Empire (Kasabian album)

Empire
Studio album by Kasabian
Released 28 August 2006 / 12 April 2008
Recorded February 2006
Genre
Length 39:24
Label Paradise, RCA
Producer Jim Abbiss, Kasabian
Kasabian chronology
Kasabian
(2004)		 Empire
(2006)		 West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum
(2009)
Singles from Empire
  1. "Empire"
    Released: 24 July 2006
  2. "Shoot the Runner"
    Released: 6 November 2006
  3. "Me Plus One"
    Released: 29 January 2007

Empire is the second album by British rock[1] band Kasabian, released in August 2006. The album went on to No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart upon its release and was preceded by the release of new single "Empire" on 24 July 2006.

The album was recorded over two weeks after touring with Oasis. According to Tom Meighan in an interview on the album with the NME in early 2006, "Empire" is a word used by the band to describe something that is good. To date the album has sold over 1 million copies worldwide, including more than 600,000 in the UK.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic65/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Entertainment.ie[4]
The Guardian[5]
The Independent link
NME9/10[6]
The Boston Phoenix link
PopMatters[7]
Q (#243, Oct. 2006, p. 116)
Rolling Stone[8]

Empire received positive reviews but music critics were divided by the band's choices in production and lyricism, despite being better than their self-titled debut. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65, based on 20 reviews.[2]

Dan Martin of NME found the album better than their self-titled debut, praising the band for mixing all their influences into tracks that can be called their own, saying that "Through sheer, bloody-minded relief, weapons-graded stamina and a big, big imagination, Kasabian have willed themselves into brilliance."[6] Jason MacNeil of PopMatters found some production choices on the tracks oft-putting but said that the album shows the band's potential of crafting better projects in their given ilk, concluding that "On the whole, it’s a good second step, but hopefully step three is more in line with the shock and awe the first album contained."[7] Chris Salmon of The Guardian noted that Kasabian's boastful talk of the album resulted in a mixed bag of tracks that fall just shy of their claim, in terms of influenced production and lyricism, saying that "While Empire isn't an exceptional record, it offers enough to be described as a good one."[5]

AllMusic's David Jeffries commended the band for taking a grand-scale approach to mixing their influences into an Oasis-sized project, but felt they forgot to write catchy tracks to lead the album, saying that, "Lost in all this is the instantly grabbing songwriting of Kasabian's debut, and to some extent, the bandmembers themselves, who often seem to be riding this swirl instead of guiding it."[3] Despite praising a few tracks, Lauren Murphy of Entertainment.ie felt the album was just a retread of their debut with Tom Meighan's vocals starting to sound strained throughout, concluding with, "If Kasabian hadn't attempted to build their Empire by recounting its wonderment prematurely, it might have stood a chance; instead, their audacity just proves them to be, unsurprisingly, more geezer, less Caesar."[4] Peter Relic of Rolling Stone criticized the album for sounding like a rehash of established British rock bands and Meighan for having weak vocal delivery on the tracks, calling it "miles worse than their shallow but tasty first, its big-budget production only making its shortcomings more apparent."[8]

Track listing

All tracks written by Sergio Pizzorno, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "Empire" (Pizzorno, Christopher Karloff) 3:53
2. "Shoot the Runner"   3:27
3. "Last Trip (In Flight)"   2:53
4. "Me Plus One"   2:28
5. "Sun Rise Light Flies"   4:08
6. "Apnoea"   1:48
7. "By My Side" (Pizzorno, Karloff) 4:14
8. "Stuntman" (Pizzorno, Karloff) 5:19
9. "Seek & Destroy"   2:15
10. "British Legion"   3:19
11. "The Doberman"   5:34

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Charts

Charts (2006) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 64
French Albums (SNEP)[12] 56
Irish Albums (IRMA)[13] 3
Japanese Albums Chart 8
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14] 19
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 47
UK Albums (OCC)[16] 1
US Billboard 200[17] 114

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] 2× Platinum 787,378[19]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ "Kasabian Planning Special Festival Slots". Clash. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Reviews for Empire by Kasabian". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 Jeffries, David. "Empire - Kasabian". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  4. 1 2 Murphy, Lauren (31 August 2006). "Kasabian - Empire". Entertainment.ie. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 Salmon, Chris (25 August 2006). "CD: Kasabian, Empire". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  6. 1 2 Martin, Dan (25 August 2006). "Kasabian: Empire". NME. IPC Media. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
  7. 1 2 MacNeil, Jason (5 November 2006). "Kasabian: Empire". PopMatters. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  8. 1 2 Relic, Peter (7 September 2006). "Kasabian: Empire". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Archived from the original on 3 April 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  9. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Empire (Bonus Track Version) by Kasabian". iTunes.
  10. ↑ "iTunes - Music - Empire by Kasabian". iTunes.
  11. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Kasabian – Empire". Hung Medien.
  12. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Kasabian – Empire". Hung Medien.
  13. ↑ "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 35, 2006". Chart-Track. IRMA.
  14. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Kasabian – Empire". Hung Medien.
  15. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Kasabian – Empire". Hung Medien.
  16. ↑ "Kasabian | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart
  17. ↑ "Kasabian – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Kasabian. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "British album certifications – Kasabian – Empire". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Empire in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  19. ↑ Jones, Alan (16 June 2014). "Official Charts Analysis: Ella Henderson's Ghost sells 132,360 to top singles". Music Week. Intent Media. Retrieved 14 November 2015. (subscription required (help)).

External links

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