Hopes And Fears (studio album) by Keane

“With simple and minimalist songs, catchy choruses, melancholic piano arrangements and introspective lyrics with a romantic touch, KEANE found the formula for success for his debut album, HOPES AND FEARS.”

rating: 8.1 / 10 (objectively)
To personal taste, rating: 10 / 10

Spanish review:
Con canciones sencillas y minimalistas, estribillos pegadizos, arreglos melancólicos en piano y letras introspectivas con toque romántico, KEANE encontró la fórmula del éxito para su álbum debut, HOPES AND FEARS.

La primera vez que escuche a KEANE, no le preste demasiada atención (no usaban guitarras). Tiempo después le di una oportunidad a este álbum y me parece que tienen un sólido debut, con algunas grandes canciones y otras no tanto.

Lo más destacable de este álbum son los arreglos armónicos en piano de Tim Rice-Oxley, que contrastan de excelente manera con la cálida voz de Tom Chaplin, los cuales otorgan una atmosfera melancólica pero esperanzadora a la vez, lo que va muy bien con el título del álbum y en general con lo que trataron de hacer estos chicos.

Este álbum tiene 2 problemas, el primero es que casi todas las canciones siguen la misma fórmula; canciones pop sencillas, melancólicas y con ritmo lento, razón por la que puede ser un poco aburrido y cansado de escuchar para algunos oyentes. El segundo problema, es el desbalance de calidad entre las canciones, hay grandes joyas como “Somewhere only we know” y “Everybody´s changing”, y otras que son muy regulares como lo son “On a day like today” y “Untitled 1”

En fin, pese a los problemas, los puntos positivos superan por mucho a los negativos, razón por la cual este HOPES AND FEARS es un debut sólido para KEANE.

1.- Somewhere Only We Know»………. 10 / 10
2.- Bend and Break» …………………… 9.2 / 10
3.- We Might as Well Be Strangers»…. 8.5 / 10
4.- Everybody's Changing»……………. 10 / 10
5.- Your Eyes Open»…………………… 7.5 / 10
6.- She Has No Time» …………………. 8.5 / 10
7.- Can't Stop Now»…………………….. 8 / 10
8.- Sunshine» …………………………… 6.8 / 10
9.- This Is the Last Time»……………… 9.5 / 10
10.- On A Day Like Today»…………….. 5 / 10
11.- Untitled 1»…………………………… 6.5 / 10
12.- Bedshaped»………………………… 8.5 / 10
CALIFICACIÓN GENERAL: 8.1 / 10 (objetivamente)

Subjetivamente y a gusto personal 10 / 10

From VictorVale 02/10/2023 00:11

Sigles excelentes e o restante bom em qualidade.

From C_Krug2009 08/22/2022 15:27

This album is really great. Great optimistic vibes of piano/keyboard music. Kind of like Coldplay in a way but it is different in its own respective ways.

Love this album a lot. Very cool

Manic Street Morissey

A great debut album containing some lovely piano ballads. My highlights are This Is The Last Time, Everybody's Changing, Bedshaped and Untitled 1.

From Brad1770 11/19/2021 03:01

Ok so it would be super easy to hate on this album and it would be super lazy as well. The musician ship on this album is first class for a debut album especially Oxleys keyboards and there are a handful of top tracks here capped by the incredible “On A Day Like Today”

This isn’t exactly in my musical wheel house but respect brother


Peace out

Apart from the obvious Radiohead/Coldplay influences, there was definitely some U2 in there, too. Nothing groundbreaking, but it got some lovely melodic ballads, voice and piano makes for a combo you can't go wrong with. And the opening track is fantastic.

From CharlieBarley 03/14/2019 22:09

Tom Chaplin's voice is a thing of beauty. The band aren't half bad too!

From luigybetis 11/25/2018 23:54

Most of the songs are good/great, but as an album it doesn't stand too good. 7/10.

Yeah, I've loved this album almost from the off. Piano and keyboard led album with strong vocals and delivery.
The delicate She Has No Time and Bedshaped are excellent, but there are other superb tracks throughout.
Easily their best album