Product Description Courteeners' third studio album Anna arrives two years after the band's Top Ten release Falcon. Recorded in Manchester’s Hertz Studios with producer Joe Cross (Hurts) the album is--according to frontman Liam Fray-- a " new chapter sonically for Courteeners. Our music, like our minds, has evolved and expanded. We have re-arrived - Welcome to the rave”. Review Almost three years have elapsed since this Rochdale quartet released their second album, Falcon. A lot has happened in the indie world in that time, and something pretty peculiar has happened to The Courteeners as a result.It’s like someone sent the band a memo saying that the 80s, synths and not being a lad are in. So after nibbling their nails to stumps, they grabbed a textbook and made a conscious decision to be up for owt. Falcon was all about mid-paced, sing-along guitar tracks peppered with a rugged brand of Alex Turner-style lyrical drawling and a lot of swagger. The Turnerisms are intact here, but the swagger has diminished and the band has veered in a direction that feels tokenistic, prosaic and ultimately a bit futile.Lead single Lose Control has a sound reverby guitar hook, but descends into some stadium rock piffle vaguely recalling Friendly Fires. But most of the tracks here are uncomplicated, anthemic by design – and at some points Liam Fray’s solid vocals succeed in lifting things that bit higher.Marquee offers a stripped-back, almost festive acoustic sound, romantic northern patter smoothing the rough edges. It is, however, followed by the brutish and crude Money. Sample lyric: “Sit down and shut your mouth.”Although they exhibit new, nostalgic tones not infrequently, The Courteeners remain a band to whom stadium glory seems an ultimate goal – most of these songs were written to be received on an epic live scale. The number of “woah” interludes borders on the bubonic.But whether this is genetic or spasmodic, it becomes grating. That said, tallying up the “woah” outbursts does become a little addictive. It’s perhaps even fodder for a drinking game, should you be inclined to get absolutely hammered.Not to be completely unkind, The Courteeners embrace lad rock but do challenge its mandate. ANNA is strategic in its experimentation, but represents a fairly dramatic departure from its makers’ brand, so hats off to that. --Natalie Hardwick Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off in a new window
M**N
Try It For Yourself - In My Opinion It's Worth It
ANNA seemed to receive mixed reviews upon its release, not just from critics (who I don't always rely on) but from fans of the band also. Some praised the change in direction, whilst others called the album a disappointment compared to their previous offerings. Therefore, before ordering myself a copy of the album I decided to try it out. I listened to the album via Spotify, bearing in mind the scepticism it had received, and found that the album has a lot to offer.Opener `Are You In Love With A Notion?' kicks things off in a big way, with pounding drum beats, racing guitar riffs and a successful deployment of a "woah, woah" vocal refrain. It is a pacy number, with a sing-a-long chorus which should go down well at live gigs, and some great vocal hooks in the verses (use of the name Deborah, reminded me of Pulp's `Disco 2000', don't know if that's just me though).Lead single `Lose Control' is very much a grower, not necessarily clicking with the listener first time around, perhaps due to the off-key, intoned vocals in the verses, or perhaps the more electronic sound compared to the previous albums. It seems an odd choice for the lead single, but it does at least have an energetic chorus which will likely be the first thing that clicks with listeners (the rest of the song grew on me after a while). Next up though is the stand-out track on the album `Van Der Graaff' which perfectly marries the band's new sound with Liam Fray's song-writing style.Another highlight comes in the form of `Marquee' which sees Fray in similar territory to St. Jude's `Please Don't' although it seems that he has matured since then, and the band have set a more fitting backing track to the lyrics. The opening to `Welcome To The Rave' reminds me of the opening to James' `I Know What I'm Here For' and explores a similar territory. On `Money' there is a very satisfying command to the vocals on the "Sit down and shut your mouth" line that opens the chorus, unfortunately the track is a little uneven, which is a shame as it has a good hook. `Save Rosemary In Time' is better than the bad-pun of a title would suggest, but it is probably the weakest track on the album.The band haven't lost their touch when it comes to catchy choruses, and Liam Fray's lyrics don't seem to have changed all that much, which allows for a sense of familiarity for those who are sceptical about the band's newly embraced `new wave' sound. ANNA is worth your money, a decent album with more good than bad; it certainly seems to have been composed with live performances in mind.
O**S
A gem.
YES YES YES.I wasn't sure about the courteeners initially, being surrorunded by teenagers fawning over "You're not 19 forever" kind of put me off.However, if after 2 plays you don'd find yourself singing aloud to "Are you in love with a notion", then there is something seriously wrong with you. The catchy tunes are superb, the less catchy ones are far from filler.This is a gem.
K**S
Great Buy
Another stomping, anthemic, sing a long record from the Courteeners. This band are vastly under rated, yet they allways produce the goods. See them live if possible, they do come over even better live. The concert I saw them at was a sell out and had been since just after the tickets went on sale, such was the demand. If you havn't got this album, buy it now. It really is well worth the money.
A**N
Getting Better an Moving On
Superb Album from a band that seems to be unable to reach there Target,nearly ever song on Anna is very upbeat an fast an slow songs so good to listen to,will definetly recommend this album to anyone,it would not suprise me if it reaches the Top of the Album charts in the up coming weeks,an no more singing of "You Almost Did It Doll" when it gets there
P**B
Corteeners
Great album
A**N
Top Album
Critics/Journalists/'music connoisseurs' I believe have read to much into the 3rd album.The 'Whoa's on a lot of the hooks and chorus' give it more reason to be a fans album than Falcon or St. Jude!The Courteeners make music for the fans, for the gigs and the buzz both parties get at the live shows.This album shows how The Courteeners have taken strides to similarly unique sounds that Coldplay, K.O.L, Snow Patrol put out.Must buy!Bring on the live gigs!
J**Y
Great
GoT this for the wife as she's a big fan, I really enjoyed this album perhaps not as good as Falcon but that was one of the best albums of the last 10 years as far as I'm concerned.
G**S
Five Stars
Love it
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