Empire

Empire

With Empire, Kasabian met the sophomore slump head on. Having mined the '90s dance-rock euphoria of Primal Scream and The Stone Roses on their self-titled debut, the band here look to the '70s for inspiration, adding the sounds of Slade, David Bowie, and T. Rex to their repertoire. The title track exemplifies the newfound range, cleverly mixing tempos. "Last Trip (In Flight)" is a tidy rave-up with a B-movie boogie, while "Me Plus One" evokes The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's experiments. The second half is more recognizable, with "By My Side" and "Stuntman" visiting familiar dance-rock territory. "British Legion," however, is the kind of introspective acoustic ballad that most bands usually take three more albums and a few divorces to arrive at.

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