''The State of Things'' is the debut studio album by English
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
, 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 Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
'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 Cott ...
''. Other songs on the album, notably " He Said He Loved Me" and "The Machine" become fan favourites and were played in their concerts, including the band's three night run at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
supporting
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentAlan Smyth.
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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
video game ''
FIFA 09
''FIFA 09'' (titled ''FIFA Soccer 09'' in North America) is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released in October 2008 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, Pl ...