Under the Iron Sea is the second studio album by English rock band Keane, released in 2006. During its first week on sale in the UK, the album went to #1, selling 222,297 copies according to figures from the Official Chart Company. In the United States, the album came in at #4 on the Billboard 200, selling 75,000 units in its first week. Since January 22, 2006, the album had sold above 3,000,000 copies worldwide.
The band describes Under the Iron Sea as a progression from Hopes and Fears with electronic influences, describing the record as a "sinister fairytale-world-gone-wrong".
After the release of their debut album, Hopes and Fears, Keane embarked upon a world tour that reached virtually all Europe and North America and which culminated on October 2005. As seen on Strangers, the band had been having trouble since the middle of 2004, shortly after the release of the debut. The suggestion "Hamburg Song" is about the bad-turned relationship between singer Tom Chaplin and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley - composed circa August 2004 - develops the focus of the conflict. During the tour, Rice-Oxley kept composing new songs that would later appear in future releases such as B-sides "Let It Slide" and "Thin Air". According to Chaplin, Rice-Oxley had composed at least 50 new tracks as of April 2006.
The name of the album is based on a lyric appearing on the track, "Crystal Ball" which reads "I've lost my heart, I buried it too deep, under the Iron Sea". It also shares title with the eighth track and Keane's first instrumental, "The Iron Sea". The "Iron Sea" is the metaphoric name for the group's (especially Rice-Oxley's) preoccupations about their uncertain future and the sudden fame they were having.Under the Iron Sea is the second studio album by English rock band Keane, released in 2006. During its first week on sale in the UK, the album went to #1, selling 222,297 copies according to figures from the Official Chart Company. In the United States, the album came in at #4 on the Billboard 200, selling 75,000 units in its first week. Since January 22, 2006, the album had sold above 3,000,000 copies worldwide.
The band describes Under the Iron Sea as a progression from Hopes and Fears with electronic influences, describing the record as a "sinister fairytale-world-gone-wrong".
After the release of their debut album, Hopes and Fears, Keane embarked upon a world tour that reached virtually all Europe and North America and which culminated on October 2005. As seen on Strangers, the band had been having trouble since the middle of 2004, shortly after the release of the debut. The suggestion "Hamburg Song" is about the bad-turned relationship between singer Tom Chaplin and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley - composed circa August 2004 - develops the focus of the conflict. During the tour, Rice-Oxley kept composing new songs that would later appear in future releases such as B-sides "Let It Slide" and "Thin Air". According to Chaplin, Rice-Oxley had composed at least 50 new tracks as of April 2006.
The name of the album is based on a lyric appearing on the track, "Crystal Ball" which reads "I've lost my heart, I buried it too deep, under the Iron Sea". It also shares title with the eighth track and Keane's first instrumental, "The Iron Sea". The "Iron Sea" is the metaphoric name for the group's (especially Rice-Oxley's) preoccupations about their uncertain future and the sudden fame they were having.false2024-01-06 11:05:22Under the Iron Sea6.720062006-06-122006-06-1251Alternative RockBritpopIndie RockPop RockRockSoft Rock1112342109578e5e0d51b-cd42-40a7-b88d-5280642069dac7020c6d-cae9-4db3-92a7-e5c561cbad5098567df9-e12e-3d2c-9b95-40dcf7fd783d/media/data/media5/Music/Keane/Under the Iron Sea (2006)/folder.jpgKeaneKeaneKeane are an English alternative rock band from Battle, East Sussex, formed in 1995. They met while at Tonbridge School together. The band currently comprises Tom Chaplin (lead vocals, electric/acoustic guitar, piano), Tim Rice-Oxley (piano, synthesisers, bass guitar, backing vocals), Richard Hughes (drums, percussion, backing vocals), and Jesse Quin (bass guitar, acoustic/electric guitar, backing vocals). Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.
Keane achieved mainstream international success with the release of their debut album Hopes and Fears in 2004. Topping the UK chart, the album won the 2005 Brit Award for Best British Album and was the UK's second best-selling album of 2004. It is one of the best-selling albums in UK chart history. Their second album, Under the Iron Sea, released in 2006, topped the UK Albums Chart and debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200. Their third album Perfect Symmetry was released in October 2008 and their EP Night Train was released in May 2010. Their fourth studio album Strangeland was released in May 2012 and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
After the release of their compilation album The Best of Keane in 2013, the band took a hiatus, lasting nearly five years. The band returned after the hiatus with new music, announcing their fifth studio album titled Cause and Effect on 6 June 2019 and releasing the lead single from the album "The Way I Feel". A collection of the songs were written by Tim Rice-Oxley during his divorce, and after discussions with Tom who had visited Tim the previous year, decided to proceed with recording the songs for the album. Cause and Effect was released on 20 September 2019. After the release of the album, the band embarked on the Cause and Effect Tour, visiting Europe and Latin America, before the remainder of the tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In May 2008, both Hopes and Fears (number 13) and Under the Iron Sea (number 8) were voted by readers of Q magazine as among the best British albums ever, with Keane, the Beatles, Oasis and Radiohead the only artists having two albums in the top 20. In 2009, Hopes and Fears was listed as the ninth best-selling album of the 2000s decade in the UK. Keane are known for using keyboards as the lead instrument instead of guitar, differentiating them from most other rock bands. The inclusion of a distorted piano effect in 2006 and various synthesisers were a common feature in their music which developed on the second and third albums. Keane have sold over 13 million records worldwide.