Pushing The Senses - Critical Response

Critical Response

Pushing the Senses received mixed reviews from music critics. In a review for Dotmusic, Chris Heath said that "Feeder are in danger of being a schizophrenic band, unrecognisable from their once 'trademark' sound and prone to style swings on a whim." The Guardian said the album was a "kind of emotional aural soup that will baffle the spikier members of their original punky fanbase". However, Q magazine reviewer Paul Brannigan was impressed, and wrote that the album could "Finally establish Feeder as major league players". Metacritic, a website which aggregates the albums reviews from selected publications, gives an overall score of 52/100 indicating "Mixed or average reviews" from a total of six. Grant said that positive reviews are good to have, "but at the end of the day do not sell records". In a 2008 interview with Kerrang!, Grant expressed his annoyance with the Coldplay comparisons, in which he said they were only made because he played a piano on the album. Kerrang! were brutal towards the band for all of their reviews, with Ben Meyers referring to them as a "radio friendly unit shifter", including comparisons to a "pastel box". A year later the album was marked as "Avoid" in a round-up of the bands material, which included the usual Coldplay and Keane comparisons the album suffered on release, although still conceded that the album is Feeder's most successful. Classic Rock review was more forgiving, considering the album a way "to exorcise the ghosts of the past and ultimately move onward, into a brighter future".

In a review for BBC.co.uk, Lisa Haines praised the sound of Pushing the Senses, stating "The brand of raucous rock anthem which catapulted them to fame is virtually absent here, the band's new sound is far more thoughtful and understated. 'Feeling A Moment' and 'Tumble And Fall' are prime examples. Both have Coldplay inspired soaring vocals and catchy melodies, but a little of their lyrical hand wringing seems to have crept in too", and later said "That's not to say the album is bad, because there is a lot to like here. 'Pilgrim Soul' and title track 'Pushing The Senses' see Feeder thrash furiously away at their instruments, which should appease those who prefer their earlier work".

Q magazine included the album in its list of the top fifty albums of 2005, ranking it at number thirty-nine with the second single "Feeling a Moment" being voted the ninety-eighth best track of the year by their readers. At the 2005 Kerrang! Awards, Feeder received a nomination for "Best British Band", the same award they won two years previously.