Perfect Symmetry is the third studio album by English rock band Keane, released on 13 October 2008 in the United Kingdom.
Cover
The cover for the album was revealed on 5 September. Tim Rice-Oxley explained that the imagery of the band is photographs of bigger-than-life-size sculptures of the band members, made by Korean artist Osang Gwon. It was implied that these sculptures would form the basis of the album's image and promotion up to the date of release.
Perfect Symmetry World Tour
The Perfect Symmetry World Tour started on 29 September 2008 and finished on 29 October 2009, with 121 shows. During the Perfect Symmetry album release week, the band did some free shows in the UK.
Critical reception
The album received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. On the aggregate website Metacritic, it has a score of 64/100, indicating "generally positive reviews". Spin gave the album 7/10 and praised the band for expanding their musical palette. Slant gave the album a lukewarm review and ultimately considered it a downgrade from the band's two previous albums.
NME heavily panned the album, giving it a 1/5 and negatively comparing it to British new rave band Klaxons.
Track listing
Notes
<small>(^) denotes additional production</small><br /> <small>(*) denotes co-producer</small>
Bonus DVD
- Making of Perfect Symmetry documentary
- Track by track commentary
- "Spiralling" (live rehearsal)
- "Spiralling" (demo)
- "The Lovers Are Losing" (demo)
- "Better Than This" (demo)
- "You Haven't Told Me Anything" (demo)
- "Perfect Symmetry" (demo)
- "You Don't See Me" (demo)
- "Again and Again" (demo)
- "Playing Along" (demo)
- "Pretend That You're Alone" (demo)
- "Black Burning Heart" (demo)
- "Love Is the End" (demo)
In popular culture
The album's eleventh song "Love Is the End" was featured on the 18th episode from the sixth season of the series One Tree Hill.
Personnel
Keane
Additional personnel
- Jesse Quin â bass, guitar (on "Black Burning Heart"), percussion, backing vocals
- Stephen Hussey â violin (on "Love Is the End")
- Chris Fish â cello (on "Love Is the End")
- Jo Silverston; Ian Harris â musical saw (on "Love Is the End")
- Jim Hunt â saxophone (on "Pretend That You're Alone")
- Anaël Train â French vocal (on "Black Burning Heart")
- Jake Davies â engineering
- Mark "Spike" Stent â mixing and additional production
- Stuart Price â co-production (for "Again and Again" and "Black Burning Heart")
- Jon Brion â additional production (for "You Haven't Told Me Anything")
- Scott Johnson â on Studio Tech
- Stephen Marcussen â mastering
- Beth Louise Warren â band assistance and recording co-ordinator
- Osang Gwon â sculptures for booklet
- Rob Chenery at Tourist â design and art direction
- Shamil Tanna â photography
- Adam Tudhope â managing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
See also
References
External links