Hopes and Fears

Hopes and Fears
Studio album by Keane
Released	10 May 2004
Genre	Piano rock, alternative rock
Length	50:37
Label	Island (UK)
Producer	Andy Green, Keane
Keane chronology
Hopes and Fears (2004) Live Recordings 2004 (2005)
Alternate cover
Singles from Hopes and Fears
"Somewhere Only We Know" Released: 16 February 2004 "Everybody's Changing" Released: 4 May 2004 "Bedshaped" Released: 16 August 2004 "This Is the Last Time" Released: 22 November 2004 "Bend and Break" Released: 25 July 2005

Hopes and Fears is the debut album by English rock band Keane and was released on 10 May 2004 in the United Kingdom. It topped the UK album charts upon release, was the second best-selling British album of 2004, and has since gone 9x platinum. It returned to the top of the charts after winning a BRIT Award for Best Album in February 2005. With more than 2.5 million copies sold in UK, it has been ranked the 16th biggest-selling album of the millennium so far in the UK.^[1]

Album information

Unlike their follow up album, most songs were already composed by the album's conception date; the track "She Has No Time" was composed circa 1999, making it the earliest composed song appearing on the album, and the remaining were composed just after former member Dominic Scott's departure in July 2001. Most of the album tracks were recorded during the Sanger sessions, from August to November of the same year. The tracks "On a Day Like Today" and "We Might As Well Be Strangers" became the last to be composed, circa 2003.

The album takes its name from the song "Snowed Under", released as a B-side on the single for "Somewhere Only We Know".

Hal Leonard music published two versions of the official score book for Hopes and Fears, designed for differing skill levels. The Music Sales Group also published a book, including two demo CDs with accompanying bass and drum tracks, along with scores for the B-side songs "Snowed Under", "Walnut Tree" and "Fly To Me".

The objects on the cover of Hopes and Fears are piano hammers in allusion to the band's characteristic piano sound. In addition, the many different versions of the album can be distinguished by the colour of the artwork. The original UK version has a green cover, the European version a black one, the US version white; the international version has a red-brown scheme, and the Japanese version is blue. The original British one includes the track "On a Day Like Today" and the Japanese "Allemande"

The typeface selected for this, and for all Keane releases off the album was the font "Cochin", designed originally in 1912. The modern italic design of the letters was also followed with similar fonts by some fansites, like former British site Keaneshaped. The cover single "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" was, however, released with a different font, as it was released by the War Child website, not by Island.

Singles

Track listing

All lyrics written by Tim Rice-Oxley except track 18 (Paul Hewson), all music composed by Tim Rice-Oxley except tracks 6, 8, 9, 12 (Tim Rice-Oxley/Tom Chaplin/Richard Hughes/James Sanger) and 18 (Paul Hewson/David Evans/Adam Clayton/Lawrence Mullen, Jr.).

US/International edition

Accompanied by a red cover, or a white cover in the US.

1. "Somewhere Only We Know" – 3:57
2. "This Is the Last Time" – 3:29
3. "Bend and Break" – 3:39
4. "We Might As Well Be Strangers" – 3:12
5. "Everybody's Changing" – 3:36
6. "Your Eyes Open" – 3:22
7. "She Has No Time" – 5:46
8. "Can't Stop Now" – 3:38
9. "Sunshine" – 4:12
10. "Untitled 1" – 5:36
11. "Bedshaped" – 4:39

Japanese edition

1. "Somewhere Only We Know" – 3:57
2. "This Is the Last Time" – 3:29
3. "Bend and Break" – 3:39
4. "We Might As Well Be Strangers" – 3:12
5. "Everybody's Changing" – 3:36
6. "Your Eyes Open" – 3:22
7. "She Has No Time" – 5:46
8. "Can't Stop Now" – 3:38
9. "Sunshine" – 4:12
10. "On a Day Like Today" – 5:27
11. "Untitled 1" – 5:36
12. "Bedshaped" – 4:39
13. "Snowed Under" - 3:52
14. "Allemande" - 4:24
15. "Somewhere Only We Know" (Video)

Charts performance

The album stayed at the Top 75 for 72 weeks, peaking 1 several times.

Total approximate international sales: 5,700,000

Legacy

In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and Hopes and Fears was placed at #51 on the list.^[4] The album too ranked #5 in Amazon.co.uk's Best Selling Album of the Decade^[5] In 2005 the album won the BRIT Awards of best album^[6] In 2010 the album was nominated for Brit awards in the category Album of 30 Years, however lost to Oasis (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Bonus DVD

Hopes and Fears
Video by Keane
Released	2004
Recorded	Helioscentric Studios, various film sets.
Genre	Rock
Length	19:40
Label	Island, Universal
Keane video chronology
Hopes and Fears DVD (2004) Strangers DVD (2005)

A CD+DVD version was released internationally over the course of 2005. This version included two bonus tracks, "Snowed Under" and a remix dance version of "We Might as Well Be Strangers" by DJ Shadow. The DVD contained the four international videos for "Somewhere Only We Know", "Everybody's Changing", "Bedshaped" and "This Is the Last Time", and the US video for "Somewhere Only We Know". This version of Hopes and Fears featured also a different box cover design; white and with Keane's Everybody's Changing promotional image. The inner 2CD box had the same cover as the international version.

Track listing

1. "Somewhere Only We Know" (international version video)
2. "Somewhere Only We Know" (US version video)
3. "Everybody's Changing" (version 1 video)
4. "Bedshaped" (video)
5. "This Is the Last Time" (version 4 video)

Japanese version

1. Keane 30 second TV advertisement
2. "Somewhere Only We Know" (live)
3. "She Has No Time" (live)
4. "This Is the Last Time" (live)
5. "We Might As Well Be Strangers" (live)
6. "Everybody's Changing" (live)
7. "Bedshaped" (live)
8. "Somewhere Only We Know" (international version video)

Personnel

References

External links

• Official album site
• Hopes and Fears on Keaneshaped