A new reissue of the Kaiser Chiefs debut "Employment" has just been released to celebrate its 20th anniversary. 20th anniversary? Aren't the Kaiser Chiefs a new band?
I loved this record to death....uh...20 years ago. And while the band did manage to release more records since, a couple of them with some solid music, nothing ever came close to "Employment." I listened to it yesterday and it held up like a trooper. But something still plagues me.
The guitar solo in "Na Na Na Na Na" is a direct rip from another song, right down to the chord changes. Special bonus points to whoever comes up with an answer that satisfies me.
Listen to it below and revisit a few more tracks from this really great record.
14 comments:
Somehow the KC never really hit my radar until I saw them open for The Who at Wembley Stadium in 2019. They were a lot of fun and I've been a fan ever since. As for that guitar solo, beats me.
Those guys never really did it for me. And the solo --???? Haven't a clue, although I will say it's nicely thought out and played.
Employment is an excellent record -- for the first 6-7 songs and then the rest peters out somewhat. (Neil Young's Harvest Moon is another album like that for me.) "Ruby" from their second album was the last song from KC that I thought was really excellent, though the albums are all uniformly OK and a decent listen after that. As for the guitar solo, it also rings a bell, but for all I know it came from this album 20 years ago and that's what I'm remembering.
I’ve had this album since its release and remain a big fan. I listen to this more than the Blur albums it tributes (Stephen Street produced). Agree that the front is the stronger half but, ‘Caroline, Yes’ is beautiful. I did read that the chief songwriter/drummer departed after the band’s fourth album in 2012.
Other new bands’ debuts within weeks: Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm and LCD Soundsystem’s S/T. Lol! :)
Somebody Told Me by The Killers
Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners, even more
I can't go back to 90's music for at least a decade.
Hawksley Song Of The Day!!!!!
I couldn't place the solo/riff in Na Na Na Na,.. but the song is super catchy. Dig it. I missed the Kaiser Chiefs completely.. I'll have to check out the album
Sparks?
My daughter, who was a tween at the time, got me into this album shortly after it came out. I liked it quite a bit. Still do. I told her, on first listening, that some of their songs reminded me of the Quick. Even though it was unlikely that any of the Kaiser Chiefs knew who the fuck the Quick were. Neither did my daughter. Not long before, I bought a Quick CD compilation put out by Rev-Ola titled "Untold Rock Stories." I turned her on to it. She warmed to it after initially not getting it. "Na Na Na Na Nah," and "I Predict a Riot" particularly evoke the Quick to me. Regardless, it's easy to hear that they probably dug XTC, The Jam-Weller, the Clash, Blur and the Kinks, among others.
I ended up taking my daughter and a couple of her tweeny-bopper friends to the Troubadour to see them. They were a pretty rockin little combo. I expected less, but Wilson tore it up as a frontman and the band could rip. I often taped concerts to DAT using very high-end stealth mics in those days and this was no exception. I burned my daughter a CD of the event. At that time I had three D-8 Sony DAT's. The same night of the Kaiser Chiefs show, Dylan was playing Hollywood with Merle Haggard and Amos Lee at the Pantages. Sandy and our husband taped all three acts tto DAT. We all met up at the Rainbow afterwords. Dylan was a five night run and we got them all. All nights, all acts each night. Dylan's band was great and had just added Donnie Herron from BR5-49 who was sensational. But that's another story.
VR
Thanks for the revisit of the Chiefs! It was a rockin’ album then and a rockin’ album now! Great live show too!
I saw the Kaiser Chiefs in a tiny club in another borough (Brooklyn?) with an employee from NYCD! (I think.) during that album tour. He was Ukranian? Croat? Eastern Europe for certain. We had a lot of fun and the band kicked ass and my favorite part was sharing the loo with one of the band members who was sporting a schoolboy uniform a la AC/DC and I said you've got to be in the band and we chatted while peeing. I would stump for their first three albums and then most of the rest are decent. But I do think their best album is Education, Education, Education...War! Which is a funny title and their best since the debut. I'd love to see them live again. (And Supergrass, who are even better and I never saw in concert.)
Well, thank you for introducing me to another kick ass band that I never heard of! I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not - why is there so much great music I've missed? I'd love to see them live, too! The guitar solo sounds familiar, even to me, but no clue.
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