Feeder Band • Page 2

Black/Red (2024)

Only fitting that this epic journey would end with a double album. These are the remainder of the tracks that comprise the "trilogy" that started with Torpedo. I'm tempted to say the band had a very prolific period to produce these three albums within a few years, but honestly they've been churning out albums so consistently (not to mention tons of b-sides that I haven't even acknowledged yet) that this seems like more or less the usual for them. At 18 tracks and 66 minutes, this album doesn't seem considerably longer than other Feeder albums, and with the streaming trend of albums being consistently super-sized, Black/Red isn't a huge outlier. I haven't really noticed its length, because it's very good.

The album sounds a lot like Torpedo overall, which makes sense if these songs were all meant to be connected and were written around the same time. There isn't a significant difference in sound between the first nine tracks (Black) and the next nine (Red), though the more straightforward rock tunes are mostly on disc 1. It is nice to listen to this album after having the benefit of knowing all the previous Feeder albums, because I can hear bits of many of the styles the band explored in the past across the 18 tracks on Black/Red. "Sleeping Dogs Lie" sounds like a Renegades-era track injected with that classic Feeder energy. "Vultures" could've been on All Bright Electric. "Submarine" takes me back to Comfort in Sound. "Scream" sounds like a more successful version of what they were trying to do on Silent Cry. "Lost in the Wilderness" and "Soldiers of Love" have that lyrical storytelling from Generation Freakshow. It's great to hear this band churning out such strong material, and creating this melting pot of all their output over nearly 30 years. It feels like a celebration in that way.

I'm excited to be fully on board and to get to experience the next record in real time. I feel a little bit more like a Feeder scholar than a Feeder fan at the moment, but I am confident that they are a top 20 band for me at this point. Doing this discography run was something I've been considering for years, and though it's long overdue, I'm super glad I finally did it. Though this is the end of my run through the proper albums, I'm sure I'll be coming back to their mountain of non-album tracks to see what I'm missing there. I might take a break first.

Standout tracks: Playing with Fire, Sahara, The Knock (maybe my favorite here), AI Man, Scream, Submarine, Unconditional, Soldiers of Love

 

I'm a big fan of Torpedo; it has great songs throughout, some brilliant melodies and is low-key kinda heavy. One feature of note on this album is a tendency for these really cool chill breakdown / bridge moments. The title track in particular springs to mind here. Like these little moments of clarity amongst the noise.

Consistency-wise I think it's one of the stronger Feeder albums, with great songs throughout. There are a couple of lower moments (Slow Strings never grabbed me) but they don't drag the album down. When It All Breaks Down and Born To Love You are my favourites here.

Great write-up. I think Black / Red is another consistent record that pretty much picks up the Torpedo sound. It's kind of crazy to release a double album this good so far into a career and it makes me so thankful Feeder are still around making music.

I was actually surprised B/R was as consistent as it was, not just in quality but in terms of the songs on the record. Given Feeder's tendency to experiment I thought there would be a few more left-field kind of tracks on here. You can't argue with the results though. I do feel there's a bit of filler (like any double album) but certainly more hits than misses. Funnily enough, I've never cared for The Knock. Highlights for me are ELF, Sahara, Scream, Hey You, Perfume, Memory Loss, Unconditional, Lost in The Wilderness, Soldiers Of Love. Playing With Fire is brilliant live and pretty good on record too.

Not easy absorbing so much music by one band at once but I feel you really got the measure of them and I agree on a lot of your thoughts. Will be interesting to see in time which records you return to or which rise and fall over time. It's been fun to follow along and really great the band has its own thread here.