier in the year...
. The album reached the top one-hundred in The Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
with a top twenty appearance in the Republic of Ireland. Pushing the Senses became Feeder's first release to chart on the top twenty of the European Top 100 Albums
European Top 100 Albums
The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100...
, where it peaked at number eleven. Although the overall performance of the album was less than what was anticiapted by Echo, it is still alongside The Singles their most successful release in terms of peak chart position.
Track listing
All tracks were written by Grant Nicholas, and composed by Feeder.DVD tracks and footage
All DVD tracks and footage appear on the United Kingdom, Japanese and European CD/DVD editions of Pushing the Senses.- "Tender" (The Depot Sessions)
- "Dove Grey Sands" (The Depot Sessions)
- "Pushing The Senses" (The Depot Sessions)
- "Bitter Glass" (The Depot Sessions)
- "Pushing the Boundaries" (Documentary)
- "Tumble and Fall" : The Video Diaries (includes the video)
- "Victoria" (5.1 Mix and Lyrics Screen)
Bonus tracks
The following tracks were included on the Japanese edition of Pushing the Senses.- "Shatter" – 2:58
- "Victoria" – 4:03
Personnel
The following people contributed to Pushing the Senses:- Grant Nicholas – lead vocals, backing vocals, lead guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
arranging - Taka Hirose – bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Mark Richardson – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Fran HealyFrancis HealyFrancis "Fran" Healy is a Scottish musician. He is currently the lead singer and main songwriter of the Scottish band Travis, having written nearly all of the songs on their six studio albums. He is based in Berlin, Germany...
and Dougie PayneDougie PayneDougie Payne is the bassist and backing vocalist of the Scottish band, Travis.-Career:...
- backing vocals ("Tumble and Fall") - Audrey RileyAudrey RileyAudrey Riley is a cellist and string arranger based in the UK. Riley trained at the Guildhall School of Music with Leonard Stehn and was a cellist for Virginia Astley from 1983 to 1986 and a one-time auxiliary member of The Family Cat. She has been a member of the post-minimalist band Icebreaker...
- cello and cello arranging - Gil Norton, Grant Nicholas and Ken Nelson - producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s - John Dunne, Matt Sime, and Mark Phythian - programming and engineeringAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Adrian Bushby - mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
and additional engineering - Chris Blair - mastering
- Ryan Wallace – set designScenic designScenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
- Blue Source - art directionArt directorThe art director is a person who supervise the creative process of a design.The term 'art director' is a blanket title for a variety of similar job functions in advertising, publishing, film and television, the Internet, and video games....
- Lawrence Watson - photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
Release history
The album was released in three versions: a single disc version, a gatefoldGatefold
A gatefold is a type of fold used for advertising around a magazine or section, and for packaging of media such as vinyl records.- LP covers :...
12 inch vinyl, and a double disc version which included the album on one disc and the DVD extras on the other. The first disc is a standard stereo CD while the second disc, which is a DVD-Video
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
, contains a documentary on the recording of the album, a 5.1 stereo mix and lyric screen for "Victoria" and a short film documenting the making of the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Tumble and Fall". A series of depot sessions in which selected tracks from the album are performed, completes the set.
| Region | Date | Label | Format(s) | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom and Ireland | 31 January 2005 | Echo | CD Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , CD/DVD, LP LP album The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry... , Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
ECHCD60/ECHDV60/ECHLP60 |
| Europe | PIAS | |||
| Australia and New Zealand | Liberation Music | LIBCD7156.2 | ||
| Japan | Pony Canyon | PCCY-01725 | ||
Charts
| Charts (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Chart | 62 |
| Dutch Albums Chart MegaCharts MegaCharts is responsible for the composition and exploitation of a broad collection of official charts in the Netherlands, of which the Mega Top 50 and the Mega Album Top 100 are the most known ones. Mega Charts also provides information to the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40, of which the Dutch Top... |
80 |
| Flanders Albums Chart Flanders Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp... |
61 |
| European Top 100 Albums European Top 100 Albums The European Top 100 Albums chart is the European adaptation of the Billboard 200 albums chart. It was created in March 1984.The European Top 100 Albums, commonly referred to as Eurochart Top 100 Albums shows the sales of an act in 19 European countries based on IFPI data.The European Top 100... |
11 |
| Irish Albums Chart Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
16 |
| Japanese Albums Chart Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc... |
59 |
| Swiss Albums Chart | 75 |
| 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... |
2 |