Kaiser Chiefs release a ‘fans create your own album’

The Kaiser Chiefs are back after a three year break with a new, and very unique album.

They’re letting fans create their own one-off versions of new LP ” The Future Is Medieval “.

They can pick their favourite 10 songs from 20 new tracks. Fans can also design their own artwork of the $12 album and even sell on their version via Facebook and Twitter, making $1.50 for each copy sold.

The 20 songs appeared on the Kaisers’ website with no advance publicity and the band admit their inventive move is because they’re bored of making traditional albums.

Singer Ricky Wilson said, “When you finish making an album it sits on a shelf for at least three months while the marketing people prepare a big ad campaign and then we tell journalists how brilliant we are.”

Ricky had the “create your own album” idea when he went on holiday to Cornwall with an on-line marketing pal.

“Because fans pick their own songs and artwork and decide what order the songs should be in, it lets them invest time in albums again,” explains Ricky, 33.

“We’re not saying what we’re doing is something every band should copy, but it’s better than moaning, ‘Oh the music industry is ruined…we’re all doomed!”

The main songwriter, drummer Nicky Hodgson, reckons having to write 20 songs has led to their most varied album yet. “We love writing hit singles,” says Nick, also 33. “When you’re trying to write 20 hits, they can be in any style you like.”

But this is where the Kaisers get it all so very wrong. You see…it doesn’t matter what style you write a song in. It doesn’t even matter how long the song is. And an artist really shouldn’t be thinking of purposely writing a song to be a hit. If you are an artist then it should be a passionate affair that comes from what’s real…and what’s really inside you. Nicky Hodgson, the nerd of the fucking century (and we’re only 11 years in) starts telling the world, “We love writing hit singles”. What an utter dickhead. It might be better in future to say that you sometimes write catchy pop tunes, at least say something less contrived.

Yes the Kaisers first album was great. It wasn’t brilliant but there are some great songs on it. It was brought for me when it was released but I never actually listened to until 2008…and I really enjoyed it. I don’t know why it took me so long to listen to it. I guess I found the, “let’s all dress up like we’re in the film Oliver Twist with a country feel to it”, just a bit too bollocky…a bit like when drummer who wants to be a front man but is too shit, opens his gob…yea…that’s right Nicky…bollocky.

And all of this “fan participation” is also bollocky. I could say it’s an interesting concept…but it isn’t. Can you imagine Michael Angelo painting a picture, and then letting all of his adoring fans finish the painting off for him because he thinks it’ll make him more popular? He might have been a media bitch as well, who knows.

But one thing is clear Ricky. You’ve been drinking too much of that Scrumpy down in Cornwall…you must have.

The only band to drink hard cider and dress like they do are The Wurzels. You did obviously try to copy them, and now you’re trying to drink like them. You’ve got no chance. They look better than you, they drink harder than you and they write better songs than you. Who can forget, “I’ve got a brand new Combine-Harvester?” They’re a classic band…something you’ll never be…so stop trying to be The Wurzels.”

I just hope the fans will see that this is just another media driven load of old shit thats coming from a band who hasn’t got it any more…let’s face it lads…you barely ever had it.

And don’t start telling us that you got bored making albums/music like everyone else does. Please don’t insult us. As I’ve just said, it’s just a marketing scheme for a band that just haven’t got it right yet. And I am prepared to wait for them to get it right because the first album promised so much. But what annoys me is the shit that they come out with…please lads, give it a rest won’t you…just concentrate on creating something that’s not contrived…not a fake, like so much else these days.

This new set of songs are already being compared to, “Be Here Now”, by Oasis, which is another load of old bollocks that I listened to once, then played the two songs that I like on it…and never played again. I’m not alone in this…most people who I’ve talked to about Oasis’ third album did exactly the same thing as me.

They have a song called Man On Mars and got stuck on the lyrics, so they got in touch with David Bowie who penned some lyrics for them. Most of us would probably be pretty happy with that, but the Kaisers rejected it…god this band really ARE up their own arses.

They should have come to me for help on the lyrics, I’m not bad…here’s some I jotted down recently…it would’ve been perfect for their track Man On Mars:

There’s a bloke who left Earth and he went to Mars,

It’s because he heard the Kaisers play their songs on guitars,

He got up and left and that was it,

He said as he waved to his wife he said, “I won’t be back until the Kaiser Cheifs stop being shit”.

I know, I know…I’m just brilliant, but the man who went to Mars may not be back for a long time. I really hope the album fails terribly because of the way they want to market the album. It’s a cop-out if you ask me.

Finally, another bollocky gem from front-man Ricky on fans creating their own album, “At least, with this idea, everyone’s almost guaranteed to like the album they buy”…well, I should fucking hope so. But if fans wanted to create their own album, wouldn’t it be a novelty to do it the old fashioned way, like write some songs and do an album of their own, without any sales gimics?

You should try it one day Kaiser Chiefs…you might actually release something decent.

by Wallace McTavish

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