this swirl instead of guiding it." Despite praising a few tracks, Lauren Murphy of Entertainment.ie felt the album was just a retread of their debut with Tom Meighan's vocals starting to sound strained throughout, concluding with: "If Kasabian hadn't attempted to build their Empire by recounting its wonderment prematurely, it might have stood a chance; instead, their audacity just proves them to be, unsurprisingly, more geezer, less Caesar." Peter Relic of Rolling Stone criticized the album for sounding like a rehash of established British rock bands and Meighan for having weak vocal delivery on the tracks, calling it "miles worse than their shallow but tasty first, its big-budget production only making its shortcomings more apparent." Track listing Personnel Adapted from the Empire liner notes. Kasabian Tom Meighan – lead vocals , backing vocals Sergio Pizzorno – guitars, synthesizers, backing vocals, lead vocals Chris Edwards – bass, Wurlitzer piano Ian Matthews – drums, percussion Additional musicians Joana Glaza – backing vocals Farhat Bouallagui – violin and viola Bouzid Ezzedine – violin Jazzer Haj Youssef – violin James Banbury – cello Jo Archard – violin Fiona McCapra – violin Vince Greene – viola Nick Attwood – trombone Craig Crofton – saxophone Gary Alesbrook – trumpet Technical personnel Jim Abbiss, Kasabian – production Barny – recording, mixing "Beatle Ben" – recording assistant Owen Skinner – mixing assistant Andy Wallace – mixing Jean-Loup Morette – strings engineering George Marino – mastering Julie Verhoeven – illustrations Andy Hayes – design and layout Charts and certifications Weekly charts Year-end charts Certifications References External links Official website BMG site – Kasabian (Japan) BMG site – Empire (Australia) 2006 albums Albums produced by Jim Abbiss Kasabian albums RCA Records albums