Customer Reviews

Warnings//Promises

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is Idlewild's fourth album released, and it's pretty good.
Let's analyse track by track:
1) Love Steals us from loneliness (3.12) - Ah, the well-known hit. Quite a lot of Idlewild's songs have too much music, that drowns out the singing but most of the album isn't like this. The new single is sung beautifully, accompanied with slow rock guitars and starts off with a chorus, which appears from time to time during the song 9/10
2) Welcome Home (3.15) - Another song that you can hear properly. Quite a gentle ballad/rock song, with gentle arpeggio's from the guitar in the chorus 8/10
3) I want a warning (3;35) - Quite a contrast, hard, fast paced rock. High guitars in the chorus, and a nice change from the first two songs. Reminds me of a song you'd used in a movie, in a car chase. Only thing is, the music slightly drowns out the song 8/10
4) I understand it (3:20) - Another slow rock ballad, that progresses into a great chorus, with more than one person signing, and a gentle beat 8/10
5) As if I hadn't slept (3:36) - This song is quite like the other songs, with just a little bit more. Idlewild are expanding their music into more gentle "easier-to-listen-to" music. They depend mainly on all the singers singing, to build this song up 9/10
6) Too Long Awake (3:07) - This song takes ages to start up, and when it does his voice is drowned out by the guitars. Otherwise it's a good song, but ends abruptly 7/10
7) Not just sometimes but always (3:33) - Sounds a lot like Welcome Home, but still good. Unfortunately, this song isn't really anything special; more like a filler 7/10
8) The space between all things (4:12) - Another pretty fast paced song, but his voice isn't drowned out that much. The chorus reminds me of a R.E.M song 9/10
9) El Captain (3:57) - This song isn't easily going to be forgotten. It's got striking guitars, and a piano in the background. A strong beat in included, but around the 2.40 mark, the melody is slow and accompanied by a piano 10/10
10) Blame it on obvious ways (3:24) - All the better songs seem to be on the end of the CD! Not a particularly special song though, a bit of a repeated song. Still good though 9/10
11) Disconnected (3.51) - A great song, in my opinion. Great guitars, but not to heavy, and some other instruments can be heard as well (strings, bells?) 10/10
12) Goodnight (8.06?!) - When I first put this CD in, I saw it was 8 mins 6 second and I thought "huh?" but it turns out to be two songs in one. The first half is a ballad, with minimal instruments, depending mainly on vocals, then builds up. But at 3:05, it dies down! Then for 2.40 ridiculous minutes there's complete silence, then it starts up again! So I'm not sure how to rate this! ?/10
Overall a good CD, but some of the song are too repetitive. Just guitars, bass, and drums. Some songs have got other instruments, but the songs really need more. I'm not being over-critical, and lease don't hate me, but none of the songs are "unique" they all sound pretty much the same apart from El Captain and maybe Disconnected.
Hope this helped!

Of course there will be a rash of reviews on this album complaining about Idlewild becoming "pop" and "drastically changing their sound." They are right, but I don't think that is negative. Idlewild started out as a "punkish" band and when their earlier albums first came out I was in my early teens. I loved them, but now in my late teens I can barely stand the whirring redundant guitars and shrieky puerile vocals of those really early albums. They got more mature- "100 Broken Windows" is arguably their best album because it was apparently made in that intersection where they were maturing, but still retaining a lot of their early dissonance. I personally liked "The Remote Part" and thought it had a languishing sort of beauty. This album is very different- far more upbeat and experimental, but I think it retains a lot of the best aspects of their earlier character.

Track wise the standout is "El Capitan," a danceable literate tune well accompanied by piano and unlike anything Idlewild has ever done. "Disconnected" is another more experimental track, with the some interesting instrumentals and great lyrics. "I Understand It" is my other favorite with its great vocals and folk style. I like the balanced and nuanced use of guitars on "Blame It On Obvious Ways." The other songs are really good, I can't think of one I find to be too flawed, though at least two suffer from whirring drowning guitars syndrome/purposefully, but annoying dissonance.

Overall this is a very strong album and I highly recommend it. Equal to "100 Broken Windows"? Perhaps. Idlewild is yet a young band and they seem to be getting better all the time.

Idlewild's forth album is one of their best yet. I have had a couple of weeks to listen to the new album and there are some great moments. The first single "love steals us from loneliness" is a great opener and sets the tone of the album. There are some great melodies on Warnings/Promises. "Welcome Home," "I Understand It," and "As If I Hadn't Slept" are all great mid-tempo songs. The rockers on the album "I Want a Warning," and "Too Long Awake" flow nicely into the scenery which is a big improvement over The Remote Part.

The absolute gem on Warning/Promises is "El Capitan." There is definitely some influence from "The Walkmen" in the piano intro, but the song is distinctly Idlewild. No rock album would be complete without some kind of political song. "I Want a Warning" fits the bill and does it in an indirect way. Fans of Idlewild's last two albums should be happy with the new release. Fans thirsty for a hard rocking follow-up to The Remote Part will not be satisfied, but Idlewild are progressing nicely. I can't wait to hear what is next from the band.

I love this album! Of course, having liked their past albums as well, I was predisposed to like it. This album is a nice mix of songs, some softer and poignant (Goodnight and Not Just Sometimes But Always) and a few with a harder edge (I Want A Warning). My favorites would be "Welcome Home" and "El Capitan" (which incidentally caused me to look up El Capitan on Google and find out it's a cliff face in California-nice reference boys!) I guess I am surprised their first song released was "Love Steals Us From Loneliness"; it is a decent song, but not the strongest on the album. (And actually, for the person who was looking for a radio station that plays Idlewild, there is one here in Minneapolis, MN called The Current (public radio) that has played "Love Steals Us" recently. Maybe you just need to look for a modern rock/alternative rock station, or even a college station) I really think if they release "El Capitan" or "Welcome Home" in the states that could help them break through and become more well known. It was surprising how many of the songs had a sort of "countryish/folksy" feel to me. The harmonizing in the songs is just great- they have wonderful voices and really know how to mesh melodies. I wish these guys all the best- they are great fellows and wonderful, articulate musicians!! If you like this CD I recommend their CDs "The Remote Part" or "100 Broken Windows"

Warnings/Promises, the fourth release by Scotland's Idlewild (fifth if you count mini-lp debut Captain), finds them consolidating strengths and integrating the rough maturity of 2003's uneven The Remote Part. That release saw them struggling with the dichotomy of following their harder instincts or becoming more pastoral (in the vein of R.E.M.). The CD was schizophrenic, inconsistent. Warnings/Promises maps the same path, with even-handed results. Roddy Woomble does R.E.M. better now than Michael Stipe (check standouts "Welcome Home" and "Not Sometimes but Always" if you don't believe me). And though his earnest lyrics about Understanding Life are sometimes hard to take, he does have a mild sense of humor. First single "Loves Steals Us from Loneliness" undercuts the precociousness of its title sentiment by giving it over to a third party. "You said something stupid like `love steals us from loneliness,'" sings Woomble on this anthem-to-be. "`Happy Birthday! Are you lonely yet?'"

This is my first Idlewild purchase, so I have no basis to complain about their supposed betrayal from their earlier cd's. I can tell you this, that on my first few listens thru, I really like this cd. I haven't heard a track that disappoints me and that I find the tunes very catchy and memorable.

Somebody tell me where this Top 40 station is, that Idlewild is going to get played on, what, in between Ashlee Simpson and the Black Eyed Peas? This type of music won't ever get played on existing Top 40 radio because there isn't a programmer out there with enough intelligence or taste or cajones to add music like this...where the group actually plays their instruments and sings their hearts out..thank god bands make music for themselves first and foremost and not "fans" whose childish disappointment in their evolvement makes them dismiss the band forever, what a load of crap and it doesn't help me or anyone else make an educated guess on whether to buy or not.
This isn't close to Top 40 music, so that to me is a baseless complaint.

I'll find it much easier to go back, now, to purchase their earlier works (which I always planned on, but this convinced me even more), I'm pleased with this new release. Its very strong from start to finish and right now favorite tracks include: "El Capitan", "Blame it on Obvious Ways", "I Want a Warning" and "I Understand It"...but thats today.

I know this is the type of cd that I'm going to go back to often, it will stand up to repeated listenings, great music always does. This will be the one, whether it does or doesn't sound like earlier efforts, that folks will point to down the road as the one that gets them the praise they deserve.

Idlewild sleeps with the devil, at least on the US release, because the thing can't be copied to my iPod. I have over 3000 CDs; I thought I was one of "the good guys" but I've just wasted and hour horsing around with this. How wrong it is.

Idlewild create songs that are airtight. However they couch the melodic line musically, every inch of the song is covered perfectly. Musically, they vary from sounds that would go over well with the pitchfork crowd, from sounds that my mom might like, or your grandmom. But that seems to be only MY restrictions on what is sonically hip, not theirs. They follow the none-appreciated and unexpected path and suit each song uniquely. And as long as they keep making perfectly crafted songs they can continue to make them sound limper than I would make them. Speaking of limp, Roddy Woomble has the strongest, fullest, voice of the modern bands that I am aware of. And there is absolutely no one better at lyrics.
" All the mistakes I made,
I made because I didn't know my self very well,
and by this stage,
I feel like I really should know myself,
I'm forced into a sponsored silence,
where I'm only paid if I don't say what I want to say,

Open up your arms and say,
I can't throw it all away,
open up your arms and say,
I can't give it all away,
I couldn't even care what you say,
you change,
you change everyday,
and blame it on your obvious ways,

I gamble my presents,
and full the jukebox full of my favorite phrases,
as we cling to the nightclub walls,
we whisper the words,
we whisper them wrong,
and so we screamed out the wrong words,
into our own song,
and with the kiss that tasted like drugs,
which taste like,
we'll never ever make it home,"

Add another chorus at the end of that and add eleven more songs full of lyrics of that mind numbing, emotive, intricately phrased, multiple sides of the story storytelling and you get just one aspect of the most original melodic rock\pop band on the planet. Check out more lyrics and some videos if you are curious and then buy 2 albums, one for you and the other for your grandma. [...]
" It seems far too easy to say the same things,
I'll choose my own way to use my life up,
finally found a new way,
say the same things,
in imaginary ways,
I'll use my life up,

You were looking at pictures in the distance,
hoping to see the future in your pictures,
of the distance hoping to see,
the future looking at pictures in the distance,
hoping to see the future through your pictures,
of the distance,
hoping to see,
the future in your pictures of the distance"

Idlewild's albums had been getting progressively better, both musically and lyrically, but with this one I think the end is in sight. The Remote Part was a perfect album in my opinion, balancing mood and tone very nicely. But Idlewild seems to be taking the path trodden my the Manic Street Preachers in the 90s -- the musical arrangements all getting a little too lush, and lyrically they're falling apart, usually into post-adolescance, most notably when Roddy's whining about digging his car out from the snow and wondering where the summer went. Pretty awkward stuff. I was expecting much more from this album. Although it's pretty good AOR by most standards -- not my genre, quite frankly, but if it was this would be it -- I think I'll catch up with them in two albums' time when they're back in some Scottish basement recording an album in two weeks, as MSP did in its native Wales with its surprisingly good Know Your Enemy.

These last two albums from Idlewild have been such a let down. 100 broken windows was perfect, now I just don't understand the crap they play. But it's still better listening than most other rock around. I wish they'd get it together and try to be more original.