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Perfect Symmetry (Keane album)

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(Redirected from Better Than This (Keane song)) 2008 album by Keane
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Perfect Symmetry
Studio album by Keane
Released13 October 2008
Recorded2008
Studio
  • Teldex (Berlin)
  • Studio de la Grande Armée (Paris)
  • Olympic (London)
  • The Barn (London)
Genre
Length50:43
LabelIsland
Producer
Keane chronology
Live 06
(2006) 		Perfect Symmetry
(2008) 		Night Train
(2010)
Singles from Perfect Symmetry
  1. "Spiralling"
    Released: 4 August 2008
  2. "The Lovers Are Losing"
    Released: 20 October 2008
  3. "Perfect Symmetry"
    Released: 29 December 2008
  4. "Better Than This"
    Released: 16 March 2009
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic64/100
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Entertainment WeeklyB+
The Guardian
musicOMH
NME2/10
PopMatters6/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin7/10
Uncut

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 are photographs of bigger than life-size sculptures of the band members, made by Korean artist Osang Gwon. It was implied that these sculptures will 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 29 September 2008 and finished 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 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 to 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

All tracks are written by Keane

No.TitleProducer(s)Length
1."Spiralling"Keane4:19
2."The Lovers Are Losing"Keane5:04
3."Better Than This"Keane4:03
4."You Haven't Told Me Anything"Keane, Jon Brion^3:47
5."Perfect Symmetry"Keane5:12
6."You Don't See Me"Keane4:03
7."Again and Again"Keane, Stuart Price*3:50
8."Playing Along"Keane5:35
9."Pretend That You're Alone"Keane3:47
10."Black Burning Heart"Keane, Stuart Price*5:23
11."Love Is the End"Keane5:37
Total length:50:43
iTunes Store edition additional tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Time to Go"3:50
13."My Shadow" (pre-order bonus track)4:52
Japan edition additional tracks
No.TitleLength
12."My Shadow"4:49
13."Time to Go"3:50
14."The Lovers Are Losing" (CSS remix)4:35
15."Spiralling" (Diplo vs. Keane "Mad Spirals Mix")5:22
16."Perfect Symmetry" (Frankmusik remix)4:56
Notes

(^) denotes additional production
(*) denotes co-producer

Bonus DVD

  1. Making of Perfect Symmetry documentary
  2. Track by track commentary
  3. "Spiralling" (live rehearsal)
  4. "Spiralling" (demo)
  5. "The Lovers Are Losing" (demo)
  6. "Better Than This" (demo)
  7. "You Haven't Told Me Anything" (demo)
  8. "Perfect Symmetry" (demo)
  9. "You Don't See Me" (demo)
  10. "Again and Again" (demo)
  11. "Playing Along" (demo)
  12. "Pretend That You're Alone" (demo)
  13. "Black Burning Heart" (demo)
  14. "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 – bass, guitar (on "Black Burning Heart"), percussion, backing vocals
  • Stephen Hussey – violin (on "Love Is the End")
  • Chris Fish – cello (on "Love Is the End")
  • Jo Silverston; Ian Harris – musical saw (on "Love Is the End")
  • Jim Hunt – saxophone (on "Pretend That You're Alone")
  • Anaël Train – French vocal (on "Black Burning Heart")
  • Jake Davies – engineering
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing and additional production
  • Stuart Price – co-production (for "Again and Again" and "Black Burning Heart")
  • Jon Brion – additional production (for "You Haven't Told Me Anything")
  • Scott Johnson – on Studio Tech
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Beth Louise Warren – band assistance and recording co-ordinator
  • Osang Gwon – sculptures for booklet
  • Rob Chenery at Tourist – design and art direction
  • Shamil Tanna – photography
  • Adam Tudhope – managing

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) 33
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 22
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 7
Canadian Albums (Billboard) 7
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 26
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 3
French Albums (SNEP) 42
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 10
Irish Albums (IRMA) 4
Italian Albums (FIMI) 32
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) 9
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 17
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) 7
Portuguese Albums (AFP) 5
Scottish Albums (OCC) 3
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) 12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 6
UK Albums (OCC) 1
US Billboard 200 7
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) 4

Year-end charts

Chart (2008) Position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 66
UK Albums (OCC) 49
Chart (2009) Position
UK Albums (OCC) 175

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Ireland (IRMA) Gold 7,500
United Kingdom (BPI) Platinum 300,000
United States — 135,000

Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. Keanemusic - Next single revealed, 6 November 2008
  2. "Perfect Symmetry Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  3. Leahey, Andrew (13 October 2008). "Perfect Symmetry - Keane". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  4. ^ Leah Greenblatt (15 October 2008). "Perfect Symmetry Review". EW.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  5. "Keane - Perfect Symmetry | album reviews". musicOMH.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  6. "NME Album Reviews - Keane". NME. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  7. Bergstrom, John. "Keane: Perfect Symmetry < PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Critic Reviews for Perfect Symmetry at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  9. Wood, Mikael. "Keane, 'Perfect Symmetry' (Interscope)". Spin. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  10. "Album review: Keane - Perfect Symmetry - Review". Uncut.co.uk. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  11. "Archive". keanemusic.com. 31 July 2008. Archived from the original on 4 August 2008. Retrieved 31 July 2008.
  12. Keanemusic.com Archived 13 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine - Album Cover Art Revealed
  13. Wood, Mikael (9 October 2008). "Keane, 'Perfect Symmetry' (Interscope)". Spin. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  14. Keefe, Jonathan (13 October 2008). "Review: Keane, Perfect Symmetry". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  15. NME (10 October 2008). "Keane". NME. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  16. Default (23 March 2009). "One Tree Hill Music". oth-music.com. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  17. "Australiancharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  18. "Austriancharts.at – Keane – Perfect Symmetry" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  19. "Ultratop.be – Keane – Perfect Symmetry" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  20. "Ultratop.be – Keane – Perfect Symmetry" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  21. "Keane Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  22. "Danishcharts.dk – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  23. "Dutchcharts.nl – Keane – Perfect Symmetry" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  24. "Lescharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  25. "Offiziellecharts.de – Keane – Perfect Symmetry" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  26. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 42, 2008". Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  27. "Italiancharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  28. "Mexicancharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  29. "Charts.nz – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  30. "Norwegiancharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  31. "Portuguesecharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  32. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  33. "Spanishcharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  34. "Swedishcharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  35. "Swisscharts.com – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  36. "Keane | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  37. "Keane Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  38. "Keane Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  39. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2008". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  40. "End of Year Album Chart Top 100 – 2008". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  41. "UK Year-End 2009" (PDF). Charts Plus. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  42. "The Irish Charts - 2008 Certification Awards - Gold". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  43. "British album certifications – Keane – Perfect Symmetry". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  44. Ayers, Michael (26 February 2010). "Keane Boarding the Night Train This May". Billboard. Retrieved 26 February 2010.

External links

Keane
Studio albums
Live albums
Compilations
EPs
Tours
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