END OF THE WORLD

Lostprophets

(Visible Noise, 2009)

GRANDIOSE; that’s the name of the game for Lostprophets as the Welsh chart-botherers prepare for album number four. If the title of this lead single isn’t enough to give away that fact (seriously, It’s Not the End of The World, But I Can See It From Here is one hell of a mouthful), then the music will.

Built on extravagant guitars, overly dramatic gang ‘whoa oh ohs’ and Ian Watkins’ perhaps epic/perhaps silly vocal, this is a song that’s aiming for the stadiums, and it’s taking no pub, academy or arena prisoner. Think the heavier numbers off Start Something, only laced with Guitar Hero solos and less of that gut-crunching menace, but a lot more slickness. Two minutes in there’s a moment that sounds like Muse trying to escape. That should give you some idea of what’s going on here.

If we’ve come to expect anything of lead singles from the Welsh sextet it’s that no two are alike. Burn Burn was nothing like Shinobi Vs. Dragon Ninja, whilst Rooftops was a departure from the former, and now End of the World is taking on a persona of it’s own. Never say the Lostprophets are scared to change. But is it any better? Well, to be honest, not really. It may attempt to sound epic but it doesn’t quite feel like the song that should have emerged after such a protracted period. There’s a suspicion that’s there’s going to be at least one or two tracks on the album that tops this. But then again, you can argue that none of the aforementioned singles were the best on their respective albums.

Essentially, End of The World is a decent enough song, it just sounds like the band is holding a little tighter to those reigns than maybe they should be. It’s big but it’s not rambunctious. Still, as a teaser for the forthcoming album, this’ll serve its purpose. Come January we’ll truly know what the band has up its collective sleeve.

It’s Not the End of The World, But I Can See It From Here is released through Visible Noise on 12 October 2009. The album, The Betrayal, is due for release on 11 January 2010.

http://www.lostprophets.com