Feeder - The Best Of
By my reckoning, Feeder have released nine studio album and four compilations before this, along with a handful of EPs and numerous singles, spending 180 weeks on the UK charts. Circumstances haven’t always been kind for the band though, with drummer Jon Lee committing suicide in 2001.
This is one of those bands that I should like but have never fully got into. If they are on, I’ll happily listen and maybe even sing along but I’ve never gone out and bought anything. So, what to make of fifty songs on three CDs?
The sound was originally rooted in grunge but time has brought a sometimes softer, acoustic and orchestral tinge to what have always been essentially fine pop songs. For me, the upbeat, heavier rockers work best. Buck Rogers and Pushing The Sensesare are stone-cold classics. The more restrained songs - such as Feeling A Moment – are too Keane, early Coldplay or even latter day Take That for my tastes.
Some songs here I absolutely love, some I wouldn’t miss if I never heard them again but the surprise is just how many of these songs I know. This is a decent introduction to Feeder and after a few listens I am reevaluating one of the UK’s more (quietly) successful bands.
7/10
