Reviews (page 5 of 7)
Great first song
The album as a whole was a pleasant listen and I thought that the instrumentation and overall recording quality were excellent. But, the songs and vocals I found generic and unmemorable.
pretty chill, not exactly my thing but i rate it
Millennials really got stuck with the most boring music, didn't they?
I appreciate the synth poppiness of this album, and the band that helped bring this style into the mainstream in the early 2010s, but after a while this album gets particularly grating and sort of one note. The intro track is FANTASTIC, and a mainstay on many a playlist of mine, but my Cha-verches love only goes so far.
Some of this is a little too polished and radio ready (even though that's the point), but it's hard not to get swept up by these Scottish synths and soaring vocals.
3.5
I dont think I’ve ever realised that this is who Chvrches are, pretty good stuff.
I expected from the reviews some serious adult synth then I got oh oh oh oh teeny pop synth music....second song better...it's the voice I can't on with and the super cheery sound so 80's pop, which I am no fan off, Tether is a good track less upbeat
Eteeristä ujellusta bändiltä, jonka nimeä en osaa lausua
C'était plus l'fun que je pensais mais pas super le fun. Je ne me sens pas aédquat pour noter, je vais y aller au milieu
Pas mauvais mais un peu bof aussi. Mon indifférence est palpable.
Didn’t grab me
Ikke lige et album jeg havde forventet at se på listen, men det er egentlig super repræsentativt for den her slags synthpop som var gigantisk i start-00erne. Mange gode numre på! Jeg har hørt det meget! Også lidt ensformigt i længden
Actually not too bad- there is definitely a time and place for this. Summer day, windows down.
I've been a big fan of The Mother We Share since it came out, but don't think I ever listened to the whole album. Nothing else was really stand-out, but it was good enough that, with the jam it starts out with, it earned 3*, but it was close to 2.
This is #day257 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and… take me to church, I'll worship like a dog at the shrine of your lies. Oh, wait, that's a different church. I have to admit, I liked CHVRCHES's 2021 album Screen Violence. It's arguably the band's best work (though I haven't deep-dived into the rest of their discography). The music in general and this debut? It's too poppy and indietronic (?) for my taste. The sound feels sterile and overly synthetic. You could say the same about most contemporary electropop, I guess. It's certainly well-crafted, but it just doesn't stick with me. The highlights are The Mother We Share, Gun, and Recover. This is a 3 out of 5. Looking forward to #day258.
good
It's okay, poppy, and if I were a fan of pop maybe I'd like it, but it has zero magic for me.
ok to do some chill work to but not that memorable
73% Best: We Sink; Gun; Night Sky Must-Hear? Not really
I had almost completely forgotten about CHVRCHES until this album came up. This is such a relic of mid-2010’s alternative radio. I’ve heard many of these songs before. It’s solid electro pop, but likely not something I would return to often. Favorites were The Mother We Share, Gun, and Science/Visions.
Fine for what it is...never a huge fan of this sound. 3/5
Not bad, not really my taste
Holy mid
It's incredible how much passive knowledge this project has given me. I took just one look at the album cover for this and said "It'll be a British electropop album." Upon looking at short biography for the album on the Global reviews page, yeah, it was a British synthpop album.
I had no idea what to expect before listening to this album. This almost makes me think of what a modern ABBA album might sound like. It's interesting and poppy, sort of a throwback sound with modern flourishes. I don't mind it, but it's not really the sort of music I generally listen to so I don't see coming back to this one very often.
6.5/10
Great example of millennial 2010s indie-synth pop. It has a lot of the hallmarks of the genre conventions (“oh ah ah oh ah ah” vocal loops/samples, rhythmic templates, synced bass lines), which get stretched a little thin and repeated across several songs. It’s essentially the sonic equivalent of “millennial grey”
Overall, this is a pretty decent modern synthpop album. It features some really catchy, heavy analog basslines and is very smooth, polished, and highly produced. This definitely appeals to a modern mainstream EDM audience. If anything, my biggest gripe is that it’s so polished and highly produced. I prefer my synthpop to be more raw, with more texture, not such a smooth feel. But considering it came out in 2013, thank god it’s not a dubstep album.
Decent electronic pop. 3/5
Commercial radio pop hits from 2013. Cool production and ok vocal. All tracks sounds very similar.
Certainly my least favourite of the three CHVRCHES albums (what do you mean there was a 2018 album??) but still quality. Mother We Share is far and away the best part of this album. Never understood the tracks with the man singing- play to your strengths! Lauren is such a great vocalist, just stick with her.
This music sounds like being 20. Easy to listen to. Better on headphones. Mostly music to drift to. Not sure how to review it but I had a nice time.
This takes me back to being a student in the 2010s. I think this is the most indie pop electornic sound of the 2010s. “The Mother We share” is the main hit of this album and the one I recognize. I wondered why I haven’t heard anymore of Chvrches but after listening to the album I kind of get why. I found most of the album quite boring. I missed som sort of edge or agency in this album. Still a good album if you wonder what the cool indie-pop-kids listened to in this era. Weak 3.
The voice of this woman is angelic and extremely nefarious, it almost convinces you for a second that women aren't evil. But then you hear gun, and the smug entitled sarcasm in her voice gives you a vietnam flashback to that girl you spoke to at a house party one time. Good album but held back by half the songs sounding like everything Carly Tae Jepson put out for a while, which isnt necessarily a bad thing but its pretty tired, we sink is particularly bad for it. 7/10
I am once again voicing my anger that this was chosen over Lonerism by Tame Impala, or even Random Access Memories by Daft Punk got looked over for this. A perfectly cromulent album, with only the last track really impressing me. However I am now going to express my gratitude to the authors of this book for choosing this for the revision instead of the following albums from 2013: - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away - Beck - Song Reader - Avicii - True - J. Cole - Born Sinner - Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt - Keith Urban - Fuse - Miley Cyrus - Bangerz - Drake - Nothing Was The Same - Jake Bugg - Jake Bugg - Arcade Fire - Reflektor Highlights: Tether, Lies, Science/Visions, You Caught The Light
Yeah it's alright, a bit of an M83 clone.
Great vocals and lots of intriguing hooks ("Recover," e.g.) and the closer is strong (much more up one's alley) but man are there too many synths could this lot do with some straightforward with rock guitars.
Way back in the day, in 2013, Apple Music, or I guess it was called iTunes then, would release an up and coming sample song from various artists, and the lead single for this album, The Mother We Share, was the featured song of the week. I thought it was pretty solid, so I grabbed the entire album, and was fairly impressed. The pop vocals and voice of Lauren Mayberry really work well on the tracks, especially when they synthesize her voice. The beats are solid and the electronic mixing is good. Stand out songs: The Mother We Share, We Sink, Lies, Recover Good pop-techno overall. Nothing to get too caught up on. 3/5 (like 3.45/5, but we can't do that fine of ratings, it's almost a 3.5)
Ouain, cool, correct
CHVRCHES is a band I should like a lot in theory, blending indie pop with electronic music. But I found myselg being not super into this album. I enjoyed a few songs but there were also a lot I felt were super repetitive. The group certainly does have a signature sound though. Overall- decent, probably a 2.5-3/5
The Mother We Share is a certified classic and is for sure in my top 100 songs of all time. It got played on the alternative radio station in the deli hundreds of times. I can still smell the pickles and the bleach and the capicola when I hear it. I had never heard the rest of this album before. I don’t think it’s all that great, although it feels like a landmark in time of the end times of the hipster indie era. The type of shit that was filling up firefly in Dover, DE in the mid 2010s. Good times
Some good synth pop with an 80s sound to it at times. Forgot how this came out over 10 years ago too.
Fine
Pretty good. Would give 3.5 stars but gonna round down
I kind of liked this. The lyrics were interesting and the music was upbeat and fun.
3.5
I was hoping this would be better since I like this era of electronic music, but it was just alright.
Immediately sounds like annoying young people. Shakes fist!
This could have been pulled out of a time capsule from 1989. I enjoyed it, but I would love to hear them play songs from this on their upcoming MTV Unplugged set. I think this band would benefit from less polish and more heart.
Так себе, ничего особенного за что бы зацепилось ухо
By all rights I should not have enjoyed this album given my aversion to 80's pop/new wave...but I'll be damned if I didn't like some of this. I didn't like it enough to seek out more by this band, but this was perfectly fine and much better than expected given the genre. 3.4
More time is needed to crack this nut.
Yup 3.5
I'd call myself a pretty big fan of this group, but I'm a bit underwhelmed by their debut. I'm a much bigger fan of Love Is Dead or Screen Violence. They haven't quite found their stride yet. Still, enjoyable.
fun, pop, could listen again
This was fine. Pleasant and poppy but sort of interesting.
This could have been pulled out of a time capsule from 1989. I enjoyed it, but I would love to hear them play songs from this on their upcoming MTV Unplugged set. I think this band would benefit from less polish and more heart.
Picture a world in which the 80s never ended, but some brave souls learned to survive, made the best of it, and even produced some pretty good music. That is Churches, The Bones of What You Believe. Pretty + Good. Still, I’m glad the 80s didn’t last forever.
solid but i wish the guy would shut up honestly lmao if i could get a version of by the throat without his annoying repetitive "you know you can go to far" shit that would be ideal
Sounds like happy memories and the dreams of adolescence
Mid 2010s synth pop. It reminds me of Passion Pitt and The Naked and Famous.
Nothing special. Lead singer has a nice voice.
some uplifting tracks, not really meant for me
Again...this was perfectly fine. But not anything that blew me away.
Bubblegum pop. Innocuous enough.
Some good. Voice gets annoying
Fun synth-inspired pop! Love the production on it, a cool record
Thinking Coldplay and Zell Goulding and 80s synth, like the vibe but all the songs started to sound the same
I liked this album. It’s very pop rock, but I liked it cause it has the tinge of indie rock. The singer has a great voice and the music is great. I feel like it was alittle bloated. Like a lot of the songs were a lot of the same, which I makes the album feel longer. I did like that they had two singers, which adds some nice variety, however the female singer was still the stand out star of the album. I would definitely say that I enjoy it, but I wasn’t blown away to the point of looking into their other work. However on the plus side, if I saw this album on sale I’d have a hard time not buying it. Overall a strong 3.
I was not expecting to like it, but I did. It's forgettable but enjoyable for a listening session. I can see some characteristics that I really enjoy in other artists like The Weeknd, which may have helped me to enjoy it.
Yllättävän hyvä! Ajattelin etten tykkäis mutta tästähän kuoriutui aika jalan alle menevä poppilevy! Kyllä tälle antaa 3 bongoo mutta melkein tekis mieli antaa 4. Ehkei sentään. Tykkäsin kyl! 3/5
Menevä moderni synapoppislevy. Kolmosen ja nelosen välissä, mut ehkä kolmoseen jää.
an album after 2005? :O I thought that is when the book ended, now I’m curious what was added… GREAT synths and melodies 80s synthpop I think despite coming out in 2013 7/10
Really fun 80s-inspired synth pop with a few more futuristic elements as well. It’s a really confident debut with great vocals (at least from Mayberry - the male vocalist sounds a bit too much like Chris Martin for me, sorry) and with standout tracks The Mother We Share and Science/Visions. For whatever reason they’ve just never fully clicked with me - I like all the individual elements but just don’t get that much out of the album as a whole
Enjoyable enough pop music. Only knew the first song but thought the rest of the album was just fine
voihn nenä. ei kyllä ole ikääntynyt tämä kokoelma ollenkaan ja vain 10 vuotta vanha.. varsinkin kun samaan aikaan tehtiin aivan riemukasta elegtronisda danssi musiiggia jossa vogaaleja jota voi tänäänkin kuunnella. tämä vähän milleniaali soopaa.. you broke my heart, but i dont give a FUCK.. (oltiin ainoo sukupolvi joka ymmärsi) (ehk ainoot jotka v*ttu tajusi miten tää elämä menee) (meit ei hitto kiinnostanu, oltiin ehk ainoit jotka oli tälläsii) you took my soul, and i dont give a fucking FUCK! bum tsa bum bam bum tsabum.. oli hyviäkin biisejä tether
Der Sound ist ganz cool aber auf Album Länge eintönig
Nice album for fans of synthpop, which I’m not. However, there are a few nice songs. My favorites: The Mother We Share (absolute banger!) Gun Lungs
Good for synth pop but goes on too long
Mostly decent, but can get boring here and there. Song meanings are really pretty vague as well. 6/10
Indietronica. Much prefer this to dance/trance style electronic music.
Tooth synthesizer based albums in three days was a little bit too much. And I really didn’t like this gal‘s voice either. I didn’t see anything real special about this at all. That would include it on this list.
Liked this more than nice thought I would bit not enough for 4stars. Solid effort that's just a bit too poppy
I had never heard of this band before. I was curious. A Scottish electronica/pop band. The best thing I can say about the music is that it played in the background without being too distracting. I wasn't interested in the album. I don't need to and probably won't listen to it again. 3/5
After the first couple songs this album seemed like it would be right up my alley, but most songs ended up not being super memorable. I enjoyed the overall vibe and appreciated the vocals, but it felt like maybe it was too frontloaded since I found myself not paying attention after the first 10 minutes. Favorite song was: 1. The Mother We Share 6/10
Churches came out at the same time as two other similar groups: of Monsters and Men and the Naked and a Famous. I enjoyed all three as each had their own flair, Chvrches being more Depeche-Mode-influenced with its techno-pop sensibilities. I think the market for this sounds became oversaturated and I didn’t return to them, which is a shame. We Sink is great song among great songs that gives a feeling of hopeful flight. This is a solid contribution to the musical world.
The Mother We Share is a top notch track and easily my favorite. The rest of the album is good but not nearly as memorable as that first track. (Side note: The Mother We Share would have been an awesome track for the show Orphan Black, IYKYK). I actually own this album on CD. I don't particularly remember buying the album but this had to be one of the last proper CDs I bought. I would have thought I would have loved this album more but apparently not.
Mid
Kuulostaa tunteella tehdyltä. Sanoituksissa on ytyä. 2010-luvun kylmä kolina kuulostaa vähän vieraalta, kaipaisin lämpöä. Muutamia mitäänsanomattomampia täytebiisejä eikä mikään ole sellainen korvamato, johon bändillä ois mahdollisuus. Bonusbiisit oli melkeinpä parhaita.
uen sonido pero flojas canciones.
Hilarious that this pops up right after the xx because this is basically the same review. This album came out of the gate hard, then I forgot about it, and re-listening, well, its transportive but it's not great and it's also not something you have to listen to before you die. Their cover Prince's "I Would Die 4 U" is pretty good, though. Not on this album.
Eu gostei
Again, good, but how is this one of the best albums?
Lots of the same, but enjoyable overall.
Pretty good! I know them from a Kojima game
This was pretty good - cool to see some newer acts in this list.
Not bad.
I like synths, I like indie-pop, and I like Scotland, so why don’t I like this? I was optimistic after the first song ‘The Mother We Share’ which is really great but every subsequent song until track 9 ‘Science/Vision’ is basically forgettable. The sound is like a mash up of Tegan and Sara / Purity Ring but doesn’t have the former’s quirky charm or the latter’s ethereal beauty and sense of melody. The production is 1980s era drum machines and synths and 2010’s era Ableton vocal glitches, overall decently produced and mixed. The music however is safe, diatonic, and utterly predictable, devoid of any musical complexity whatsoever. Lauren Mayberry’s voice is cute but kind of one dimensional and her melodies are mostly uninteresting. There’s a guy that sings a couple songs and he really shouldn’t. One of the tracks called ‘Under The Tide’ might be a contender for the most boring song ever released on a major label. Outside of 3 or 4 good tracks most of this album sounds like filler. 2.5/5 will bump up to a 3.
Synth pop maxes out at 3 stars for me
Iiiiiittttt'ssssss ffffffiiiiiinnnnnne. Essential? Hmph.
Didn't listen to the bonus tracks. Like a massive lemon meringue it started nice but I was sick at the end
This album did not blow me away. Seemed pretty mid-tier electropop without any standout tracks for my taste. Decent sound, wish I enjoyed it more than I did.
Lots of synth and melody. Dreamy style in 2013
Soundtrack of my daughter's lyrical class...
Ok
LVRCHES.
you kids get off my lawn!
After a Pet Shop Boys album earlier this week, I said synth-pop had no place in my music library. That was before I was reminded of the 80s-influenced synth-pop revival of just a few years ago. Chvrches isn’t terrible - in fact, I found “The Mother we Share” quite likable. So now there’s a small space in my library for some synth pop. I hope those fans feel better.
If I was a teenage girl, I bet I would love this. But I'm not and I don't. She does have a lovely voice, though.
Was probably relevant at the time, but has probably been copied too many times since then.
I really wanted to like this. It seems so much like an album I would love, but something just wasn’t clicking. It was too bubble gum pop at moments and too mellow at others. I like The Mother We Share.
Back in the early to mid 2000s, when music was a desolate wasteland of miserable tripe, there was a phenomenon called "Internet radio". One of the very best of these experiments was a "station" called Global Pop Conspiracy. GPC radio would play a genuinely very good mix of lowfi and synth covers, often veering into no-label, bedroom produced stuff. And this is kind of what this sounds like - except half a decade later and without enough of the quirky earnestness that GPC staples had. It's got a bit of tryhardism to it that really doesn't quite tesselate with the innocent poppiness it strives for. What it does do is fit right into the set of millennials who suffered the tryhardism of early-mid 2000s "serious" music and the vapid, cynical, pop-by- numbers tosh they grew up with. In that context they're alright. In a wider view, they're just kinda meh.
Serviceable synth pop.
3/5
This was good. An easy 3*, maybe just touching 4 ?
That's not my taste in musik. But ok.
Just not my thing. A bit repetitive.
A bit too samey which is great if you like it.
J'ai bien aimé le début, mais plus l'album avançait, plus je trouvais ça correct. C'est loin d'être mauvais, mais je voyais trop de ressemblance avec d'autres actes similaires ou de la même époque. 6/10
Vocals a little too saccharine a lot of the time for my taste. And all a little bit poppy. However, I do enjoy a synthy vibe! Lies (amazing) is a great track, as is You Caught the Light. So, an extra star for each of these.
I saw these years ago on Jools and at Glastonbury and always liked them. Love the synths. If Clare Grogan fronted The Human League instead of Phil Oakey they'd sound a bit like this! 'The Mother We Share' is a spectacular opener, especially cranked up loud. The closing track 'You Caught The Light' is superb too, a dreamy move into Mogwai territory, I love it. Everything inbetween is good listening but with few other stand out tracks which is a bit disappointing. Maybe with more listens it will grow on me, I do think they are very cool.
CHVRCHES are a band where I've known their popular songs for years but I've never really delved into them. This is a really solid album but I do kind of think there are better similar bands from the past 15 years. Also always good to hear a song that I know from Fifa years ago. Fav tracks: The Mother We Share, We Sink, Lies
There were a couple of legitimately great songs on this album but I think it got watered down by a lot of similar-sounding songs.
While I'm a fan of the writing and the melodies, I really dislike the overly shiny production side of things. 3/5
There sure is some chipper, spazzy stuff going on here that's a bit too frantic for my liking, but taking it at face value, this collection is pretty effective for what it's trying to do. I'm more interested in the tracks that accomplish a more refined palette such as "Science/Visions" with it's melody defined by driving rhythms. It kind of feels like they can't decide between their darker aesthetics and their bubbly pre-teen hooks, which, to be fair, are both cool and all but feel often at odds. It reminds me of M83 and other bands of the era and approach. By using edgey language and visual imagery, big choruses contrasted by spacious synthwork, they are able to take small emotions to epic proportions. Very well made but not sure I'll be needing it anytime soon.
Overall, this is a pretty decent modern synthpop album. It features some really catchy, heavy analog basslines and is very smooth, polished, and highly produced. This definitely appeals to a modern mainstream EDM audience. If anything, my biggest gripe is that it’s so polished and highly produced. I prefer my synthpop to be more raw, with more texture, not such a smooth feel. But considering it came out in 2013, thank god it’s not a dubstep album.
Yesterday I said that I didn't remember the last time I gave less than 4 stars to an album here on this site. Me and my big mouth! I don't really like Synth Pop, at least not as a form of entertainment in itself. It works more for me as a background for anything else I'm doing, especially in the early hours of the morning. So as not to seem like I'm voting solely in the name of my personal taste, I want to highlight that the synthesized vocals and all this plasticized production are not a positive point in the slightest. In fact, it can even be boring and tiring to listen to. But like I said, it works well as a background and I'll probably use these songs on my Minecraft nights!
Nice to have something a bit more contemporary ( only ten years old !). Plenty of good uplifting synth pop songs, perhaps a bit too long an album though . Definitely good enough to make me check out their other albums :) 3.5, nearly 4.
Basic mid ‘10s indie boy-girl band fare. I like the synth, don’t mind the vocals, but nothing stuck. It okay.
Not typically a genre I listed to or appreciate, but I really like this one. Lots of buttery synth, great vocals, and some dope vibes. I was impressed.
It’s aight, a little middle/high school
Si bien la última pieza me ha taladrado la cabeza por repetición, el resto del disco me parece que tiene en general un hilo conductor claro, es bonito y relajante de escuchar, aunque no he visto anda llamativo ni especialmente destacable.
This wasn’t bad at all. I enjoyed it, but caught myself tuning out by the end.
Torn as to whether this deserves 2* or 5*. On the one hand I like the 80s throwback. On the other hand I think it sounds better than a lot of music back then purely because of improvements in technology, and is completely unoriginal. On the one hand I find the voice captivating, on the other it grates after about 5 songs and the lyrics seem pretty shallow. Not sure where to place this. I think a few songs are good in isolation. I enjoyed Under the Tide being a break from her voice. I'll tentatively give this a three but will put it on my list of things to listen to again.
A Scottish Synth 2013 Synth album…first reaction was this could be an 80’s album. Definitely influenced by the years between 1970 & 1990. Liked what I heard but I’m not going to this church anytime soon.
Tell nd if a techno light
I feel a little bad rating this because it is kind of not my thing. A little too dreamy & synthy. But I feel like I would be able to appreciate the production with some good headphones. Since I'm at work and listening in 1 earbud. I would give this one a second chance.
enjoyed the first half but i think it ended up getting a little stale 3.5
Synth pop. Some parts sound very 80’s. Some parts remind me of Ellie Goulding. It was fun easy listening but nothing special.
could i write poetry to this? n
Enjoyed this more than I thought
Above average modern synth pop album.
Solid 3.5 for me. I love the new wave of synth-pop.
3.5/5
Did I hate this? No. Did I enjoy this? Also no. I think I'm firmly not in the target demographic for this
if someone asked me to give them a recommendation afte listening to Depeche Mode and LCD this is probably what I would send them. Lots of synths and melodies, it's fun but can sound a bit the same the more you listen to it
Not bad.
I gave it a chance and it's good. I liked the live tracks in the extended remastered edition the most. I wish they could capture this live sound and not rely on overproduced studio sound.
Higher register voices get to me after while I think I like this music better as singles
I wasn't expecting this noveau synth pop, it was pretty cool. I liked the vocals, there weren't as much auto-tune as I expected. The keyboards were... supposed to be overwhelming (duh... where are the guitars?). I liked that the males also had a chance to sing lead. Top tracks: "The Mother We Share," "Under The Tide," "You Caught The Light"
Not sure what the big deal is. At best it's standard synth-pop fare. At worst it's too pop, too synth. Not awful but certainly not great. Like the 80's all over again, everything sounds fake. Really good synth feels like the music is more real. Decent vocals but paired with the synth it almost sounds overdone or overproduced. The Mother We Share and We Sink made for a good start but the rest didn't quite keep it up. I prefer earlier synth pop groups/albums like The Naked and Famous/Passive Me, Aggressive You or Metric/Fantasies.
Not for me.
Not bad not great. I've heard from some in my network that they love this band, but so far they've yet to really grab me. The album depends heavily on whether you like the vocals. I find them a bit weak, monotone and high pitched. The accompanying music wants to be synthpop almost, but isn't anywhere close to the good stuff.
Th variety I needed I debated a 4
Entertaining. A bit monotonous. Kinda doubt this is one of the 1000 best albums ever made.
68/100
Not bad but nothing spectacular.
Good example of electronic indie music; I don't really care for it.
Ok. Don’t hate it. Can’t say I’d listen to the whole thing a lot, but it’s fine.
This album isnt bad, but its just not doing anything for me. Breathy vocals and urgent synths can sometimes be my jam, but this isnt grabbing me. 3/5
3.5
Pleasant synth pop with a smattering of casual swearing
There's more depth to this album than I would have expected. The songs are really tight for a first release.
Liked it more because it was different than so many of the last ones.
Didn’t know this one from Adam. Enjoyed the majority of it. I could see me listening to this again some day. Especially while doing yard work like this time.
very different, somewhat enjoyable
Flashbacks of fifa 14
synth pop dance sound that is somewhat a throwback. doesn't quite reach me.
Ultimately, the next big thing level was probably prematurely taken out of the protective case.
I mean, ok, sure.
I feel like Chvrches is a bit worse M83, but without great songs, only with those average ones. The vocalist is pretty good, but none of the songs hooked me in, it was just a pretty good background noise. I might listen to it again, but I wouldn't do it on purpose, I guess.
Enjoyed this and didn’t know they were Scottish - tether was my favourite tune
Entertaining and easily digestible synth pop.
Sometimes it's nice to get a straightforward minimalist pop album. There's a granular quality to the sound that I really liked. The album is loaded with singles, most of which are pretty strong. As a full album, it does drag a bit from lack of variety but there's enough on here to enjoy.
seems a little teeny boppy, but i enjoy the beats/music
I enjoyed the songwriting more than any other electronica I have listened to and this might be a 3.5, but going with a:
Yllätyin kuinka paljon jaksoi digailla tätä levyä. Kuuntelin kolme kertaa läpi ja vielä kertaalleen seuraavana päivänä. En osaa sanoa miksi, mutta tykkäsinpä kuitenkin.
Ihan positiivinen uutuus.
It was ok Not my cup of tea but I did enjoy some songs.
It's alright
I liked it. Different
Meh
interesting album, would have liked it a bit more edgy, but certainly better than a lot of other albums on this list.
i got bored 15 minutes in. the mother we share has a little spark of something.
Decent
Bright and uplifting. Never listened to them really. Not essential, but it's all good modern pop and a fun listen, I have to give that to them. I'd probably still reach for M83 or Sky Ferreira if I wanted to hear this updated 80s sound which abounded particular in the '10s, but I like a lot of this too. I stuck Saturdays=Youth on afterwards for the first time in yonks, and had a lovely old time. So thanks for that. Faves - We Sink, Tether, Science/vision
I found this to be well done and solid synth pop it’s not something I would go back and listen to again. It doesn’t lead anywhere for me.
I listened to this twice because I felt like I didn’t give it a fair shake the first time while I was driving. There’s a few on here I liked, but having listened to a lot of recent CHVRCHES but not this, id say they were discovering who they are. I’m really happy this is on here but I’d also trade this for another of their albums if it’s the only one we are getting.
Good surprise!
I’m glad to see this album on the list. I once bought what I thought were tickets to see the group in NYC, and it turns out when we got to the venue, the concert was actually a “CHVRCHES DJ set” despite what the tickets said. Well… the DJ didn’t even play ANY CHVRCHES, so I don’t know what the fuck we bought or what I even went to see. Had a reasonably good time, but this album is definitely better than the DJ set which definitely wasn’t CHVRCHES.
Was there a lot of repetition? Yes. Did it change each song? Kind of. Was her voice good? Yes. Was it good? Yes and no that’s why it’s a three. It is neither good or bad
frekar gott gáfumannapopp. rafskotið. á aðra skilið. 3,5.
I had this on my iPhone in 2012 during a summer in NYC as a sophomore. Just sounds to me like, exciting times, big city! It was very in the air at the time. Everything was starting to have this 80’s synthpop / M83 sheen to it. This must have been one of the albums that I mistakenly downloaded only half of the songs, because I know half of the songs super well, and the other half are unfamiliar. Which leaves us with a natural experiment: do the ones that I randomly didn’t have downloaded, and now get to hear with fresh ears in 2024, give me as much of a boost as the ones laced with nostalgia, romanticism, young college love? The answer is no. No, I think the other “new” songs to me are kind of lame and not interesting. So that should tell me something, but in spite of that still have a vague fondness for this! So I’ll go 3. By no means as earth-shattering as those first few singles promised, but still a pretty good time. 3/5
Decent listen
Int riktigt min juttu men helt bra
Pretty chill synth pop, really enjoyed the leads vocals it led this album pretty heavily. 3.0
Lots of 'catchy' pop hooks. Like the female's lead voice. Maybe a bit Synth-heavy for my tastes but still enjoyed listening to this album
Some serious teen drama vibes here. At times I could have been listening to Charlie XCX. Quite twee at times but perfectly harmless. Tether is the one that sticks with me - or tied me up, maybe.
One of the radio stations I listen to played the shit out of the song ‘The mother we share’ when it first came out. I never got sick of it. The rest of the album is equally unobjectionable. Very polished production and catchy pop tunes.
Given the name (and styling of that name), I was not expecting this kind of music. I guess I expected something harder, darker. Having said that, this was fine, though nothing really stuck with me.
Didn't love. Didn't hate. The synth stuff sounded elementary and lacked the sophistication I hear from Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, etc.
Good synth pop album. didn't strike me as spectacular but maybe just caught me on the wrong day.
This was good! Never listened to this group before but I liked it, great melodies and production.
Pop, synth, Scandinavian, she can't sing
Shovldn't the songs be named, Gvns, Vnder the Table, Lvngs, and Yov Cavght the Light? I keep thinking of Haley Williams.
Eingängiger Pop, absolut radiotauglich, wieso habe ich nie zuvor davon gehört? Vielleicht höre ich die falschen Sender? Nur die Stimme der Sängerin ist mir zu kleinmädchenhaft.
2,5
Enjoyable background
Wasn’t at all sure what to expect and it’s a real mix. Some poppy, some more alternative. Liked it and might even listen to it again.
Je ne m'attendais pas à ça. Si j'avais écouté un très court extrait, j'aurais plutôt associé la voix de la chanteuse à une gagnante d'un quelconque télé-crochet pour ados. Mais c'est pas mal.
Bitvis intressant men ...
I didn't find anything special about this album, for me it felt like every song that would be a classic of the 2010 but with no "personality". It's not a bad album, i expected a bit more.
It’s fine, it’s not great, and in fact is neither good nor bad, it’s just….okay. At least it didn’t make me feel angry, but nor did it make me feel anything positive. It’s just ….there.
I started interested but it faded int background pretty quick.
not bad
It was fine. Nothing terribly interesting or terribly annoying.
Didn't really like the style and didn't like her voice.
3/5 good but not enough
Quite boring synth music. Doesn't really get me.
Okay to listen to but nothing really sticks
Doesn’t do it for me
Oh man "The Mother We Share" was such a college song for me and my friends. Listening now, 11 years post release and it's still a banger. The chorus is infectious, Lauren Mayberry's voice is so endearing and cute? and also soars above the synths under it. I melt a little bit when her Scottish accent cuts through like on the lyric "proud". The downside of the song is that it feels like compositionally it's just moving towards the chorus and whenever it's not the chorus, there's a gravitational pull that grabs everything and tugs it closer and closer to it. I don't really blame them, because that part is so good, but it feels like all of the non-chorus sections are super short, and they don't provide enough tension for me to crave a resolution. The rest of the album is definitely listenable and even enjoyable, but I can't help but feel a contrast between that song and the rest of the album. I kind of feel like the band knew this too as they put that song as track 1. I think part of my issue with the album is that there's not enough different sounds throughout. The synths are all pretty similar sounds/patches and when they change things up, it's usually to add space in the form of reverb, or to change a function like add an arpeggiator. I've had this idea in my head that I came across in a Pearl Jam interview years back where someone in the band said that after they record a song for an album, they tend to turn all of the knobs on the amps, change the amps, change the guitars, and move the mics around just as a reset. It makes it so that every song sounds different and has it's own sound, it's own sort of vibe. Since I heard that I tend to look for it in albums but it's a double edged sword because now I hear an album like this and I can't help but be a little let down that the songs are all TOO consistent and close. Which is unfortunate, because when writing with synths there is such a smorgasbord of instruments out there. Even by decade there are so many variations of the same instrument that have their own quirks and sounds and it's a super fun space to work with, but I don't hear it here. Here, I hear a "yea that synth worked well on tracks 1-6, let's load it up again for track 7". Regardless, it's a good album, but kind of middle of the road for this list (or more specifically, for my personal 1001 list).
A very hypnotic electonica with feminine vocals that provide a good musicbed for study and focused work.
This is a really cool sound - have heard the first track at least before without knowing who did it or where it came from. It's got great energy, her voice isn't the best ever but it's notable, but the thing that brings it down is that there's only one trick to it, so it gets quite samey. Keen to hear more of what they've done to see if the sound has evolved at all. 3/5 for this one, but a lot of potential.
It’s got good energy, the Mother We Share is such a great track and the album itself is electro pop goodness. The highs are highs but there are some lulls. Mayberry’s vocals are crisp and meld with the electronic tones well. It starts really strong and ends up feeling long and isn’t as consistent as I recall from when I fist listened. The good songs are very strong though and there’s enough strength in those tunes to make this a good album overall. 3.5 stars
Pleasant listen. Nothing really stood out, can’t remember any hooks. Kind of wallpaper music.
It went on a little too long, but it's good overall and there's some real bangers
Look, I listened to this album a TON when it came out, and it's no longer fun for me. That being said, it's not *bad* but it's got that quality where It Feels Like All The Lyrics Are Capitalized and that bugs me. Lungs was my favorite song at the time, but really enjoyed You Caught The Light this time around
Pretty
The airline food of music. It's perfectly fine and neatly packaged. The perfect accompaniment to gazing vacantly out of a little window as the distant world drifts by. But it doesn't stand up to a comparison with the real thing with your feet on the ground.
I was surprised by this one. I enjoyed listening to all the songs but none of them really jumped out as amazing or anything like that.
Stand out track for me: Recover
Familiar with this album and seen them live. That being said, I think I appreciate what they're doing more than I am enjoying it at times. I'll probably go back to get more of the electronic textures. Listened while driving around with Mia so I wasn't listening as close as usual. Still had a lot of tracks that just grabbed me, but also quite a few I couldn't really hone in on.
TMWS is an absolute banger - but in my opinion, is held down by the rest of the album. I can absolutely imagine the person this would appeal to, but it wasn't hitting for me. Shame, because again, I really love TMWS.
Hört sich an wie ein Synthpop Vorläufer von Taylor Swift. Hat zwar nicht weh getan das anzuhören, war aber auch nicht bereichernd. Komplett austauschbar. 2,7.
Interesting
Sort of boring, sorry :')
this album was alright. it had its moments, although i do think it was a bit samey to its detriment. pleasant enough indie synthpop, but not anything to write home about for me.
"Facebook brings you Your Year in Review 2013"-type music. I can't take this shit seriously, man. All I can imagine while listening to this is a slideshow of images of a middle-aged woman on the beach with animated transitions between pictures. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Actually a really fitting final album for the year. Weird to think about how 2024 will be my last year on this site - only 349 days until the finish line!
I like this but I don't think its particularly memorable. By The Throat is the best song here - it sounds like Let's Eat Grandma (though this came first)
ok. some nice dance tracks but nothing ground breaking for me.
This sounds like it would have been really popular in 2013, but has not aged well. These fake deeps lyrics and melodramatic synth sounds just don’t do it for me. It has its place and it isn’t awful. I think this singer sounds like a child. Also, it doesn’t even reach 50 minutes, but it still feels so long. 3/5
Very 80s, very tuneful, very emotional - it hits some of the right spots but not all of them. A solid effort though.
Música alegre y dinámica. Pop con toques de baile. Electrónica continua. Temas un tanto parecidos entre sí
so pop but it was eh
If someone played this and said it was Taylor Swift, I would have believed it. Granted I know very little of her music, but I think it’s similar type of synth pop right? Anyway it’s not my genre, but it wasn’t bad. I preferred the female lead songs to the couple with the dude.
one of these bands I've known of the past few years and definitely heard many times on the radio but never sought out. The first track had me thinking "oh this has some cool 80s vibes" which was immediately backed up in by the spotify bio. But the bio also calls out that mash up of a Depeche Mode/New Order sound with EDM-influenced sounds and it's that really poppy, EDM sound that put me off through much of the album. I'm definitely conflicted on this one. At one moment I'd be really enjoying and a couple minutes later I'd be thinking "why am I listening to this shit?"
Everyone knows the first one and that always creates an expectation for the rest of the album. Of which mine were exceeded with this dream-pop debut. The synth style mixed with a little new age phase beat is a nice mix. I like several songs and wouldn’t mind listening them again.
I was quite intrigued from the art, and I did quite like the first couple of songs, but then the subsequent songs all kinda sounded the same.
The Bones of What You Believe is the debut album by Scottish synth-pop band Chvrches. This indie pop/synth-pop album received critical acclaim for its songwriting and vocals. The album charted around the world, but it has only been certified gold in the UK. This was a good album of great songs that have a mix of pop and electronica. There's not much to dislike about this album, and you'll find new things to love on multiple listens. Now I need to listen to more CHVRCHES albums.
Overall inoffensive listen, but I just don't think this style is for me. Vocals and synths sounded nice. 5.9/10 Fav song - Lungs, (The Mother We Share was a close second)
Have not heard of this band so I was really excited to dive in! I ended liking it but it didnt really have a standout tracks for me. Will check out their discog tho!
The Mother We Share may be my favorite Chvrches song, and the band is always of quality, but a lot of the album tracks here are a bit more throwaway (not Science/Visions though). It's good, but I prefer Every Open Eye. 7/10
great album lots of party bangers
Not my style but it had some good songs.
Strong Pop with a tech feel. Haven't heard of them before.
Pop
Big up Scotland
Lose a point for their spelling mistake.
Solid modern album
Wat een stel gladjakkers, die typo-churches! Maar echt slecht was het ook zeker niet.
Boven verwachting ok dit plaatje. Lekker poppy, lekker glad, maar heel catchy.
Die stem van die dame lijkt op die van een andere dame. Taylor swift misschien? Enfin, best ok, maar ook nogal bubble gum.
A boisterous 80s inspired synth album but despite the intensity of lyrics it feels like it carries very little weight and flakes away once you’ve listened to it.
Me gusta este disco. Las influencias ochenteras se dejan sentir. Me sorprendió que la canción que más me gusta no fuese un single. Night Sky.
Blije zuurstoktechno, je moet ervoor in de stemming zijn. Ben ik niet altijd.
Een plaat met een knipoog naar de jaren '80 en '90. Al zijn de klanken wat voller. Het is niet bijster goed gezongen, maar daar lijkt het niet zo om te draaien. Het is gewoon wat catchy muziek voor op de achtergrond. Prima om bij te werken.
Nice. Not too bad. Listenable pop
Not bad. Not my bag either, but didn't hate it.
This is very 2013. I probably would have enjoyed listening to this on the radio at the time.
I'm not sure why I was surprised this had vocals, but I liked it!
Synth pop with lots of hooks. It's superior pop, but instantly forgettable. This means nothing to me.
5/10. Felt a bit like I was drowning in an endless sea of synthesizers. But, I liked the dreamy sounding lyrics.
Aunque he escuchado a CHVURCHES ocasionalmente nunca me he parado a oír un disco completo. No está mal, me ha gustado "Recover", "The mother we share", "Night Sky" y "Lungs". Creo que está bien como regreso del sonido pop de sintetizadores de los 80. Interesante.
I loved this album in in it's day. It holds up but isn't one I'd have on high rotation
This isn't my thing, but I didn't hate it. Upbeat, good mood music, but kind of too much to listen to all at once.
Enjoyed this one.
Definitely a lot of fun. It evokes a familiar feeling from the early twenty teens, when I still listened to Alt-Nation on satellite radio. If bands like Beach House are considered dream-pop, this feels more awake. I don’t love it, but it is absolutely danceable and there are a few songs that I love.
Fun music but not special. Music and her voice sounds bit like Cardigans singer, but prefer Cardigans any time.
Okay
I like all the synthesis sounds going on in the background and I can objectively say they are a "good" band making synth-pop that isn't super boring. However it's a bit too "bubble-gum pop" for my sensibilities. Definitely have seen videos of them in the studio on synths and I can respect that though.
Love The Mother We Share and a couple of other songs.
Good. Scottish Synth-pop.
Delightful.
It's not a bad album, but I've listened three times and can't really get into it. Nice pop synth, but I find myself not really listening to each song.
B- The Mother We Share 4 We Sink 3 Gun 2 Tether 3 Lies 4 Under the Tide 2 Recover 3 Night Sky 2 Science/Visions 4 Lungs 2 By the Throat 4 You Caught the Light 3 This was pretty good, if not unflattering/annoying at points. Overall, it was a good bit of fun and unique from the vast majority of Jenny, so I kind of liked it.
Probably one of the most influential albums of the past decade. Electropop was big at the time, and this album started incorporating heavy atmospheric 80s synths you'd hear in scifi movies. With the ease of creating these effects at your laptop, I can hear the influence of the synths and vocals in pretty much every indie pop band to come. Of course, 95% of those guys are uninnovative commercial trash some lame batista may put on in their cafe part of their "carefully designed" playlists. But this is that kind of music done right. I'm actually not a big fan of the vocals. There are two types of singing I hear both vocalists singing. The slower, deeper style is very drone-like that's been prominent in lots of pop music in the past 10 years, and I hear it in pop-adjacent genres like emo rap. The other is a preppy, fast singing that's bright and cheerful and has been around since the early 2000s, which makes the songs energetic and dancey. I think they work ok and match the synth styles well, but I get sick of it pretty quickly. This record isn't immune to weak tracks like "Under the Tide" or "By the Throat", but I think all their synth ideas work pretty well. There's a lot of repetition here, with most songs have the same synth lines for three quarters of the songs. And with how loud and bright they are, it gets exhausting. But it's not bad, just tiring. This even affects the hits. But it makes the moments when it deters from this a lot cooler.
BEST SONGS: -Science/Visions -You Caught the Light
-this band seems familiar -which would make sense because its a newer album -this song is cool so far -i am actually really enjoying this music -although it sounds a bit like tv/movie montage music -these songs are very bright and fun -idk if this is necessarily my thing tho -but i am enjoying this listen! so 3 stars
Well made, but not my cup of tea. 3/5
Not really my style but I liked a few songs. Overall not bad.
It's fun and I really like the first two songs but I don't think I'd listen to the whole album again.
Synth Pop. Never heard this before. The band name is familiar but didn't know any of the songs going in. Overall, I was very favorable. I think with more listens it will only get better. Standout: The Mother We Share. Singles: ---------------------------------------- The Mother We Share (US ALT #12, UK #38) Recover (#91 UK) Gun (#55 UK) Lies (#105 UK) We Sink Under the Tide Tether Pretty good. 3/5
surprisingly good. liked a couple songs and added them to playlists. synths got a little repetitive but still I did not expect to like this as much as I did
First time hearing Chvrches so I wasn't sure what to expect and it turned out better than I expected. Played nicely in the background, nothing really stands out for me, but at the same time there was nothing I didn't dislike. Not a fan of synth-pop, so I probably won't listen to more, but I could do a whole lot worse.
I'd like to give this one another listen, I think it has some potential.
Nice background music. Was never disappointed in what I was hearing but not sure I’ll be quick to re-listen.
Quite catchy synthpop/electronica album with very clean production (that reminds me of some 80s albums). My issue is with synth pop that I find few songs listenable, but a whole album with 12 songs is too much and the songs really drag by the end. Overall it's OK but it's not an album that I would relisten again soon.