The members of Idlewild were barely in their twenties when they recorded their debut, Hope Is Important.
Quite taken with the grunge surge of the early '90s, distorted guitars and textured basslines mosh among Roddy Woomble's screeching vocals, which are also abrasive and wounded.
The first half of Hope Is Important has a high-speed disposition of punk chaos reminiscent of Nirvana's Bleach.
"You've Lost Your Way" and "4 People Do Good" rampage with angst-ridden themes, and classic vocalic disarray and complexity.
"I'm Happy to Be Here Tonight" is where Idlewild truly shines -- an indie anthem wholeheartedly passionate.
They may be from the working-class mass of Scotland, but Idlewild's members are intellects with a twist.
Hope Is Important exudes the fiery nature of four young guys yearning to make their own way in modern rock despite the popularity of the three-chord riff.
Lyrically, the poetry behind such wordplay isn't as apparent as it would be on their follow-up, 100 Broken Windows.
But it's there, and it's enjoyably humorous.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | You've Lost Your WayIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 01:30 | 3 MB | 10 MB |
| 2 | Paint NothingIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 03:12 | 7 MB | 22 MB |
| 3 | 4 People Do GoodIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 02:00 | 4 MB | 13 MB |
| 4 | I'm Happy to Be Here TonightIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 03:11 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 5 | Everyone Says You're So FragileIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 02:17 | 5 MB | 15 MB |
| 6 | I'm a MessageIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 02:28 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 7 | You Don't Have the HeartIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 02:08 | 4 MB | 14 MB |
| 8 | Close the DoorIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 02:21 | 5 MB | 16 MB |
| 9 | Safe and SoundIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 20 MB |
| 10 | Low LightIdlewild | Idlewild | Play | 05:32 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 11 | A Film For The Future | Idlewild | Play | 03:28 | 7 MB | 24 MB |
| 12 | When I Argee I See Shapes | Idlewild | Play | 04:26 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 13 | Chandelier | Idlewild | Play | 02:20 | 5 MB | 17 MB |
| 14 | I Want To Be A Writer | Idlewild | Play | 01:47 | 4 MB | 13 MB |
| 40 mins | 91 MB | |||||
| 39 mins | 277 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Anderson | Assistant |
| 2 | Salli Carson | Vocals |
| 3 | Idlewild | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 4 | Rod Jones | Guitar |
| 5 | Ken Rice | Violin |
| 6 | Dave Slevin | Assistant |
| 7 | Paul Tipler | Engineer, Mixing, Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |