The Music - Welcome To The North (Special Edition) (2004)

Brit-pop got a new face in the new millennium, thanks to the burgeoning popularity of new bands like Coldplay and Doves. The Music was a part of that young crowd, taking over the U.K. indie charts by storm during the summer of 2002. Comprised of schoolhood chums Stuart Coleman, Adam Nutter, Robert Harvey, and Phil Jordan, the Music first emerged from the suburbs of Leeds in 1999. They were just teenagers at the time, and the band practiced between studies and dinner time for the following two years. By early 2001, Radio 1 celebrity DJ Steve Lamacq had hailed the Music as the "best unsigned band in Britain," thanks to the raw rock power of their demo "Take the Long Road and Walk It." Fierce Panda Records secured the album's distribution rights and released a limited edition of 1,000 copies in May 2001.
England's Hut Recordings won a bidding war with the Music and released the band's debut EP, You Might as Well Try to Fuck Me, that same spring. Accolades continued to pour in, with NME touting the Music as "potentially the most important group since Oasis." The People EP appeared in spring 2002, and with the English press still abuzz, America attempted to capitalize on the group as well. Capitol Records snatched the Music up in mid-2002 and released their self-titled debut, Music, in February 2003. The album had appeared several months earlier in the U.K., where it rose to number four on the U.K. albums charts. The Music hit the road with Coldplay for a two-month run in the States and released their sophomore effort, Welcome to the North, during the fall of 2004. The album also fared well in the band's native U.K., but the Music took an extended break from the spotlight while frontman Robert Harvey sought help for his addiction to alcohol. Strength in Numbers, the band's third full-length effort, marked their return in June 2008.