For Crying Out Loud is the sixth studio album by English rock band Kasabian. It was released worldwide on 5 May 2017. It is their last album to feature lead vocalist Tom Meighan before his departure from the band in 2020.
Background
The single "Comeback Kid" was originally released for the FIFA 17 soundtrack, though it was leaked online to YouTube six days before the North American release of the game. The leak was promptly taken down.[4]
Packaging
The album's cover, designed by Aitor Throup, consists of a monochrome photograph of the band's longtime roadie Rick Graham's naked bust with digitally animated tears emanating from his eyes. A white background surrounds the photograph with the band's name above it and the album's title in quotation marks below with the year in parentheses after the title. Throup worked in collaboration with photographer Neil Bedford and visual designer Daft Apeth to create the artwork. "I really wanted to challenge how I previously approached art direction, through the deconstruction of the graphic design tools and their known formulas – which I have used in previous works with Kasabian", Throup told It's Nice That. "I'm really embracing the basics of default composition, whilst creating my own default design process through doing so. I even wanted to embrace and explore the beauty of default fonts."[5]
Release
The album was originally scheduled to be released on 28 April 2017 but was pushed back a week to 5 May 2017.[6][better source needed] It is also the band's first album to be released on a single 12" vinyl LP rather than 2x10" LPs.[7]
For Crying Out Loud received generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 70, based on 14 reviews.[8]
NME praised the album's overall delivery, stating that "For Crying Out Loud is chockablock with massive tunes that make an instant impact."[12]
Despite the generally positive reviews, some reviewers were less favourable. Clash magazine gave the album a score of 4/10, describing it as "A mixed return that ultimately feels like a failure."[13]
The Quietus, meanwhile, gave a negative review, noting: "Say what you like about Kasabian but never have they been this pedestrian, predictable, and so utterly, utterly bland."[14]
For Crying Out Loud topped the UK Albums Chart with 52,000 combined units in its first week of release, giving Kasabian their fifth consecutive number-one album. It also ended Ed Sheeran's nine-week run on the top spot with ÷, beating it out by 5,000 copies.[16] The album was certified silver by the BPI on 19 May 2017.[17]
Tom Meighan – lead vocals (except "Are You Looking For Action?" and "All Through The Night"), backing vocals on "Are You Looking For Action?"
Sergio Pizzorno – guitars, bass guitar, synthesizers, piano, drum programming, production, mixing, backing vocals, lead vocals ("Are You Looking For Action?" and "All Through The Night"), co-lead vocals on "You're In Love With A Psycho"
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 19.Týden 2017 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
