Twelve months ago, rock band Keane came
top of the Sound of 2004 poll of music pundits to find
the best new talent. In a whirlwind year, they have lived
up to the hype with the UK's best-selling album of 2004.
The top five acts in this year's survey,
Sound of 2005, will be counted down every day from Monday
to Friday, when the winner and full top 10 will be revealed.
"We're the sort of band who have dreams
of being like U2 or The Beatles or The Smiths or these big
bands who have touched so many people with their music."
Keane singer Tom Chaplin is considering his group's place
in the rock fraternity.
This time last year, when Keane was still just a footballer's
surname, Chaplin was already talking about his band's
"stadium rock" sound.
Now, they are one of the biggest bands in Britain and
2004 has seen an increasingly frantic and far-reaching
blur of gigs, travel, promotion and sales.
After their first two singles went straight into the
UK top five, debut album Hopes and Fears was released
in May and has gone on to sell 1.2 million copes in the
UK.
Back at the end of 2003, they had a fair
idea their grand, guitarless rock could have wide appeal
- but were aware lasting success could slip through their
fingers.
