The Open

In 2002 the guitar rock outfit the Open came together in Liverpool, England, at the local art college, with Steven Bayley handling vocals and guitar alongside Jon Winter on guitar, Alan Dutton on keyboards, Jim Reynolds on bass and Scott Holland on drums. Although the group settled in Liverpool, its members hailed originally from the nearby towns of Walsall and Birkenhead. Bayley’s commanding voice quickly set the Open apart, prompting early industry chatter that positioned them as likely breakout contenders. They inked a deal with Loog, the label run by music journalist James Oldham, and brought in former Cocteau Twins musician Simon Raymonde to co-produce their first full-length record. Issued in November 2003, the three-song EP Never Enough announced the band’s ties to the rising guitar-rock resurgence. The next year’s singles “Close My Eyes” and “Just Want To Live” pushed further, delivering sweeping anthems built on surging choruses and crashing climaxes. At that stage the Open drew frequent comparisons to the Verve and Doves, and were prematurely cast, somewhat unfairly, as the potential rescuers of British rock. Their debut album The Silent Hours, released in summer 2004, earned widespread praise in the national press as the year’s standout British rock record. Despite this critical enthusiasm the album achieved little commercial traction, a pattern that repeated with the subsequent release Statues.