Empire

2006 sophomore album from this danceably rockin' Britpop band. Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, the album was produced by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Editors, Ladytron) and Kasabian. 11 tracks including the first single, 'Empire'. Sony/BMG. 2006.

It was easy to see where Kasabian was coming from on its self-titled 2004 debut: Take Oasis' classic rock bluster, slap it together with the Chemical Brothers' acid-soaked club beats, and shake fiercely. But how to improve on a formula the British band already perfected with early singles like "Club Foot" and "Reason Is Treason"? That's easy: more of the same, only louder. On Empire, the shaggy-haired quartet adds dizzying strings and a heavy glam-rock stomp to its new songs, delivering roof-quaking tracks like "Shoot The Runner," "Sun Rise Light Flies" and the monstrous title cut. Even if the songs don't always measure up to their predecessors, the sound is reassuringly riotous. --Aidin Vaziri