Kaiser Chiefs is a post-britpop band which formed in Leeds, West Yorkshire,… Read Full Bio ↴Kaiser Chiefs is a post-britpop band which formed in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England in early 2003. The band consists of Ricky Wilson (vocals), Andrew "Whitey" White (guitar), Simon Rix (bass), Nick "Peanut" Baines (keyboards) and Vijay Mistry(drums). Nick Hodgson is the band's former drummer and main songwriter but left the band in December 2012 to focus on other projects. The band has released seven albums as of 2020 and have released 27 singles, including the hits I Predict a Riot, Oh My God, Ruby and Never Miss a Beat.

Several members of the band are ardent fans of the English football team Leeds United (as the band originates from Leeds). The band are named after the South African Kaizer Chiefs Football Club, the former team of long-serving former Leeds captain Lucas Radebe.

The band's main musical influences include The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Kinks, Blur, Eric Burdon, The Jam, and other new wave bands. Andrew White (b. England; guitar), Ricky Wilson (b. Charles Richard Wilson, 17 January 1975, Keighley, West Yorkshire, England; vocals), Nick Baines (keyboards), Nick Hodgson (b. Nicholas Hodgson, 20 October 1977, England; drums) and Simon Rix (b. James Simon Rix, 18 October 1977, England; bass) formed the band in early 2003, having originally played garage rock under the Parva moniker. Their energetic brand of post-millennial guitar rock, which would have been branded "indie" in previous decades, quickly found favour on the local gig circuit. The quintet issued their debut, the XTC-soundalike Oh My God, before they had even signed a proper recording contract, teaming up with the Drowned In Sound website in May 2004 for a limited edition release. A contract with the B-Unique label followed and the band began to attract wider interest at the end of 2004 with the release of their storming I Predict A Riot. The topical lyrics, concerning alcohol-fuelled violence in small English towns, attracted as much attention as the band's anarchic update on late 70s new wave.

The band's explosion onto the global music scene in early 2005 was epitomised when they had their first single I Predict A Riot off their debut album Employment played on the radio around the world and opened Live8 in Philadelphia. Several years prior to 2003 the members of the band had been a garage rock group called Parva (before that they had been known as Runston Parva). However, after their label Mantra Records went bust in late 2002, the band went back to their roots and adopted a more britpop sound, helping the band reach their current popularity within the UK and beyond as a consequence.

The band re-released the single Oh My God on 21 February, which charted at #6. The debut album Employment was released on 7 March 2005 and entered the charts at #3 that week. Despite becoming favourite after being shortlisted, the album failed to win the 2005 Mercury Music Prize. They covered the Marvin Gaye classic, Heard it Through the Grapevine for the War Child album Help! A Day in the Life, giving a whole new slant on the song.

A DVD, entitled Enjoyment, was released in November 2005. The basis of the DVD is a (semi-false) documentary about the band narrated by Bill Nighy. It also includes all the promo videos, live performances and more.

An internet-only (so far) music video for their song Sink that Ship has been released in September 2005. The video appears on Electronic Arts' website as a promotional tool for their game Burnout Revenge but is completely unbranded.

Wilson auctioned off his red tambourine to radio show Xfm in late 2005 to raise money for the homeless charity Shelter. The winning bid was £375.00.

On February 5th, The Kaiser Chiefs Released their next single, Ruby, which was a major success reaching #1 in the singles charts.

The Kaiser Chiefs released their new album, Yours Truly, Angry Mob on February 23, 2007 in The Netherlands and Belgium, February 26, 2007 in the United Kingdom and on March 27, 2007 in North America. A double disc edition is also available, the second disc being a DVD.

It is known that three of the band members went to a school near Highroyd, Leeds. Also, Nick (drummer) announced during a gig in Newcastle Upon Tyne that his dad went to a school called St. Cuthberts in Newcastle. Other famous people from that school include Ant & Dec and Sting.

The band released their third album, Off With Their Heads, on October 20, 2008. It contains the hit single Never Miss a Beat.

Songfacts states that the band's fourth album, The Future Is Medieval was released through the band's website on June 3, 2011. In effect the world's first bespoke album, fans are able to create their own version of the record by choosing their favorite 10 tracks from the selection of 20 on offer. One-minute excerpts allow them to make their selections and each song is represented by an object.
After creating their own album, people can then share their version of the record with other fans, and earn £1 each time it is purchased by someone else.

5th album "Education, Education, Education and War!" was released on 31st March 2014 on Fiction Records, featuring the UK Top 40 single, 'Coming Home', and was their first UK number one album since 2007's 'Yours Truly, Angry Mob'.

Also on the Fiction label, their 6th album, Stay Together, was released on the 7th October 2016, with a notable shift towards dance-pop, hitting #4 on the UK Albums Chart.

In 2019, they moved to Polydor, and released 'Duck' on 26th July, featuring the singles 'Record Collection' and 'People Know How To Love One Another'. It peaked at #3 on the UK Albums Chart.

Performances

Kaiser Chiefs' first big festival show was at the dual-site Reading and Leeds Festival on 27 August 2004 and in the following year, on 16 May 2005, they appeared at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, The Netherlands. After that, things went fast. They were the opening act at the Philadelphia Live 8 concert on July 2nd 2005, one of only two British acts in the lineup (Def Leppard being the other). They performed I Predict a Riot, Everyday I Love You Less and Less and Oh My God. They played Reading and Leeds in 2006 before Franz Ferdinand and were extremely popular.

June 2005 saw them headline at the May Ball at Queens' College, Cambridge, supported by Anada, before an acclaimed appearance at a rain-soaked Glastonbury festival during the same month, whilst August's appearance at the V Festival featured a very enthusiastic set despite Ricky Wilson having his leg in plaster. Also more recently they embarked on their own headline UK Tour, supported by Maximo Park and The Cribs. Their first US tour (with The Cribs) ran through the summer of 2005, and they followed it by playing a few shows on the Foozer tour. This was followed up by opening for Foo Fighters during their Australian tour in December 2005. They also played to Jools Holland and his audience on December 31, 2005.

Their song Ruby, from the album Yours Truly, Angry Mob was featured as a bonus song in Guitar Hero III, and I Predict a Riot from Employment was eventually released as downloadable content for the game.

Kaiser Chiefs are set to return to the European festival scene this summer, having been booked for Switzerland's Gurten Festival.

Getting Better
Kaiser Chiefs Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's getting better
All the time

I used to get mad
At my school
(No I can't complain)
The teachers
Who taught me

Weren't cool
(No I can't complain)
You're holding me down
(Oh)
Turning me round
(Oh)
Filling me up
With your rules
(Foolish rules)

I've got to admit
It's getting better
(Better)
A little better
All the time
(It can't get more worse)
I have to admit
It's getting better
(Better)
It's getting better
Since you've been mine

Me used to be
Angry young man
Me hiding me head
In the sand
You gave me the word
I finally heard
I'm doing
The best that I can

I've got to admit
It's getting better
(Better)
A little better
All the time
(It can't get more worse)
I have to admit
It's getting better
(Better)
It's getting better
Since you've been mine
Getting so much better
All the time
It's getting better
All the time
Better, better, better
It's getting better
All the time
Better, better, better

I used to be cruel
To my woman
I beat her
And kept her apart
From the things
That she loved
Man I was mean
But I'm changing my scene
And I'm doing
The best that I can
(Ooh)

I admit
It's getting better
(Better)
A little better
All the time
(It can't get more worse)
Yes, I admit
It's getting better
(Better)
It's getting better
Since you've been mine
Getting so much better
All the time
It's getting better
All the time
Better, better, better
It's getting better
All the time
Better, better, better

Getting so much better
All the time

Overall Meaning

The song "Getting Better" by Kaiser Chiefs is a cover of The Beatles' 1967 song of the same name. The lyrics of the song talk about the personal growth and changes in the character's life. The song starts with the character's past struggles with his school teachers and the rules they created. He mentions that he used to get angry with the teachers who weren't cool, but now he can't complain. The teachers were holding him down, turning him around and filling him with their foolish rules. However, the character mentions that he is doing better now and is accepting the changes in his life. The chorus celebrates his gradual progress and acknowledges that things are getting better all the time since he's been with this person. The second verse talks about how he used to be cruel and violent to his partner, but he changed his behavior and is doing the best he can to be a better person.

Line by Line Meaning

It's getting better
The situation is gradually improving

All the time
Continuously, steadily improving

I used to get mad
I used to get angry and upset

At my school
At the institution where I received my education

(No I can't complain)
I cannot express any discontent towards this

The teachers
The individuals responsible for educating me

Who taught me
The individuals who imparted knowledge and skills to me

Weren't cool
Were not trendy, fashionable or admirable

(No I can't complain)
I cannot express any discontent towards this

You're holding me down
You are restricting me and preventing me from achieving my potential

(Oh)
Expressing frustration, disappointment or displeasure

Turning me round
Causing me to change my direction, course or perspective

(Oh)
Expressing frustration, disappointment or displeasure

Filling me up
Influencing me, shaping me and providing me with knowledge or ideas

With your rules
With your instructions, governing principles or regulations

(Foolish rules)
Rules that are unwise, illogical or ineffective

I've got to admit
I must confess, acknowledge or concede

It's getting better
The situation is gradually improving

(Better)
Improved, more satisfactory

A little better
Slightly better

All the time
Continuously, steadily improving

(It can't get more worse)
The situation has reached the lowest point and cannot deteriorate further

I have to admit
I must confess, acknowledge or concede

Since you've been mine
Since you have become a part of my life

Me used to be
I used to be

Angry young man
An adolescent or young adult male who is filled with hostility and frustration

Me hiding me head
I was concealing myself, avoiding confrontations or challenges

In the sand
In the dirt or soil

You gave me the word
You provided me with guidance, advice or wisdom

I finally heard
I finally understood, comprehended or absorbed

I'm doing
I am acting, behaving or performing

The best that I can
To the fullest extent of my ability, skill or effort

I used to be cruel
I used to be abusive, harsh or unkind

To my woman
To the woman in my life, possibly my spouse or partner

I beat her
I physically assaulted her, causing her injuries or harm

And kept her apart
And prevented her from experiencing, enjoying or pursuing certain things

From the things
From the objects, activities, concepts or people

That she loved
That she had an affection, desire or passion for

Man I was mean
I was a vicious, nasty and unpleasant individual

But I'm changing my scene
But I am altering my attitude, behaviour or surroundings

I admit
I confess, acknowledge or concede

Yes, I admit
Definitely, I confess, acknowledge or concede

Better, better, better
Improving, becoming more satisfactory or pleasing

Contributed by John S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

14y

This is good

3replybiz

9y↑1

@thenowuk Very few recording artists use analogue gear any more. They were forced to carry on using 4 track gear at EMI well into 1968 when they had been using 8 track in the USA since the mid-60s and 16 track was available in 1968. The reason is because decisions about spending money and being an innovator get taken by accountants. One thing accountants are not good at is taking a bold step and planning ahead. Analogue tape sock costs a fortune, very hard to get now, it drops out and shreds, the medium adds noise to the recording. The warmth people like to think is so good is in fact tape compression which is a defect. You also have to use horrible technical compromises like noise reduction and after all that you can't even edit an audio tape at all easily. Nobody uses analogue any longer and 4 track recording in the 60s must have been very frustrating as you had to keep bouncing down, destroying original takes for the sake of freeing up tracks as you went along. It must have been the most annoying process in the world and you needed a very good engineer and producer to make anything that way.

3replybiz

It was very hard to record things that sounded really LOUD on the tape stock that was available in the 1960s. That stuff actually looked orange real iron oxide. It stores well but to get things sounding loud without distoration or making the vinyl product skip out of the groove, you had to compress and limit and EQ. Not very natural at all.

I had no idea kaiser chiefs did a cover of this song

SkyGoo

Its really good tho, hopefully one day i can master this song on my electric guitar

ECWNET

16y

well, as the song says, cant get any worse...

ICouldBeBritish

16y

Aw, I love the Kaiser Chiefs, but this song's way too copy-catted. It sounds too much like the original. Even some of the vocals. They didn't exactly make it their own...

Andrew Whipple

17y↑1

Razorlight and Travis were the best

MsLEHMANN69

13y

Apparently it was very cold in the studio...:-)

Tiago Reis

15y

I didn't know this song could be so lousily played

Jack Haughey

15y

Sounds godo to me to, and as it says there using original 4 track equipment and its recorded in Abbey rd studios too right? Russel Brand was right about the Jonas Sisters...absolute tripe!

Sergey Zamurtsev

13y↑1

Do you hear something from John in Ricks voice?

Diego Peña

10y

This studio album was produced by Geoff Emerick... wasn't he?

andrew thomas

yep

onemorejoe

17y

shocking bad. well it was okay, just shocking it did so well.

Jeff Kain

7y↑5

Liked the Kaisers ten years ago, but don't follow them now. My point is the lead voc comes in short each and every time on the word, "better," failing to reach the intended higher chorus note of the original McCartney vocal. It's like the Kaiser Chiefs never heard the original McCartney vocal, altering the intended written melody. I'm surprised Geoff Emerick or someone else at the 'sacred ground' didn't tell him to reach for the higher note instead of being a half-step short each time. It's annoying and stands out like a sour grape. I cringe when I hear it. For me, it shows amateur vocals and ruins the song because the original hook that is so embedded in our collective conscious is never attained!