''The State of Things'' is the debut studio album by English

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band Reverend and The Makers. It reached number 5 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

, selling just over 25,000 copies in its first week.

Critical reception

The album received positive reviews, with ''Uncut'' saying "the record is a tribute to McClure's charisma and unswerving self-belief". The first single, " Heavyweight Champion of the World", reached the top ten and was played on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

's ''

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cotton ...

''. Other songs on the album, notably "

He Said He Loved Me "He Said He Loved Me" is a song by English rock band Reverend and the Makers from their 2007 debut album, '' The State of Things''. The song features Jon McClure and Laura Manuel on lead vocals. It was released on 26 August 2007 as a digital down ...

" and "The Machine" become fan favourites and were played in their concerts, including the band's three night run at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

supporting

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

. The album includes seven songs that were previously released as free downloads, in a collection of demos entitled ''Ten Songs'' produced by

Alan Smyth Alan Smyth is an English record producer from Sheffield, England. He has worked with a number of bands, including Pulp, Arctic Monkeys, Reverend and The Makers, The Long Blondes, Milburn, Richard Hawley, The Fever Club, The Scaramanga Six, Smok ...

. The single " Open Your Window" was featured on the soundtrack to the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

video game '' FIFA 09''.

Track listing

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:State of Things, The 2007 debut albums Wall of Sound (record label) albums Reverend and The Makers albums