Track Listing

1. Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors
2. An End Has A Start
3. The Weight of The World
4. Bones
5. When Anger Shows
6. The Racing Rats
7. Push Your Head Towards The Air
8. Escape The Nest
9. Spiders
10. Well Word Hand

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16236 in Music
• Released on: 2007-07-17
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Album Description
Following the debut release 'The Back Room', the English indie-rock band is back with their 2nd album. Their brand of sweeping indie rock is frequently compared to the sound of bands such as Interpol, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen, Franz Ferdinand, Kitchens of Distinction, The Chameleons, Big Country and U2. 1st single: Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors. Sony/BMG. 2007.

From Amazon.co.uk
Editors were not the only band suckling on Joy Division's bleak teat in 2005 when they released their debut The Back Room, and they never initially seemed the ones most likely to succeed either. They were like a pencil sketch of gothic depression, too tidy, too clean, too neatly attired to attain any lasting emotional credibility. But there was just one problem with that cursory diagnosis; the incendiary skinny-ribbed barrage of short, sharp, repetitive and achingly insistent singles, titled with an absolute maximum of two syllables as if to ram that point home. There was zero puppy fat on Editors' bones, but what they did carry was toned and worked to perfection. But even considering that discipline, the competent grandeur of its follow up, An End Has a Start, takes you aback. Awash with constellation-scraping omnipresence, opening track "Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors" seems all around you at once, building, lifting and frankly doing a better impression of late '80s U2-sized epic than Coldplay mustered on X&Y. The album rebounds between that sense of rounded, accessible awe and the more industrious pounding in the engine room that they perfected on their debut, the latter particularly demonstrable on the title track and a truly hammering "Escape the Nest". Tom Smith’s rudimentary lyrics and forced baritone may lack some of the poetic depth that the music craves, but like their overall style he directs what he does possess with admirable precision. --James Berry

Customer Reviews

REACHING FOR A BIGGER SOUND (3.9 stars)
We've seen this a number of times this year, and it can be a tricky proposal for some. In attempts to broaden and enlarge one's sound, bands can straddle the fence between a big sound and a bland bunch of recordings. On their second full length, An End Has a Start, Editors definitely reach for some of those loftier goals, and while it may miss a few here and there, the record on the whole gets plenty right in the process. The band keep their sound very much intact and only try to improve what has done before.

Leading off with the first single, Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors, the record does in fact sound bigger. The single is a good starting point but it clocks in a bit too long and as some have pointed out, is a little too Coldplay-ish, but I find it still pretty good none-the-less. By the time the second track starts up, you can notice the step up in production. The production on the entire record is rich and full, with a rather large nod going to producer Jacknife Lee. Adding things like a stronger vocal mix for Tom, string sections, and even a choir attest to this bigger, fuller sound.

So how are the "tunes" though? In short, much like (their debut) The Back Room. About half of An End Has a Start can point to a "sister" tune off of the Back Room. Bones for example, is the new Munich while the pacing and sound of Escape the Nest is pretty much what is found on Camera or Fall. Similarities aside, a fan of Editors is going to love the new album. I somehow find it dynamic without it being as hook driven as their first release. There are a couple of forgettable songs on here, but the overall quality of production and songwriting far outweigh any shortcomings. It's a bit of a "grower" as they say, but over time, I'll be happy to mark the doorframe.

P.S.
Anyone thinking about the deluxe package of An End Has A Start, might want to pass unless they HAVE to have it, as it really doesn't have much to offer than an over-sized bound book type of package. There isn't any lyrics or extras photos or anything. Just an FYI.

Fantastic......
Joy Division released "Closer", The Comsat Angels released "Sleep No More", Echo released "Heaven Up Here", PIL released "Metal Box", The Chameleons released "What does everything mean, basically" - All sophmore albums that were met with reservations when first released that are now widely viewed as classics, and, arguably as the best albums the band's ever released. While "An End Has A Start" doesn't have the 'every song could be a single' pop sensibilities of their debut, the Editors have managed to maintain their edge while exploring some new territory in writing as well as studio recording. Some of the guitar melodies, especially on the title track as well as "The Racing Rats" are as infectious as the plague was in the middle ages - again bringing to mind The Chameleons with a touch of The Mission's earlier recordings - keyboards and orchestral embellishments add an element of texture that may find many listeners revisiting the songs that didn't capture attention on the first listen just to have them become the albums 'sleepers' - (how many fell under the spell of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" the second the needle hit the groove and eventually found "She's Lost Control" to be the disc living on the record player?).... Of all the bands that have popped up in the past few years, The Editors are one of the few that listeners may become truely passionate about more so as time passes.... For those of us lucky enough to have enjoyed them from the beginning..... Let's just see what happens.....

Maturing
Enough with all the Interpol and U2 comparisons. Does anyone else hear the Big Country guitars in the songs like I do?? This is a great second album and the band is certainly not suffering from any sophomore slump. "An End Has A Start" sees the band beginning the maturing process. Sure, "The Back Room" was fantastic, if a bit one-dimensional. This album has many elements of "The Back Room", yet new sounds are creeping in there as well. I must add that these guys are a great live band too. The only comparison to U2 is that with a little time, they might be as big as U2 someday. Yes, they're that good and so is this album!