The Bones Of What You Believe

This was painful, I have nothing redeeming to say. It was just… toothache inducing vocals with synths that I couldn’t care less about. Plus simply too long of an album. Season: 2012 Favorite Song: Tether

My favorite thing about the generator is the musical diversity it exposes me to. But in a world where we’re fine leaving Jets players out of the pro bowl, we sure as shit don’t need representation from whatever the fuck this genre is. This is horrific. This makes me pine for the Fleet Foxes

Not my style

Another one that makes me question it's inclusion. What on earth is this supposed to be giving us that we haven't heard a hundred times before? At worst it's generic, over-produced pop music. At best (being generous) it's like a fusion of 80's synth pop and Alanis Morisette. Music for people who like 80's pop but don't want to listen to "old music".

This is tough to get through. The longer it goes the more I hate it Will I listen to again: 0%

Millennials ahoy

Just not for me

Niet mijn stijl

I did not like the lead singers voice. It didn’t sit right with me

not my jam.

I would rather sit through Cats twice than listen to this again.

- .... to quote Neil in The Young Ones ... "BORING. BORED, BORED, BORED! ... 1.5 rounded down because it's so completely, boringly derivative. -

Tycker inte det är så jäääävla dåligt egentligen, är väl peppig helt ok pop! Men helt sjukt att det här albumet är med på listan då jag inte tycker det uppfyller några som helst kriterier för att vara det. En etta i protest.

Hade riktigt svårt för det här, speciellt rösten. Bubblegums-pop blandat med helt okej synth typ. Uuh

Grating

So so bad, how this is on the list I don't know

Oh goody, another chance to slag off the 2000s. I’m no fan of 80s synth pop, but at least the best songs were catchy. What the bejesus this more contemporary version is supposed to bring to the world is beyond me. Are there any uplifting or good hooks in the lyrics and melodies? Nope. Any novel electronic sounds and beats or excitement whatsoever? Absolutely zero. I seem to recall these guys were considered ‘indie’ at the time. Seriously? What’s gone wrong with the kids in recent years, where’s the invention, so much ‘new’ music including pop is so effin ploddy and bland. Why do so many bands sound like something their parents would wholeheartedly approve of, that ain’t rock and roll is it?!?!

Not for me. Couldn’t get into it. Was very bored

Generic girl pop playing bad New Order covers on a cheap keyboard.

CHVRCHES’ The Bones of What You Believe is an astonishingly boring debut. The songs drift along in an almost identical synth-pop formula, with no tension, no surprises, and no real character. Everything sounds cleanly produced but as interchangeable as background music from a commercial. Lauren Mayberry’s voice is clear, but it does little to save the completely predictable hooks. In the end, it’s an album you forget immediately after listening — and that might honestly be the best thing about it. CHVRCHES’ The Bones of What You Believe ist ein erstaunlich langweiliges Debüt. Die Songs plätschern in nahezu identischer Synth-Pop-Formel dahin, ohne Spannung, ohne Überraschung, ohne echten Charakter. Alles klingt sauber produziert, aber austauschbar wie Hintergrundmusik aus einem Werbespot. Lauren Mayberrys Stimme ist zwar klar, trägt aber wenig zur Rettung der völlig vorhersehbaren Hooks bei. Unterm Strich: ein Album, das man nach dem Hören sofort wieder vergessen hat – und das ist vielleicht sogar das Beste daran.

Bland and overproduced pop does not have a place here.

Not that great

You can guarantee that as soon as the editors of this list heard in 2013 that a new synth pop album came out, despite it being 30 years past relevance, they had a joy aneurism and immediately kicked off some more deserving album. Starts off sounding like candy pop. Second song continues sounding like candy pop with more synth. As it goes on, the album kind of gives me the sense of some sort of millenial coming of age movie that bombed in theaters but 12 years olds say "Dad, you just don't get it. But our uncle Sven who grew up listening to 80s pop jams to it."

Bit cheesy and sweet for me. Mostly sounds like a decent for Eurovision entry in 2011.

Very skillfully crafted ultra poppy saccharine garbage. I got my hopes up several times, but was unable to make it all the way through a track.

Boring. Sounds like it was made with the idea of selling the songs to commercials and overly earnest mid budget indie movies. Did not finish.

Dette var en gruppe jeg hørte om en gang, da /mu/ hadde et kollektivt crush på vokalisten. Siden den gang, har jeg knapt nok hørt om denne gruppa. Etter å ha hørt skiva, er det god grunn til det. Dette er den type skive noen kommer til å grave frem fra glemmeboka om 20 år og si "woah, drøyt bra synthpop fra starten av millenniet -- underrated." Bare nei, dude, dette glemte vi med vilje. Noe ved denne skiva bare funker ikke for meg i det hele tatt. Jo lenger jeg hører på den, desto hardere trykker den på en eller annen nerve som irriterer meg. Er det for fake 80s? Er det fake sentimentalitet? Er det at den er dominert av synth-lyder som hverken er originale eller som rekontextualiserer presets man har hørt før? Eller er det en mismatch mellom vokalen og intstrumentalen? Sikkert litt av alt, men fordelingen blir jeg ikke helt klok på. Det kan hende jeg tar feil. Hvis indie pop fra rundt 2010 hadde en sound, så var det denne. En slags post-MGMT, new romantic synthpop med digitale synth leads og emosjonell vokal. Men når jeg tenker over det, tror jeg det nesten bare er vokalisten som tar musikken i en kontemporær retning, mens instrumentalen er 80s pastiche. Fortjener kanskje to stjerner, men nervene mine beslagla den andre.

Dette er det første ordentlige 2010 elektropop albumet vi får. Med vocal chops og hele pakka. Håper det ikke blir noe særlig mer av det. Dette orker jeg ikke

I've never listened to this album (21). Boring and bland. Mall music.

Definitely not my style at all. Very pop-y and repetitive. I think I could comfortably die without listening to this album

Nope. I can't do it. This is not the first time I've heard songs from this albvm, but it's the first time I've attempted to intentionally listen to any of it. It's really terrible. It combines the worst of '80s synth pop with the worst 2010s pop singing. I gave every song on the albvm a solid try. I listened to at least the first 30 seconds, and a random 30 seconds in the middle of each song. That's all I could manage. There were no songs that I could listen to straight throvgh. It's hard to tell if this shovld be one star or two stars. One Star seems kind of mean to this band that is probably nice people. Bvt it does fit my one-star criteria of never wanting to hear it again and actively going ovt of my way to make svre that happens.

The cover art is cool. I thought this would be something much different than it is. My bias against female pop vocals instantly took hold. The dude sucked too. But, ignoring that, the instrumentals are boring. To me they almost are something interesting, like an imitation of music I would be into. Instead I find it boring, repetitive, and my first 1 star.

I am not a fan of this album. First three songs and I was out. The electro drum beats and the overall feel of this album is really not my style.

No thanks, not a fan

Meh.

If you're substituting a V for a U in your band name, you better damn well be playing black metal. Awful, danceable, pop garbage. Fuck this.

Not for me

Almost nothing that makes me think oh that was interesting or I liked that. Like a very uninteresting m83. Sad thing is that I could totally see myself listening through this album fishing for new music to listen to. I’m deeply offended.

This is boring AF.

I did not use a private session on Spotify for this one. From the synth heavy opening chords, to the poppy sound I could tell from track band isn't for me. Generic poppy keyboard driven trash. Another album I could have died and not heard and been better off for it. The bonus tracks are what dropped it from a 2 star to a 1 star, I didn't need more of that crap.

Upbeat electronic beats with twee vocals and doom-laden lyrics. The combo of pop music mixed with morose themes has been done to shit by British bands. It's nothing new just because someone says they are 'witch house' or 'dream pop' or whatever shit this is. Purity Ring did something similar but at least made it sound new and artistic.

Ew, bland and generic. Did not finish this because it was so awful. 0/5 stars.

Extremely not for me, but Lauren Mayberry's vocals are very, very good.

1/5

I fucking hate this. I almost hate it more than I hate Radiohead.

The ugly result of real artists not being able to afford being in bands is you get these dead eyed trust fund kids sloshing cash about on slick gear and production who can’t produce a single worthy second and get released anyway because there is no viable alternative. I hate this.

Largo y bastante similar todas las canciones salvo algunas

Strašno, neslušljivo, nisam mogla. 1/5, 1/10

This is probably good if you're a 12-year-old girl. I'm not that.

I tried to listen but just can't handle pop music sorry kids

I don't like how wispy the vocals are, quite ephemeral (as in, doesn't stick in my mind, and forgettable). Just a bit too dull for me, forgettable synth-pop. Could be from last year, could be from 20 years ago.

I need to stop reading the description first so that I can hate an album first, then learn about it. If this is described as “a synth-pop and indie pop album that incorporates 1980s influences,” there’s no way I’m going to dig it. Drat. I was right. That was a very accurate description.

Sounds like AI generated video game music. I hate it.

Groupe inconnu. Et qui aurait dû le rester. Pop standard avec vraiment aucune originalité ni intérêt musical. Très répétitif, trop long, je n'ai pas pu aller au bout. Jamais plvs. =>1/5

SHIT WHAT. A WASTE OF A RIDE TO WORK I NEED TO GO TO CHURCH TO FUCKING WASH MYSELF OF A SIN THAT IS THIS ALBUM

Pareceu-me apenas uma tentativa de derivação preguiçosa do Cocteau Twins.

It starts off sounding like closing credit songs from a mediocre Disney movie and gets worse as the songwriting gives way to audio "written" and arranged by computer programmers and performed by computers churning out digital tones. It's the audio equivalent of watching a CGI screen saver. It promises wonder but delivers only vague spiritual confusion, alienation, and dread. I was pretty proud of myself for getting through six songs when I saw ITS A DOUBLE ALBUM!! It's 6:20 a.m. and I'm going back to Iron Maiden. Even first thing in the morning I prefer the animalism of satanic metal over this lifeless chamber of virtual sounds.

I hated this stuff in 2013 and still hate it now. Sounds like folding shirts at a Forever 21 ten years ago. This dogshit is what made me lose interest in modern indie and start getting more into older stuff and punk.

I think there does exist EDM/electronic pop that is profound or has something to say. This wasn't it.

DID NOT LISTEN - No good reviews, so Couldn't be bothered… Decided to listen to Troye Sivan instead

I'd guess there's a few scenes in direct-to-streaming movies where one of these songs hits just right. A pop album that makes no attempt to differentiate itself, barely any attempt to make the listener feel anything. Musically it might be about a 2. As a cultural marker it's something like sitting on the couch watching nostalgic Netflix, reminiscing, "remember when we used to think about pretending to try?". 1 star. hated. (⌐■_■)

Listening to Chvrches was not a religious experience.

Another modern take on 1980s synth-pop. Boring, uninspiring, and a waste of time.

Why do I remember liking this?

Bit odd and lax

1. mother - 1 2. zink - 1 3. gun - 1 4. tether - 1.5 5. liez - 1 6. tide - 1 7. recover - 1 8. night - 1 9. zcience - 1.5 10. lungz - 1.5 11. throat - 1 12. light - 1.5 13. hand - 1 14. bonez - 1.5 15. gun - 1 16. mother - 0

Pop halt

Utter rubbish

I thought I might like this more when I revisited it but I really didn’t. It’s insipid. Cannot work out how or why this would be rated.

Sorry but I'm not religiovs

nope no thanks

Per Wikipedia: 'Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club complimented Mayberry's songwriting and wrote that Chvrches "have crafted one of the year's best albums, which means that buzz won't be dying down any time soon." ' Well, it *did* die down. The more Chvrches released albums after this debut, the less the rave was noticeable. And so reviews for that cheesy synth pop band became less and less positive, until ten years later, virtually no one gives a rat's ass about their music. And truth be told, the latter was not even that extraordinary in that debut LP. Chvrches is, for all intents and purposes, a watered-down version of The Knife / Fever Ray, Baths or early Grimes, without the quirks or the creative spark that made the latter artful, mesmerizing or inspiring. With a different, more sophisticated chord sequence, cuts such as "Lies" or "Science/Visions" could have had some merits. Unfortunately, style *always* takes precedence over substance in *The Bones Of What You Believe*, a revealing title in the sense that there's zero "flesh" in this album. The result is the blandest harmonies and the most predictable vocal lines you can imagine this side of late-noughts / early 2010s "poptimism". Lauren Mayberry is not even that stellar a performer. Behind all the gloss, some of the vocals have their share of flaws and undercooked aspects. And for a record with such obvious commercial goals, such flaws are laughable at best. So including this record in a 1001 "essential albums" list only betrays how out of touch said list has become for the last two decades. Dimery and co. trying to stay "hip" during the 21st century mostly produced blunders of epic proportions. As is the case here. Incredible how this album aged fast. You can bet your boots the next time there will be an eighties resurgence, most listeners with a decent knowledge of music history will still dismiss Chvrches as a mere footnote about passing trends that don't matter in the long run (file under "poptimism", once again). Of course, that will take out Taylor Swift fans, who might see some sort of lineage between Chvrches and their idol's latest synth-pop "era". But are Taylor Swift fans *really* interested in music history? The jury's still out on this one... 1/5 for the purposes of this list. 6/10 for more general purposes (5 + 1) Number of albums left to review: 170 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 361 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 208 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 265 (including this one)

1.6 I ended up skipping part way through every song, that can't be good.

Too pop.

Scottish synth-pop, so I should like it but I rather prefer acts like the Knife, Fever Ray, Ladytron, Robyn etc. Would have gone for 2*, but the lyrics are bringing it down.

Beats me why this is on the list. The overall sound of the band is not that bad, but the vocals are quite annoying and the songs are extremely formulaic.

Someone discovered their grandma's synthesizers!

Will Never listen to that album anymore, really not interesting

how on earth did this make it on the list

obvs sounds like a parody of 2013 synthy indie pop. so incredibly samey and boring. feel like you had to be there to get it.

This over-produced and overblown sound is most of what I hated about 80s synth pop. Sadly more Howard Jones than The Human League. This has taken the generic bits of that style and ditched any of the rough edges that made it interesting.

Did not like this.

1 - I had heard of these guys but never listened to them, and was surprised to see them on the list. I was excited to see if I’d been missing out all this time…I had not. This album does not belong on this list. Every song sounded the same, there was nothing ground breaking in it. Against other albums in this list it lacks any maturity.

I tried, but I just cant 1

Get the fuck outta here with this

Meaningless background music that the radio plays on your way home at 9pm that makes you want to kill yourself

I am so wrong for this

Absolutely horrible. Couldn’t make it more than 3 songs without needing to grab the sick bucket

Very meh. I like 90s EDM and EDM influenced music better

1.5 Synth pop. Not for me.

Garbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaage

I tried so hard to escape this style of music when it was popular in the early 2010s. Now it comes back to haunt me.

No

trash

Tries to be poppy without being catchy, tries to be experimental without pushing the envelopes. In other words, it doesn't know what it's trying to be, and it still fails at it. Good night. 🦴

I just so wanted to like this band but it's just derivative trendy pop and it's just so so samey too. I'm sorry. But there I've said it. It's like they bought a load of 80s and 90s electro-pop records and thought "None of our potential fans will have ever heard of these great bands so lets copy them plus let's get an attractive lead singer too" then lo-and-behold people flocked from far and wide to pay homage.

Bastante flojito la verdad. Medio monotónico, podría haber sido un discazo de ruta, pero está todo en un nivel, nunca termina de bajar, nunca termina de subir. Buena producción y bases igual Sobra gomina

Too poppy and upbeat for me

No

Seriously why is this garbage on the list

not much happening, like at all, swear its the same song played on repeat for 50 mins feels like credit music for an animated film i would watch if i was 10 again

I'd rather listen to Lana Del Ray