Feeder Band

Feeder are a Welsh rock band formed in Newport, South Wales in 1994. They have released 12 studio albums as of 2025 and were inducted into the Kerrang! Radio Hall of Fame in 2019.

They are best known for their Platinum single "Buck Rogers" from their third album Echo Park (2001), but they've also earned a Gold single with "Just a Day" and two Silver singles with "Just the Way I'm Feeling" and "Feeling a Moment."

 

https://youtu.be/4a4ScRBLUHg?si=MWWJ9zha3w0jviK2

 

I've loved Pushing the Senses for a long time, but after reading the great piece by @Craig Manning on "Feeling a Moment" a couple weeks ago I've been diving into their discography from the beginning. Super into it so far.

My Life In 35 Songs, Track 8: “Feeling a Moment” by Feeder

 

Ahh Feeder! Such a great band, insanely prolific when it comes to releasing albums and always touring and their upcoming UK tour they r doing a celebration of the Comfort In Sound album for it.

 

Just A Day and Buck Rogers still hold up to this day. The good old days of Ash, Hundred Reasons, Ruben and the rest

 

Insomnia is a brilliant track of theirs.

 

Going to leave some thoughts here on each album as I work my way through them.

Polythene (1997)

Really strong debut. Has that late-90s post-grunge sound, which carries a lot of nostalgia for me. Pretty wild listening to this one after only knowing their more pop-leaning output from the mid-2000s. Reminds me of some of the bands I was listening to when I was first getting into music during this time period, but this album is more consistent than most in the genre. Some earworms on here for sure.

Standout tracks: My Perfect Day, Cement, High (this song should've been big in the States), Radiation, Descend, Forgive

 

Yesterday Went Too Soon (1999)

This album is only one minute longer than Polythene, but it feels significantly longer. I've seen fans online saying that this is their best album, but in my opinion it's the weakest of the albums I've listened to so far. It's not bad by any means, just a bit inconsistent. The songs are moving into more melodic territory than the debut, but some seem stuck in between where the band started and where they were going. A couple of the softer tunes like "Radioman" and "Tinsel Town" don't do a whole lot for me.

Standout tracks: Insomnia, Picture of Perfect Youth, Yesterday Went Too Soon, Day In Day Out, Hole in My Head, Paperfaces

 

Echo Park (2001)

The first two albums are strong, but this is where the band really levels up, in my opinion. An extremely cool, confident, and unique record. "Standing on the Edge" is such a dynamic way to kick off the album, and it's different from any song they had released to date. It's got teeth, but also showcases a pop sheen that is new for the band. Then you get "Buck Rogers," and it's no surprise this is their most well-known song. Super infectious and driving. The third track, "Piece by Piece," is the band's best laid-back tune of their career so far. It succeeds where the softer tracks on Yesterday fell a little short. There are no obvious misses on this album.

Standout tracks: Standing on the Edge, Buck Rogers, Piece by Piece, Turn, Oxygen, Under the Weather, Satellite News

 

Hell yeah! Great band.

 

Comfort in Sound (2002)

The first album released after the tragic death of their original drummer Jon Lee. The sound continues to shift in a more pop/alternative direction, with some of the harder edges sanded off. "Come Back Around" was my introduction to the band when it was released as the lead single from this album in 2002. It ended up being outperformed by the second single "Just the Way I'm Feeling." A pair of really excellent singles from this album. Even though this is getting into the era of the band I was already familiar with before this deep dive, at this point I'd say I prefer Echo Park to this record. I'm a sucker for melody, so I really enjoy some of the softer and more melodic tracks here, but I miss some of the dynamics and tension that are deployed more sparingly on this record than in their earlier work. The last five-song stretch on this album is more miss than hit for me, but I love seeing them try something new with the epic seven-minute closer "Moonshine," the longest song of their career to date.

Standout tracks: Just the Way I'm Feeling, Come Back Around, Comfort in Sound, Forget About Tomorrow, Summer's Gone (darkhorse pick for best song on the album), Love Pollution

 

Pushing the Senses (2005)

If Comfort in Sound is Feeder dipping their toes into the melodic/arena rock pool, this album sees them diving in headfirst. It's hard to analyze this one objectively because I've known it well for 20 years. It's the only album by the band that I was well-acquainted with prior to the last few weeks. I remember seeing criticisms when this album was released that Feeder were chasing the Coldplay/britpop trend by committing to this softer sound, but I think it absolutely works for them. The energy is consolidated to a few (absolutely incredible) songs, with most of the album being very mellow and mid-tempo. I can see how a fan of the band from the beginning would be disheartened by the lack of punch here, but this album means a lot to me, and the band nail the sound they are going for. I'll bang this drum at any opportunity: for my money, "Feeling a Moment" and "Pushing the Senses" are two of the best melodic rock singles to come from the same album.

Standout tracks: Feeling a Moment, Tumble and Fall, Tender, Pushing the Senses, Morning Life, Pain on Pain

 

Silent Cry (2008)

I remember listening to this album once or twice when it was released, since I was such a big fan of the previous album, but it didn't stick with me. I didn't remember anything about it going into my listens over the past few days, and I was interested to see how it would sit with me in the context of their career up to this point. This album feels like the band reinventing themselves again (or trying to return to form after the softer and more pop-leaning Pushing the Senses), but in this case I'm not sure I love the result. This sounds very much like a mid-2000s radio rock record. The songs are faster and louder, the guitars are bigger and crunchier, the riffs are heavier, the synths and woah-ohs are more prevalent, and the lyrical content is more broad. That's not inherently bad. It just feels a little faceless to me overall. A lot of these songs sound like they could have come from any commercial rock band during this time period, and I don't hear much of the distinctness that sets Feeder apart from their contemporaries. Lead single and first track "We Are the People" is catchy enough, but I'm not a fan of the generic "us against the world" message. It doesn't feel particularly relatable, or like it has anything unique to say, and that is my criticism for much of the album. It does have some nice hooks, and I have to commend the band for continuing to explore new sonic avenues on every entry in their discography, but I wouldn't call any track on this album essential for someone looking to explore this band.

Standout tracks: Itsumo, Miss You, Silent Cry, 08:18, Sonorous

 

It's really interesting seeing someone working their way through the whole Feeder catalogue!

As a long time listener of Feeder I find myself in agreement with a lot of your thoughts. I've often thought that Feeder don't really have a perfect album, but rather the sheer weight of brilliant songs over multiple decades are what makes them my favourite band today.

Yesterday Went Too Soon has some great tracks but is let down by some dull slow ones that kill the pacing. And I've never understood how Day In Day Out was the lead single, or a single at all for that matter.

I've always felt Pushing The Senses to be a bit top heavy as a record, and I lose interest a bit in the second half. Grant went on to record a solo album with tracks similar in style to these. There are B-sides from PTS that really should have been on the record imo.

I still think Echo Park (how Satellite News wasn't on the album proper I'll never know!) and Comfort In Sound are their best records, and I was also late to Polythene which may rank a bit higher if I was a fan back when it came out (I was a bit young at the time..) but it is a great record. Bottled 90's sound.

Silent Cry is a bit hit and miss overall. I think Sonorous is probably the best track on there along with the title track and I've always loved Itsumo too. Grant's interviews on this record are always interesting to read. I think he felt it could and should have been much bigger than it was.

Interested to hear what you make of the other records if you listen. There's still loads more to go!

Do try and seek out their B-sides and bonus tracks as well. Feeder have an amazing number of them, and some of them are brilliant. These would be my picks:


Shatter (Pushing The Senses)
I For You (PTS)
Bruised (PTS)
Victoria (PTS - I think!)
Tomorrow Shine (Yesterday Went Too Soon)
Bring It Together (Comfort In Sound)
Slowburn (Echo Park)
Just A Day (Echo Park)
Home For Summer (Echo Park)
Sending Out Waves (Renegades)

Also, their 2018 Best Of compilation came with a mini-album called Arrow. If you scroll to the end on Spotify you can find it starting with Walk Away and ending with Landslide. Veins and Bees are the standouts here imo.

Happy listening :]

 

Man, you've gotta list Seven Days In The Sun from Echo Park. Really align with the rest of your thoughts on the band so far, though. For those unaware:

She's my heavennnnnn!

 

A perfect album is a hard bar to clear, but wow, Echo Park might be pretty close. I agree that with how prolific the band has been over the years, there is so much here to enjoy and they've covered so many different sounds (and I'm only through half their output so far!) not every track has to be perfect. It's been really interesting seeing how they've changed, evolved, and consistently tried new things over the many years of their career.

I do like "Day In Day Out," but I agree it was an odd choice for a first single. In retrospect, "Insomnia" might have been the pick there.

The second half of Pushing the Senses is definitely slower paced and not as strong as the first half. I love that album and go way back with it, so it doesn't bother me, but I can understand that criticism for sure.

I didn't know Grant had a solo album! I'll have to check that out.

What's this about "Satellite News" not being on the album? I love that song!

I think Echo Park and Pushing the Senses are my favorites so far, with Comfort in Sound and Polythene close behind. Excited to see if anything from the second half of their career stacks up to those!

That makes total sense that Grant would hope for more commercial success from Silent Cry. It does sound like a play for radio, to an extent, and there are a handful of songs there that sound like they should have had strong mass appeal. Agreed that "Sonorous" is probably the best song on the album.

Absolutely planning to finish the rest of the catalog! I'm already a few listens into Renegades

Thanks for the info on the b-sides! I am familiar with "Shatter" (I had it tacked on to the end of Pushing the Senses on the old iPod Classic), but I haven't really spent time with any others. I know they have a truckload of b-sides, and honestly it's a little intimidating to try to wrangle them all and include them in this listen through their catalog. I decided to just stick with the base albums for now, and then I'll dive into the deluxe versions/b-sides/etc.

I did see some info on Arrow when I was scanning through their discography on Wikipedia. Definitely want to get to that one!

 

"Seven Days in the Sun" is really great, I just had to cut it off somewhere when I was listing standout tracks. I probably could have listed them all!

 

Renegades (2010)

This band continues to be completely fascinating. Prior to releasing this album, they played a handful of shows billed as Renegades instead of Feeder. Seems like the main impetus behind that was to be able to play a full set of these new, heavier, straightforward rock songs without the burden of having to fill their setlists with singles and fan favorites. They released two four-song EPs under the Renegades name, followed by this album under the Feeder name, which includes half of the Renegades EP tracks along with a bunch of songs exclusive to this full-length release.

I'll admit that my first listen to this one was pretty negative. While it was interesting hearing them do yet another style with these fast, brash, punk rock songs, it felt like they had really abandoned everything that made them special early in their career. I kept thinking "they really went all in on just some big, dumb rock songs." And I still kinda feel that way. BUT... after a few more listens, a good few of these songs are pretty enjoyable if taken at face value without the burden of what Feeder is "supposed" to be. And I think that's exactly why they were playing these songs under a different band name altogether.

This is far from the best Feeder album, and this style of music does not highlight the band's strengths particularly well. There are a few duds on here, but when analyzed as its own project without preconceptions, the album is pretty fun overall!

Standout tracks: White Lines, Call Out, Renegades, Down by the River, Barking Dogs

 

I had it half-right with Satellite News; I think the song wasn't on most overseas editions of the record and was UK-only. I'm not sure why they'd play fast and loose with one of the best and imo most essential songs on the record.

I'm okay with some of the tracks on Renegades but it's easily in my bottom two along with All Bright Electric. Given the volume of great material Feeder have, I see no real reason to return to either of those records.

 

Generation Freakshow (2012)

I read that Feeder were originally planning to release two albums in 2010 with the songs from the Renegades sessions. Based on that fact and the album title, I went into this one fully expecting it to be Renegades Part 2. Unsurprisingly, as I should have learned by now, that is not at all what this album is. The band went back to the studio to spend more time crafting this album, and only one of the Renegades-era tracks ended up on the final tracklist.

What we get here is in stark contrast to Renegades, and it's yet another new sound for the band. After a two-album disappearance of the kind of personal and introspective songwriting that marked their early-career output, this album sees Grant Nicholas weaving a batch of vignettes about hard-luck protagonists and outcasts. The band keeps the musicianship simple on a lot of these songs to focus on the lyrical storytelling, an approach that really reminds me of heartland rock or Americana at times, even though you won't be hearing any Southern twang here.

Not every song on here is a winner (lead single "Borders" hasn't clicked for me after several attempts), but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the highlights on this one.

Standout tracks: Oh My, Idaho (this one was stuck in my head all weekend), Quiet, Tiny Minds, In All Honesty, Children of the Sun

 

All Bright Electric (2016)

After the longest gap between albums in their 20-year career (four years!), Feeder "return" with this album, which is one of their most raw and energetic. Between the live-in-a-room sound of the mix, the layered vocal production, the heavy pulse of the rhythm section, the sometimes-meandering compositions, and the big, reverberating guitars, this album feels very prog rock-coded to me. There are no seven-minute epics or roaming solos, but the sonic palate often brought bands like Porcupine Tree or even Pink Floyd to mind while I was listening to this one. Where Generation Freakshow focused on the lyricism, on All Bright Electric the vocals commonly take a backseat in favor of some tasty grooves, vibes, and riffs. This album, maybe more than any in their career up to this point, has a pretty consistent sound throughout. There are more rock-based tunes and some that are more subdued, but it's a singular vision. The highs aren't that high, and the lows are just kind of dull rather than being actively bad. It's not a top-tier Feeder album, but there's some cool stuff going on here. I think they might be running out of subgenres to dabble in at this point?

Standout tracks: Universe of Life, Eskimo, Infrared Ultraviolet, The Impossible, Angels & Lullabys (horns!), Slint

 

Tallulah (2019)

After 14 years and 4 albums of genre bending and stretching their music in different directions with uneven results, Feeder finally return to their "core" sound (which almost seems wrong to say given the totality of their career - it's definitely their best known sound, from their most commercially-successful era in the early 2000s) on this album. It feels like a return to form in a lot of ways, and it's refreshing to hear the band play this style of earnest, anthemic rock again after all this time (only a couple weeks for me - I can't imagine what it must have felt like for those following their career in real time!). This album doesn't quite stand up to their "big three" (Echo Park, Comfort in Sound, and Pushing the Senses), but there is quite a lot to like here. It almost feels like a comeback album, where they are shaking off the cobwebs a bit and will (spoiler alert) continue to find their footing on the next record. Really enjoyable and often uplifting listen here.

Standout tracks: Youth, Blue Sky Blue, Rodeo, Tallulah, Guillotine

 

Great write-up and it's really fascinating to hear your perspectives coming into these records fresh. For me Generation Freakshow is another top-heavy record. The first time I listened to it I only had time to listen to the first 5 tracks and came back to the others later. I remember after those first 5 thinking this would be an all-timer, but was a bit let down by the second half. Tiny Minds, Headstrong, Fools Can't Sleep are all really weak in my opinion. But that's all this is: opinion. I actually love Borders! One thing we both agree on is Quiet. I think it's a hidden gem in their discography. I love how the song ebbs and transitions and fades out. A great melody that just loops again and again. My favourite on the record.

Nailed it. I just don't find much to really enjoy here. I only ever listen to it just in the hope I might change my mind. But ah well. I think this album was probably more critically acclaimed than anything else they've done. The press never understood Feeder, so I suppose it's no surprise this is the one they liked above all others.

Agreed, this is the most 'Feeder' album we've had in a long time. For most part it hits the right tone - songs like Daily Habit call back to the kind of lyrically carefree days of singing about Nurofen Plus. The highs are very high indeed. I'm surprised Shapes & Sounds didn't make your highlights as that and Youth are the ones I think of when this record comes to mind. It has iffy moments though - Kite is an instant skip, especially after the doomy-sounding Guillotine and Kyoto (the latter appears to be a Grant favourite as it's regularly in the setlist. It does rip live, to be fair). It's a poor sequence on the album that in defence you could argue offers a contrast to the breezier anthemic tracks. But they do pull it round with Windmill and Lonely Hollow Days. I remember watching a number of Grant interviews around the release of this record and think I remember him saying he still sees records as having a Side A & B. On side A you put your more conventional tracks and Side B is where you experiment a bit more. A lot of their albums make a bit more sense when viewed through this prism I think.

Just Torpedo and Black / Red to go!

 

Thanks for following along! Nice to feel like I'm not alone in here haha.

Generation Freakshow is definitely top-heavy, which I think could be said for a number of Feeder albums. "Tiny Minds" is one of my favorites on the album though, I really like that chorus. Always good to hear different opinions! Agreed that "Headstrong" is pretty weak. I do like the hook on "Fools Can't Sleep," but I think the verse lets it down. "Quiet" is so pretty.

I will say that All Bright Electric got better the more I listened to it. It's such a mood album. It doesn't have many catchy tracks that jump out and grab you, but there are some really nice grooves there that I started to get into with more exposure.

"Shapes and Sounds" would have been the next track I listed if I included another one from Tallulah. That back and forth synth (or maybe it's a guitar) part in the chorus is so good. I thought "Kyoto" was pretty corny the first few times I heard it, but it grew on me. I like how the chorus ascends out of those dark verses. "Kite" is definitely one of the weaker songs on the album.

Does not surprise me at all to hear that Grant views albums that way. It does seem like most of their more straightforward tracks and singles are frontloaded on their albums (though you could say that for many bands), and they take more risks on their side Bs.

 

Torpedo (2022)

I read a little bit about this album when it was released, and recall it being promoted as the first album of a trilogy. It seems the band were energized after the success of Tallulah and quickly wrote a follow-up record, but their plans to release it were put on hold by COVID. They continued to write during the pandemic and produced this album, which was released first. The songs written pre-COVID ended up being released as a double-album Black/Red to complete the trilogy.

It's not hard to tell that this album was influenced by and written during COVID. Coming together, persevering through hardships, and frustration with the state of the world at large are common themes throughout. Sonically, it continues that classic Feeder sound that was rediscovered on Tallulah. The songs are a little heavier in general, with some more aggression and riffy guitars. It's not a significant departure from the previous album, but it's a little more confident and grandiose. Given the emotion and high stakes tied to the subject matter, it's understandable that it produced this kind of record. This is quite an achievement for this late into the band's career, and it's remarkably consistent all the way through. Dare I say their best album since Pushing the Senses?

Standout tracks: The Healing (love opening on the 6-minute opus), Torpedo, When It All Breaks Down, Decompress, Wall of Silence, Born to Love You, Submission (this album might end with its two best songs!)