Permission to Land
History
History
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The band was renowned for their live shows from very early on, and such was the popularity of the band, they had a [Carling](/wiki/Carling "Carling") Homecoming gig booked for the [London Astoria](/wiki/London_Astoria "London Astoria") before they had even signed a record deal. Joe Taylor, Aled Jones and Paul Scaife at *[The Tip Sheet](/wiki/The_Tip_Sheet "The Tip Sheet")*, a weekly magazine and CD insert for UK music industry insiders, first heard about the band through a post on The Tip Sheet message board, and featured "Love Is Only a Feeling" in January 2002\. *Record of the Day* featured the song again around the time of [SXSW](/wiki/SXSW "SXSW") in March 2003\. "Friday Night" was to be featured next, but they were told the band was saving it for an album.

According to A\&R man [Nick Raphael](/wiki/Nick_Raphael "Nick Raphael") in an interview with [HitQuarters](/wiki/HitQuarters "HitQuarters"), there was no initial clamour to sign the band: "There couldn't have been less of a buzz, and only two record labels showed any interest in them."["Interview With Nick Raphael"](http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_Nick_Raphael_Interview.html) , *[HitQuarters](/wiki/HitQuarters "HitQuarters")*, 25 May 2005\. He believes the reason for lack of interest was that "The business as a whole thought they were uncool. In fact, people were saying that they were a joke and that they weren't real." As part of Sony Music UK, Raphael had attempted to sign them but the band instead opted to go with [Atlantic Records](/wiki/Atlantic_Records "Atlantic Records").

*Permission to Land* went straight up to number two on the UK Albums Chart upon its release on 7 July 2003, before going to number one and staying there for four weeks, eventually going on to sell over 1\.4 million copies in the UK alone.

In October 2023, a deluxe edition named "*Permission to Land… Again*" was released to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the album. This edition includes B\-sides, unreleased demos, and live tracks.


How did the band's live shows contribute to their success?