The last chapter finished with "everybody wants a piece of Kaiser Chiefs"... This one starts nearly two years on, tracking the subsequent trajectory that the band has traveled.
΄Employment΄ the album probably exceeded everybody΄s expectations, critics and fans alike. The album΄s arrival was heralded by a slew of amazing reviews from the likes of The Guardian, NME and The Big Issue in the UK and Rolling Stone & Spin (amongst many others) Stateside. Radio took the band to their hearts across the world and made sure that the album maintained its momentum whilst retaining its Top 40 album status for 18 months in the UK.
2005 was arguably the year of the Chiefs, be it on the (indie) dance-floor, radio, TV or in print… From Parva to Philadelphia, sometimes life isn΄t quite as mapped out as you think!
The release of ΄Oh My God΄ in February 2005 preceded the album and was a taster of what was to follow. The band unleashed their pot of gold and everybody realised there was more where the likes of ΄I Predict A Riot΄ and ΄Oh My God΄ had come from. It could be argued the album had none of that record company parlance aka ΄filler΄ and this was proven when the band took the show on-the-road. 75 minutes of hi-energy entertainment interspersed with the odd (relatively) less frenetic track, won them ΄Best Live Act΄ at last years Brit Awards (one of 3 Awards collected by the band that night).
Glastonbury 2005 was the Kaiser΄s festival. With dreaded weather curtailing some people΄s enjoyment, the band played the main stage on the Saturday afternoon and again had the crowd eating out of the palm of its (collective) hand. The sun even shone briefly with the arrival of a giant, inflatable, crowd-surfing dinosaur. The summer of 2005 also marked the twentieth anniversary of LiveAid. Kaiser Chiefs were invited to open proceedings for the Philadelphia leg of the day long celebrations, playing alongside Stevie Wonder!
Singles ΄Modern Way΄, and the re-appearance of ΄I Predict A Riot΄ as a mainstream smash, consolidated the bands position. Their hard work ethic was rewarded when they were offered the opening slot on that year΄s NME Brats tour – with Bloc Party, The Futureheads and The Killers. They were to emerge twelve months later, having sold well over a million albums in the UK and having established themselves as an enthralling live act. It was only the end of another chapter… The past year in the Kaiser΄s camp has been punctuated with some of their biggest UK gigs to date, including shows at London΄s Ally Pally and a return to home turf in Leeds, with two shows at Millennium Square. In addition, the band put a lid on the “Employment" era with almost 3 million albums sold worldwide.
They sealed the deal in 2006 with triumphant sets at Reading & Leeds, T In The Park and Oxegen Festivals, whilst also knuckling down to the important task of coming up with the oft dreaded ΄second album΄. Writing and rehearsing in Leeds, the band continued to scoop further accolades for debut "Employment". They won ‘Album of the Year’ at the NME Awards and a prestigious Ivor Novello Award positions Kaiser Chiefs alongside some of the greatest songwriters of all time.
A handful of new tracks were road tested at various dates throughout Europe, with the rest written and rehearsed back home in Leeds. It is these 22 tracks that make up the sessions for what we now know as ΄Yours Truly, Angry Mob΄.
A new chapter begins.