Radio Wars (album)
Encyclopedia
Radio Wars is the second studio album by London-based Australian indie rock band Howling Bells
. It was released through Independiente in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2009 to mixed reviews. Recorded at four different studios, it was produced by Dan Grech-Marguerat except one track by Howling Bells.
Songwriting efforts for Radio Wars were provided by all four members of the band. The album's themes encompass a wide range of topics, from chaos and optimism to unity and the technological revolution. Most songs were demoed in Australia with one recorded in Melbourne, three in London, and the rest in Los Angeles. The album was the band's first physical release issued outside of the UK and Australia. Three singles were issued from Radio Wars, but all failed to chart. The album peaked within the Top 30 on the Australian Albums Chart
and just outside the Top 50 on the UK Albums Chart
. Although listed as containing ten tracks, the sixth, "Ms. Bell's Song/Radio Wars Theme", is two separate pieces of music. Additionally, a hidden track, "To LA", is omitted from the booklet and back cover. Musically, the album contains elements of rock, pop, blues, folk, and electronica, with songs that range from synthesised
percussion rhythms to crooning 1950's style balladry
.
To promote the album, the band played a free show at retail outlet Fopp Records
, in London, on the day of the UK release. The following week, they played another free show in London, this time sponsored by NME
. While touring Radio Wars, Howling Bells supported The Duke Spirit
, Mercury Rev
, Razorlight
, and Coldplay
.
. The majority of the songwriting on Howling Bells
, their debut album, was provided by Juanita. For Radio Wars, members collaborated in the rehearsal studio whenever they could find time. Yet, while touring to support their debut album, the four members wrote much of the new material on laptops. In August 2007, they all brought their songs to a listening party at Juanita and Joel's parents' house in Australia and selected the songs that they would work on. They sought out a country home in Victoria
where they recorded fifteen to twenty demos
of their new material. At this demoing location, attempts to tune in to radio stations to capture a regular signal generated unstable and erratic reception – referred to as 'radio wars' by the band. This provided ideas for two of the tracks, "Radio Wars Theme" and "Digital Hearts" and the album's name.
In 2007, Howling Bells departed from Bella Union
, the UK record label that had released their eponymous
debut album. The band declined the option of signing to a major label for the release of Radio Wars. Discussions with major labels had affirmed that their objective was for the band to continue to write the same kind of music from their first record. The band opposed the idea of someone dictating to them the type of material that they should be creating. In January 2008, Howling Bells brokered a deal with, Independiente, since the record label's main focus was for music rather than money. The group maintained their relationship with Liberation
, which issued the album in Australia. Radio Wars became the band's first album issued outside of the UK and Australia after they signed with Play It Again Sam
, which released the album in Europe, Hostess Entertainment
, which released the album in Japan, and Nettwerk Music Group, which released the album in North America.
on the 2006 singles, "Low Happening" and "Wishing Stone". They felt the song needed more life, so extra instrumentation was added to deliver a bigger sound. As "Cities Burning Down", it became the album's second track.
Howling Bells sought a producer that had experience working on electronic
-sounding records. Producer and mixer, Dan Grech-Marguerat, who had previously worked with Howling Bells' manager, had listened to demos of the new tracks. The band knew of his collaborations with Radiohead
and Air, and thought he could help develop their new sound. He came to their rehearsal studio with handwritten notes about the new songs and expressed what he could add. This encouraged the band, and they agreed to let him produce the album.
In January 2008, Howling Bells recorded more tracks for Radio Wars, now working at The Sound Factory
, in Los Angeles. The band chose Los Angeles as they wanted a recording experience which was different from previous sessions. Radio Wars was about Howling Bells being optimistic and united in spirit. Looking to bring a more colourful perspective with a new sound and new feel, the group opted for a more electronic texture. Picchio and Joel experimented with synthesisers, and Moule's percussion parts were more distinct than his previous work. Grech-Marguerat worked prolonged hours and experimented considerably, in an effort to bring more life to each song. The band often struggled with ideas that were presented by him, and the recording sessions were burdened by occasional arguments. Though, members of the band attested that it ultimately worked out.
Five of the demos created for Radio Wars were not used on the final product. Just over half the songs that appeared on the album were recorded in LA: "Treasure Hunt", "Nightingale", "Ms. Bell's Song/Radio Wars Theme", "Golden Web", "Into the Chaos" (minus the strings), and the hidden track, "To LA". After the band returned from Los Angeles, they recorded "It Ain't You", "Let's Be Kids", and "Digital Hearts" at AIR Studios
in London. Session musicians recorded string
and brass
instruments for a number of the tracks at Mayfair Studios
. The last song to be recorded for Radio Wars was a 1950's style ballad entitled "How Long", which Joel had written the lyrics for. The rest of the band liked it, so arrangements were made to go back into a non-specified London studio where they spent two days recording it. Twenty-two songs had been created by the end of their recording sessions, in July 2008. The album was mixed by Cenzo Townshend at Olympic Studios
.
named it as their "track of the week". The single also appeared on a best-of-2009 playlist. The accompanying video was composed of in-and-out of studio footage while the band recorded the album. "Cities Burning Down", the oldest track from the album, was a song that Juanita and Moule created music for first, and the song's lyrics developed out of the instrumental's dark sound. Preceding the official release by three days, The Sun, named "Cities Burning Down" as their "hot track of the week". The music video was directed by Piper Ferguson for Lodger Films and shot in December 2008 in London. In 2010, "Cities Burning Down", was one of over 100 tracks by various artists that appeared on the Realtime Worlds
developed multiplayer online video game, APB: All Points Bulletin. "Digital Hearts" (May 2009) embodies the message of the album's title – the technological struggle in the new age. The lyrics for it were written by Juanita and Joel and influenced by Juanita and Moule's inability to tune in a tangible radio signal at their demoing location. A music video for the single was produced but never released. It was directed by Dan Lowe for Partizan and filmed in April 2009 in London.
that represented each individual to signify that the album was a brighter, colourful, more vibrant compendium, as well as a more collaborative songwriting effort with a greater input among the four members. By contrast the debut album's artwork has front and back covers that are grey-washed, appropriate to the gloomier, more languishing material mostly written by Juanita.
, Latitude
, and Lovebox Weekender
. Howling Bells also supported The Duke Spirit
and Mercury Rev
. They headlined a string of shows in March 2009 supported by The Joy Formidable
and Chew Lips
. The group played at V Festival
in Australia, before returning to the UK to support Razorlight
. In May and June, they joined Pete Yorn
as well as Snow Patrol
, to support Coldplay
for the third leg of the North American Viva la Vida Tour
.
Radio Wars was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, which was followed by release dates in several additional countries. A limited edition of the album was issued by both Independiente and Hostess, on the day of the release in their respective nations. It was presented as a digipak
that included a bonus live disc containing seven tracks of a Howling Bells performance recorded at The Paradiso
, in Amsterdam
, in November 2008. The band played a free instore show at retail outlet Fopp Records
, in Covent Garden
, on the day of the UK release. Later that week they played another free show, this time sponsored by NME, at Punk in Soho
. The event was broadcast live, and tickets were exclusive to winners of an online competition. The album spent four weeks on the Australian Albums Chart
and peaked inside the Top 30. It made an appearance for three weeks on the UK Albums Chart
and peaked just outside the Top 50. It did not chart in any other nation. The album was recognised on three different end-of-the-year lists.
Radio Wars was met with mixed reviews from those within the music industry. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 67/100 based on 16 reviews. Album of the Year is a website that applies the same system of standardised
scoring, this time using a fixed number of twelve mainstream publications as sources. Radio Wars obtained an average score of 60/100 based on five reviews for a final ranking of 268 out of 323 potential candidates for, "Album of the Year".
Positive reviews came from Andrew Leahey of Allmusic, who applauded the inclusion of string and brass instruments, and referred to the album as, "truthfully hard to resist." Estella Hung of PopMatters
, praised the song, "Nightingale", for its ability to assemble itself out of nothing but Juanita's crooning. She declared: "Radio Wars is almost perfect to a fault." Camilla Pia of The Fly
, applauded Grech-Marguerat's production, and expressed positive feelings towards the extra instrumentation. Lisa Wright of Subba Cultcha, commented: "Howling Bells still have a way with a melody pretty much unrivalled at the moment." She went on to say: "their second effort is a gorgeously, spine-tingling one honed to almost perfection." Greg Rose of Virgin Music
, commended Howling Bells for their distinct songwriting, calling it, "both formidable and peculiar." He asserted: "They are possibly the best thing to come out of Australia since Nicole Kidman
."
Less favourable reviews came from Darren Harvey of musicOMH
, who called it: "unremarkable and disposable as a Domino's
pizza box," and compared it to US college radio of the mid-90's. He also added: "Lyrics that James Blunt
would turn up his piggy little nose at [...] a mangling of the present participle that would make Conor Oberst
choke on his granola." Andrew Winistorfer of Prefix Magazine: "a milquetoast selection of mid-tempo stadium anthems," though he found some positivity in "Golden Web", and claimed that the high point of the album was the soaring chorus of "Digital Hearts". He ended by retorting: "a featureless product that neglects the band’s distinct former character." Corban Goble of Adequacy, had good things to say about the instrumentation and commented that the record had a great feel, though he felt that the album was missing any kind of strong hook or melody, and that the band lacked passion.
EP comes with Limited edition digipak or otherwise as a download
.
Production
Additional musicians
Accolades
Release history
Howling Bells
Howling Bells are an indie rock band that formed in Sydney in 2004. The band obtained moderate popularity in the United Kingdom following the release of its 2006 self-titled debut album...
. It was released through Independiente in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2009 to mixed reviews. Recorded at four different studios, it was produced by Dan Grech-Marguerat except one track by Howling Bells.
Songwriting efforts for Radio Wars were provided by all four members of the band. The album's themes encompass a wide range of topics, from chaos and optimism to unity and the technological revolution. Most songs were demoed in Australia with one recorded in Melbourne, three in London, and the rest in Los Angeles. The album was the band's first physical release issued outside of the UK and Australia. Three singles were issued from Radio Wars, but all failed to chart. The album peaked within the Top 30 on the Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
and just outside the Top 50 on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
. Although listed as containing ten tracks, the sixth, "Ms. Bell's Song/Radio Wars Theme", is two separate pieces of music. Additionally, a hidden track, "To LA", is omitted from the booklet and back cover. Musically, the album contains elements of rock, pop, blues, folk, and electronica, with songs that range from synthesised
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
percussion rhythms to crooning 1950's style balladry
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
.
To promote the album, the band played a free show at retail outlet Fopp Records
Fopp (retailer)
Fopp is a chain of retail stores selling music, film, books and other entertainment products in the United Kingdom.-History:From its origins as a one-man stall in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1981, it expanded to a chain of over 100 branches throughout the country in 2007...
, in London, on the day of the UK release. The following week, they played another free show in London, this time sponsored by NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
. While touring Radio Wars, Howling Bells supported The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of many influences ranging from the alternative noise of 1980s/90s guitar bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3, the tremulous rock n roll of bands such as The Gun Club and The...
, Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
, Razorlight
Razorlight
Razorlight are a UK based indie rock band formed in 2002. They are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second...
, and Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
.
Background
Radio Wars was a collective songwriting effort among drummer Glenn Moule, bass guitarist Brendan Picchio, guitarist Joel Stein, and Joel's sister, vocalist and rhythm guitarist, Juanita SteinJuanita Stein
Juanita Stein is lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist in indie rock band Howling Bells. She has younger twin brothers Joel and Ari. Joel Stein is lead guitarist in Howling Bells.- Early life :...
. The majority of the songwriting on Howling Bells
Howling Bells (Album)
Howling Bells is the self-titled debut album of London-based Australian indie rock band Howling Bells. The album was released through Bella Union in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2006...
, their debut album, was provided by Juanita. For Radio Wars, members collaborated in the rehearsal studio whenever they could find time. Yet, while touring to support their debut album, the four members wrote much of the new material on laptops. In August 2007, they all brought their songs to a listening party at Juanita and Joel's parents' house in Australia and selected the songs that they would work on. They sought out a country home in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
where they recorded fifteen to twenty demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
of their new material. At this demoing location, attempts to tune in to radio stations to capture a regular signal generated unstable and erratic reception – referred to as 'radio wars' by the band. This provided ideas for two of the tracks, "Radio Wars Theme" and "Digital Hearts" and the album's name.
In 2007, Howling Bells departed from Bella Union
Bella Union
Bella Union is an independent record label that was started up by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie in 1997.After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twins decided to take a step towards independence and started up the Bella Union record label, through which they...
, the UK record label that had released their eponymous
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
debut album. The band declined the option of signing to a major label for the release of Radio Wars. Discussions with major labels had affirmed that their objective was for the band to continue to write the same kind of music from their first record. The band opposed the idea of someone dictating to them the type of material that they should be creating. In January 2008, Howling Bells brokered a deal with, Independiente, since the record label's main focus was for music rather than money. The group maintained their relationship with Liberation
Liberation Music
Liberation Music is a boutique, independent Australasian record company, started in 1999 by Michael Gudinski and Warren Costello. Its stated aim is to find, nurture and then to develop new talent for a world market while remaining independent in the process...
, which issued the album in Australia. Radio Wars became the band's first album issued outside of the UK and Australia after they signed with Play It Again Sam
Play It Again Sam
Play It Again Sam is an independent record label based in London and owned by the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, one of Europe's biggest independent music companies.The label was founded in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot....
, which released the album in Europe, Hostess Entertainment
Hostess Entertainment
, DBA Unlimited, is a Japanese independent music company, representing some of the biggest Western alternative artists and labels in Japan, such as the Beggars Group , Domino Records, V2 Records and PIAS UK Distribution...
, which released the album in Japan, and Nettwerk Music Group, which released the album in North America.
Recording
In early September 2007, work on Radio Wars started when the band re-recorded and self-produced, "Cities Burning Down", at Sing Sing Studios, Melbourne. Previously titled "This City's Burning", it had appeared as the b-sideA-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
on the 2006 singles, "Low Happening" and "Wishing Stone". They felt the song needed more life, so extra instrumentation was added to deliver a bigger sound. As "Cities Burning Down", it became the album's second track.
Howling Bells sought a producer that had experience working on electronic
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
-sounding records. Producer and mixer, Dan Grech-Marguerat, who had previously worked with Howling Bells' manager, had listened to demos of the new tracks. The band knew of his collaborations with Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
and Air, and thought he could help develop their new sound. He came to their rehearsal studio with handwritten notes about the new songs and expressed what he could add. This encouraged the band, and they agreed to let him produce the album.
In January 2008, Howling Bells recorded more tracks for Radio Wars, now working at The Sound Factory
The Sound Factory
The Sound Factory is a recording studio in Hollywood, California.The Sound Factory was built in the 1960s on Selma Avenue in Hollywood. At the time, it served as the home of Moonglow Records and the Moonglow Recording Studio...
, in Los Angeles. The band chose Los Angeles as they wanted a recording experience which was different from previous sessions. Radio Wars was about Howling Bells being optimistic and united in spirit. Looking to bring a more colourful perspective with a new sound and new feel, the group opted for a more electronic texture. Picchio and Joel experimented with synthesisers, and Moule's percussion parts were more distinct than his previous work. Grech-Marguerat worked prolonged hours and experimented considerably, in an effort to bring more life to each song. The band often struggled with ideas that were presented by him, and the recording sessions were burdened by occasional arguments. Though, members of the band attested that it ultimately worked out.
Five of the demos created for Radio Wars were not used on the final product. Just over half the songs that appeared on the album were recorded in LA: "Treasure Hunt", "Nightingale", "Ms. Bell's Song/Radio Wars Theme", "Golden Web", "Into the Chaos" (minus the strings), and the hidden track, "To LA". After the band returned from Los Angeles, they recorded "It Ain't You", "Let's Be Kids", and "Digital Hearts" at AIR Studios
Associated Independent Recording
Associated Independent Recording , an independent recording company, was founded in London in 1965 by Beatles producer George Martin and his partner John Burgess after their departure from EMI....
in London. Session musicians recorded string
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
and brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
instruments for a number of the tracks at Mayfair Studios
Mayfair Studios
Mayfair Studios is a recording studio located in Primrose Hill, London, England. The studio was originally established in Mayfair, London in the 1960s thus giving the studio its name...
. The last song to be recorded for Radio Wars was a 1950's style ballad entitled "How Long", which Joel had written the lyrics for. The rest of the band liked it, so arrangements were made to go back into a non-specified London studio where they spent two days recording it. Twenty-two songs had been created by the end of their recording sessions, in July 2008. The album was mixed by Cenzo Townshend at Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios
Olympic Studios was a renowned independent commercial recording studio located at 117 Church Road, Barnes, South West London, England. The studio is best known for the huge number of famous rock and pop recordings made there from the late 1960s onward....
.
Singles
Radio Wars was preceded by two singles "Into the Chaos" (November 2008), and "Cities Burning Down" (February 2009). None of the singles from the album charted in any country. The unofficial release of "Into the Chaos" was in October, where it was issued for free through the band's website. The song was originally an electronic track without melody or vocals that Juanita and Picchio had put together from other bits and pieces. The week of its official physical release, NMENME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
named it as their "track of the week". The single also appeared on a best-of-2009 playlist. The accompanying video was composed of in-and-out of studio footage while the band recorded the album. "Cities Burning Down", the oldest track from the album, was a song that Juanita and Moule created music for first, and the song's lyrics developed out of the instrumental's dark sound. Preceding the official release by three days, The Sun, named "Cities Burning Down" as their "hot track of the week". The music video was directed by Piper Ferguson for Lodger Films and shot in December 2008 in London. In 2010, "Cities Burning Down", was one of over 100 tracks by various artists that appeared on the Realtime Worlds
Realtime Worlds
Realtime Worlds Ltd was a video game developer based in Dundee, Scotland from 2002 until its closure in September 2010. Realtime Worlds was the largest independent game developer in Scotland with over 200 employees as well as a small Boulder, Colorado office....
developed multiplayer online video game, APB: All Points Bulletin. "Digital Hearts" (May 2009) embodies the message of the album's title – the technological struggle in the new age. The lyrics for it were written by Juanita and Joel and influenced by Juanita and Moule's inability to tune in a tangible radio signal at their demoing location. A music video for the single was produced but never released. It was directed by Dan Lowe for Partizan and filmed in April 2009 in London.
Artwork
Artwork for Radio Wars was by Mark James and photography by Clare Shilland. Howling Bells wanted a luminous front cover artCover art
Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
that represented each individual to signify that the album was a brighter, colourful, more vibrant compendium, as well as a more collaborative songwriting effort with a greater input among the four members. By contrast the debut album's artwork has front and back covers that are grey-washed, appropriate to the gloomier, more languishing material mostly written by Juanita.
Promotion, release and reception
After recording Radio Wars, Howling Bells returned to touring in July 2008. They incorporated new songs from the album into their live sets. The band performed at festivals over the next couple of months, including O2 WirelessWireless Festival
The Wireless Festival is a music festival in England that takes place every year in Hyde Park, London, and took place at Harewood House, Leeds in 2006 and 2007. It is owned and managed by Live Nation....
, Latitude
Latitude Festival
The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006....
, and Lovebox Weekender
Lovebox Festival
Lovebox is a three-day music festival held in Victoria Park, Tower Hamlets, London. The event has been running since 2002 and was founded by DJs Groove Armada...
. Howling Bells also supported The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit
The Duke Spirit are an English rock band based in London. Their sound has been seen as a melding of many influences ranging from the alternative noise of 1980s/90s guitar bands such as My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth and Spacemen 3, the tremulous rock n roll of bands such as The Gun Club and The...
and Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev
Mercury Rev is an American alternative rock group, that formed in the late 1980s in Buffalo, New York. Original personnel were David Baker , Jonathan Donahue , Sean Mackowiak, a.k.a...
. They headlined a string of shows in March 2009 supported by The Joy Formidable
The Joy Formidable
The Joy Formidable are a three-piece band formed in 2007 in North Wales and currently located in London, England. The band consists of Ritzy Bryan , Rhydian Dafydd , and Matt Thomas ....
and Chew Lips
Chew Lips
Chew Lips are an East London based dance-pop duo, formed in spring of 2008. They consist of singer 'Tigs' and multi-instrumentalist James Watkins.-First Steps :...
. The group played at V Festival
V Festival (Australia)
The Australian V Festival was an Australian music festival, and a spin-off of the British V Festival. Like all V Festivals, the event was primarily sponsored by Virgin Mobile. In Australia the event was also sponsored by airline Virgin Blue. The V Festival was televised exclusively in Australia by...
in Australia, before returning to the UK to support Razorlight
Razorlight
Razorlight are a UK based indie rock band formed in 2002. They are primarily known in the UK, having topped the charts with the 2006 single "America" and its parent self-titled album, their second...
. In May and June, they joined Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn
Peter Joseph Yorn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical acclaim in 2001.-Early history:Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a...
as well as Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
, to support Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...
for the third leg of the North American Viva la Vida Tour
Viva la Vida Tour
Viva la Vida Tour was the fourth concert tour by English band Coldplay. The tour was in support their fourth studio album Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. The tour was a massive commercial and critical success visiting Europe, Asia, the Americas and Australasia...
.
Radio Wars was released on 2 March 2009 in the UK, which was followed by release dates in several additional countries. A limited edition of the album was issued by both Independiente and Hostess, on the day of the release in their respective nations. It was presented as a digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
that included a bonus live disc containing seven tracks of a Howling Bells performance recorded at The Paradiso
Paradiso (Amsterdam)
Paradiso is an iconic rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.-History:It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije...
, in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, in November 2008. The band played a free instore show at retail outlet Fopp Records
Fopp (retailer)
Fopp is a chain of retail stores selling music, film, books and other entertainment products in the United Kingdom.-History:From its origins as a one-man stall in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1981, it expanded to a chain of over 100 branches throughout the country in 2007...
, in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, on the day of the UK release. Later that week they played another free show, this time sponsored by NME, at Punk in Soho
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster and part of the West End of London. Long established as an entertainment district, for much of the 20th century Soho had a reputation for sex shops as well as night life and film industry. Since the early 1980s, the area has undergone considerable...
. The event was broadcast live, and tickets were exclusive to winners of an online competition. The album spent four weeks on the Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...
and peaked inside the Top 30. It made an appearance for three weeks on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
and peaked just outside the Top 50. It did not chart in any other nation. The album was recognised on three different end-of-the-year lists.
Radio Wars was met with mixed reviews from those within the music industry. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 67/100 based on 16 reviews. Album of the Year is a website that applies the same system of standardised
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
scoring, this time using a fixed number of twelve mainstream publications as sources. Radio Wars obtained an average score of 60/100 based on five reviews for a final ranking of 268 out of 323 potential candidates for, "Album of the Year".
Positive reviews came from Andrew Leahey of Allmusic, who applauded the inclusion of string and brass instruments, and referred to the album as, "truthfully hard to resist." Estella Hung of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
, praised the song, "Nightingale", for its ability to assemble itself out of nothing but Juanita's crooning. She declared: "Radio Wars is almost perfect to a fault." Camilla Pia of The Fly
The Fly (magazine)
The Fly is a free music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. The magazine is published by the HMV owned MAMA Group.The magazine started as a listings leaflet in Camden, north London, for the Barfly music venue on Chalk Farm Road...
, applauded Grech-Marguerat's production, and expressed positive feelings towards the extra instrumentation. Lisa Wright of Subba Cultcha, commented: "Howling Bells still have a way with a melody pretty much unrivalled at the moment." She went on to say: "their second effort is a gorgeously, spine-tingling one honed to almost perfection." Greg Rose of Virgin Music
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
, commended Howling Bells for their distinct songwriting, calling it, "both formidable and peculiar." He asserted: "They are possibly the best thing to come out of Australia since Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
."
Less favourable reviews came from Darren Harvey of musicOMH
MusicOMH
musicOMH is a United Kingdom-based website which publishes independent reviews, featues and interviews from across all musical genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.-History:...
, who called it: "unremarkable and disposable as a Domino's
Domino's Pizza
Domino's Pizza, Inc. is an international pizza delivery corporation headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America. Founded in 1960, Domino's is the second-largest pizza chain in the United States and has over 9,000 corporate and franchised stores in 60 countries and all 50 U.S....
pizza box," and compared it to US college radio of the mid-90's. He also added: "Lyrics that James Blunt
James Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...
would turn up his piggy little nose at [...] a mangling of the present participle that would make Conor Oberst
Conor Oberst
Conor Mullen Oberst is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, Norman Bailer , Commander Venus, Park Ave., Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, and Monsters of Folk.-Musical career:Oberst began...
choke on his granola." Andrew Winistorfer of Prefix Magazine: "a milquetoast selection of mid-tempo stadium anthems," though he found some positivity in "Golden Web", and claimed that the high point of the album was the soaring chorus of "Digital Hearts". He ended by retorting: "a featureless product that neglects the band’s distinct former character." Corban Goble of Adequacy, had good things to say about the instrumentation and commented that the record had a great feel, though he felt that the album was missing any kind of strong hook or melody, and that the band lacked passion.
Track listing
Paradiso EP
Recorded live at The Paradiso, Amsterdam, 22 November 2008.EP comes with Limited edition digipak or otherwise as a download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
.
Personnel
Howling Bells members- Juanita Stein – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Joel Stein – lead guitar, keyboards
- Brendan Picchio – bass guitar, keyboards
- Glenn Moule – drums, keyboards
Production
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – producer
- Paul Grady – recording engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
- Jason Mott – assistant recording engineer
- Cenzo Townshend – mixing engineerMixing engineerA mix engineer is the person responsible for incorporating all the different recorded elements of music to make the final version of a song. These mixing professionals have many years of experience and training with audio equipment which has enabled them to master the art of audio mixing...
- Neil Comber – assistant mixing engineer
- Nick Cervonaro – recording assistant
Additional musicians
- Sally Herbert – string & brass arrangement
- Simon Hayes – assistant string & brass arrangement
- Frances Dewar – violin
- Everton Nelson – violin
- Sonia Slany – violin
- Warren Zielinski – violin
- Bruce White – violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Ben Edwards – trumpet, flugelhornFlugelhornThe flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
- Mike Kearsey – trombone
- Ian Burge – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Charts, accolades, release history
Albums chart| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
28 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
55 |
Accolades
| Country | Accolade (2009) | Provider | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | Album of the Year | Stars Are Underground | 23 |
| UK | The Fly | 29 | |
| Piccadilly Records | 32 |
Release history
| Region | Date (2009) | Label | Format | Catalogue No. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | 2 March | Independiente | 2xCD | ISOM76CDX |
| CD | ISOM76CD | |||
| Australia | 6 March | Liberation | LMCD0041 | |
| Europe | 13 March | PIAS | 9510076020 | |
| Japan | 22 April | Hostess | 2xCD | HSE-30214 |
| N. America | 28 July | Nettwerk | CD | 067003086325 |
External links
- Radio Wars at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
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