Hopes and Fears (Keane)

EN “Hopes and Fears” is the first studio album by the English alternative rock band Keane. Released on May 10, 2004, it received multiple awards and its singles were on various radio stations around the world, thus producing several hits, which became classics over time. With over 2.7 million copies sold in the UK, "Hopes and Fears" is the 11th best-selling album in 2000s in the UK, as of July 2011 it was ranked as the ninth best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK, and as of September 2019 it holds the 36th best-selling album in UK history.

The project was promoted through five singles: "Somewhere Only We Know", "Everybody's Changing", "Bedshaped", "This Is the Last Time" and "Bend and Break", respectively. All the singles were smart choices and ended up revealing the potential of one of the best British bands of all time, eventually becoming some of the “key” songs of the band itself. Who has never contemplated the magic "Somewhere Only We Know" or the dark "Bedshaped"? These songs have followed most of my adolescence and even till this day, I still listen to them. For me, the only "failure" of the album was the song "We Might as Well Be Strangers" not being released as a single, which is my favorite track from the album, and which had all the potential to shine and become another of the band's hits.

"Hopes and Fears" is one of those albums that we can listen to daily, regardless of our mood, whether we are cheerful or sad. The initial success of the band may be related to the influences of bands such as U2, Coldplay or even Oasis, and nowadays we can include them in the same group of these bands, being even an influence for current bands. In addition, this album was designed to please a wide audience, including lyrics that stay in the head, in order to raise the potential of the songs and, consequently, arouse interest in the band.

Each song from “Hopes and Fears" has its attractions and advantages, having been composed and produced excellently, creating one of the best albums of the alternative rock style. Besides, throughout the several tracks, there are choruses of triumph, of empowerment, each trying to overcome the previous one, ending up being one of the brand images of the band, always excluding any kind of judgment, discrimination and even swearing.

⭐⭐⭐⭐