Wonderful Rainbow

I was downloading this as I boarded a plane so I could listen on the flight. It barely completed downloading before the door was shut and we were on our way. Without internet I had no inkling of what it was I was about to listen to. Somewhere over Idaho around the third “song” the plane encountered rough turbulence. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was going to be the last album I hear. The thought started making me giggle. And as the cacophony continued in my headphones the plane bounced more intensely and drinks were spilled and I giggled harder and odd uncomfortable looks were coming my way. If only I could be playing this over the plane’s PA... a vision that turned my giggling into open laughter. If you’re reading this then it would seem I survived both the flight and listening to this album. I was on the verge of awarding this my second ever 1 star rating. Then again, it did manage to give my flight a mad tea party vibe. I also really love the album cover. “Wonderful Rainbow” is a great title against the soundscape it presents. No, this will not be joining my lowest rated album even though I likely will never make it through the whole album ever again.

You know that old saying that if you give an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, they will eventually write the complete works of Shakespeare? Well, in this case, they were given a drum kit, and a bass guitar. And the result was not Shakespeare.

A conversation from the mid-2000s: The White Stripes - "Ooooooo look how much noise we make with only two people." Death From Above 1979 - "But we make even more noise with two people so there!" Lightening Bolt - "Hold my pint..."

Ridiculously fun and energetic, a missing link between metal and dance. Like throwing a box of firecrackers into a bonfire. One of the best discoveries I've made here, I just wish I'd been into them at the time.

Incredible. It's like the rhythm is hanging on by a thread and they keep trying to cut it with a saw. Definitely best played loud, but it isn't just noise. There is real music in there. This is what I listen to this list for. Something completely new.

Alright, but that's enough of that.

Don't know what it says about me but I'm able to focus on task at while listening to this. I'll listen again along with the genre.

I lived in Providence in 2003-2004, just after this album was released. I had moved there from Lawrence, Kansas, a cozy college town, home to a healthy indie music scene. When I arrived in Providence though, I quickly realized the musical landscape was quite a bit different from what I was used to - mainly that it seemed to center around semi-secretive warehouse shows, which were mostly noise and metal acts. One of the main record stores in town, Armageddon Shop, even focused pretty much exclusively on those two genres, and they are still able to survive to this day doing just that! Shows you how hungry people are for extreme music in Providence. This is largely due to the presence of the Rhode Island School of Design attracting folks who think WAYYY outside the box. Many of the bands there started as more or less performance pieces, and they generally have a strong visual component as a part their show. Check out Lightning Bolt drummer and RISD alum Brian Chippendale's artwork, he is a full fledged artist and illustrator in his own right. His style seems to complement the music in that he fills every possible space with intricate, almost overwhelming, detail. He drew the album cover for example. So, not only did the Providence scene have a sound, there was also a strong visual aesthetic as well, which seemed to mirror the music; being hyper-busy mutations of pop culture. Lightning Bolt were definitely the vanguard of the scene, being one of the main forces behind the Fort Thunder collective, whose physical space was unfortunately shut down shortly before I arrived in town. However, I was lucky enough to see a secret show of theirs before I moved away, and was converted to a lifelong fan during that experience. I have gone on to see them live several more times in various locations over the years. I see them every chance I get. And I'd recommend you do the same if you want to experience one of the most cathartic explosions of raw musical energy you will ever witness. Listening on earbuds isn't going to really do this justice. At the very least, try to play this at the loudest possible volume you can get away with on the largest speakers you have access to. When I first moved to Providence I was a little apprehensive about the music scene. It seemed somewhat intimidating to me coming from a background of fairly cozy indie rock and hip hop. A few punk house basement shows here and there was as wild as it got really. Noise and metal were two genres that I really hadn't explored yet, especially in a live setting. But eventually I was seduced, first by the artwork that surrounded it, and then by the music itself. It became clear to me that this was one of the most original and significant mutations in rock music I was going to witness in my lifetime. First, they strip everything down to its core (drums and bass with only occasional vocal punctuations), even the drum kit itself is stripped down to essentials. Then, they turn everything to 11: volume, distortion, and simply their own physical limits in terms of playing. It goes beyond punk and metal into transcendental art territory. Don't just listen to this either, look up a video of them playing on YouTube. The documentary "The Power of Salad" is a great introduction to the band. You will see that Brian Chippendale is the closest a human being can get to Animal from the Muppets. This shit is not just noise and cacaphony. They are tight as fuck and there are undeniable grooves underpinning everything. The album is like being shuffled instantly from one rollercoaster to another, to another, to another. You are left drained and woozy, but exhilarated. And the best part of all, to me at least, is that, as heavy as it may be, it isn't particularly dark music - it's more a sort of manic joy than anything. They are able to tap into an almost childlike wonder through the sheer power and intensity of their playing. I have to say though, it did take awhile for their sound to grow in me. And, had I not temporarily lived in the veritable heart of the US Noise scene, I might never have taken that time. In a way it was like exposure therapy or endurance training, but coming out on the other side, not only did I have a greater appreciation for heavier music, I had a greater appreciation for music in general. Listening to Lightning Bolt made me truly appreciate music itself as a sort of raw material - a transference of energy. It didn't blow my ears out, rather, it retrained them to hear nuances in things that I previously didn't think had any nuance whatsoever. It's the closest thing to taking a musical drug that I've ever experienced, besides maybe some of Steve Reich's early works. Lightning Bolt and others from that scene expanded my palette and gave me more stamina and patience to listen to the expression of the music itself, rather than fixate on things like words or beauty. Their sound might stop you in your tracks, but if you can overcome that impulse to immediately flee, you could be rewarded with powerful, even liberating feelings, that you might not be able to access otherwise. Lightning Bolt are aptly named, they are a force of nature.

Genuinely who the fuck is this shit for

2/10. Probably the least wonderful rainbow I've experienced. It was like someone took the noise of unplugging your earbuds in the middle of a song and made that into a whole damn album. There are definitely some bits where there is a bit of an interesting beat going, but not enough to redeem it in my eyes.

Love this album. Lightning Bolt are one of the best live bands I've ever seen. Complete chaos. This is probably their best album too.

Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

Unpleasant

A one-paced, incessant racket.

Never heard of them. Went in blind. Ooooh, yeah, vibes. Love this. Instantly reminded of And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead. Not sure why you'd bother with the vocal track except as possibly a hint? It's def growing on me. Crown of Thorns had an AC/DC guitar riff vibe to it. Fun! Okay, yep. Def an Elaine album. Certainly not for everyone, but I'm down with a well-done noise rock album for background music.

3.5 - Fine as far as noise rock goes but hardly the most interesting, groundbreaking or truly excellent record of this genre. Dimery seems to have a blind spot for Japanese artists, otherwise Boredoms' "Super Ae" would be a much better noise rock selection that's weirder and more fun. Also more original since it was released 5 years prior to this record.

No melodies, no message, no heart, just soulless noise.

30 seconds in and I was miserable. How was I going to get through the whole thing? But after about 2 minutes something clicked and I really dug the groove. I like the mix of noise, chaos, metal, dance, and jazz. Moreover, unlike a lot of the more esoteric albums on this list, I feel like these guys are *talented*, *know what they are doing*, and most importantly *are having fun*. That mood really comes out and infects the listener. Don't know if I can go all the way to 4, but I'm in the high 3s for sure. Consider my interest piqued!

No one has to hear this ever, let alone before they die....not music! Sounds like roadies checking the equipment at a 90's middle school talent show..bad

Wonderful Rainbow might be the worst possible description for this album. There is no colour, no joy, nothing beautiful about it. It’s droning noise and distorted screaming. 2.7/10

Honestly what the fuck is this doing on here. One of the ear grating, annoying albums I have ever had to listen to. The instrumentals would have been O.K. at best if they didn’t just loop for over 5 minutes at a time. Don’t even get me started about the little man drunkenly yelling into a megaphone on the lowest volume possible. What. the. FUCK! 1/10

This album was shown to me in 2014 by the weirdest, nicest guy I ever knew in College. Shoutout to you, Pat! A challenging listen at times, but the bass grooves are sick and really get me into a rythym. More accessible than a lot of noise rock haha. It probably should be a four, but I'm rounding up for positive memories and my bias for cool bass.

Despite its label of "noise rock", this album never encourages the listener to tune out. The indistinguishable vocals aid the album in becoming a discordant parody of rock tropes. With enough fresh bizarre riffs and melodies to keep each track distinct from the last, the fun of this album is the chaos it creates, and seeing just what it will throw at you next.

Sounds like my brain is getting completely disintegrated in an atomic blast... in a good way. You know how people say that metal music makes them feel strong, like they could punch an elephant? This makes me feel like I should go to the nearest gym and ask to get punched in the face by the buffest guy there (again, in a good way).

Equally influenced by jazz as noise and punk. Inventive and brutal.

SHACK has me locked in his bedroom. Help.

This caused me a tremendous amount of anxiety. Like I had to hurry up and finish the album because I needed to be somewhere. Not an enjoyable listen at all. Fantastic bass and drum skills. Really these guys are good, but it's just too chaotic to be an enjoyable listen. There are those songs that have super chaotic intros or devolve into chaos at the end but have an actual song in there. This album is a 21 min chaotic intro that devolves into 21 more minutes of chaos.

monotonous noise

just noise

A windblown furore of noise. The book describes it as being challenging to listen to. Couldn’t have said it better

What a shot in the arm this is! It’s noisy and aggressive, but there are grooves to be found. And once you find a treasure, they let you keep it for a while, while the noise happens around you.

What a crazy burst of chaotic energy! Love Lightning Bolt, love this album. Maybe my tolerance for noise is pretty high, but this feels a lot more accessible than some other stuff on the list… what’s with the horrendous ratings!?

obviously there are """normie""" thresholds for audio abrasion and demands for familiarity in structure and timbre that make it so that lightning bolt is merely an extremely popular "underground" band and not the most popular band in the world but tbh. it kinda feels like they should be anyway FHJSFHJFS like how could u ever not love lightning bolt??? they hit some absolutely magic ratio between no-bullshit minimalism but Just enough musical information to stay absolutely gripping. i think i might still prefer their more adventurous stuff from later on like sonic citadel but id have to recheck and in any case i dont think theyve ever lost the ratio...this stuff still makes me twitch my foot involuntarily in the right setting. might have to do a full discog re-dive...

album filtering tf outta yall. this is what i thought black midi sounded like before i started listening to them

holy shit! hard as fuck. noisey as hell. explosion in my eardrums. this album is top of the damn mountain, the mountain top. the first half will impress you with being songs (sort of) and the second half will show off how rambunctious and raucous these dudes can be. too good. not for your grandparents. or maybe it is (cause they are cooler than you are)? shit slaps so so so so hard. moooaaaarrrrr. you need drums and overdrive? this is it. this is your stop.

Best Song: Dracula Mountain. Absolutely hellacious groove that somehow sounds exactly like I would imagine something called "Dracula Mountain" to sound like. Worst Song: Duel in the Deep. A kind of dull and drudging end to an otherwise electric album. Overall: After the first 30 seconds, I really didn't expect to like this album at all, but with each successive track I was amazed at how the music was so quickly able to get under my skin and agitate, scraping around under there until suddenly it felt like my whole body was resonating with the noise. The album does sometimes linger too long on amusical, cacophonous noise, but it really shines when it sinks through that noise to some primal groove underneath. I think you need to be in a very particular mood to listen to this album, but when you are it fucking goes.

I am a fan of noise rock. I know it is not everyone's favorite genre but I have always been a fan. This is very good noise rock. For me the litmus test is whether I hear pretty melodies within the noise. This passes that test with flying colors.

I've been on a run of classics I've already am familiar with or stuff I'm not interested in. This feels like the first genuine discovery in a while. Just awesome.

SEE YOU IN THE EVENING SEE YOU IN THE DARK SEE YOU IN THE DAYLIGHT AND IN THE BEYOND

That's utterly crazy, it's quite the opposite of what I like and still it's so damn interesting, I would listen to it again and that's absolutely unexpected considering my taste. I wouldn't say it's one of my favourite until now at all, but still, the surprise sometimes is worth even more. Maybe it's just that I know nothing of the genre but I have never heard anything like this and it's amazing

You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Lightning Bolt live. You think this record is noisy, chaotic and heavier than Brendan Fraser in The Whale? This is a mere appetizer for the insanity of a Lightning Bolt show.

I love the density and noisyness of this album.

If entropy liked rock and could sing, it would sound like this

This is bracing for a Tuesday morning. Crazy, inane, frenetic. Not an album I'd ever put on for fun, but a wild ride. I still bear the scars from seeing these guys at All Tomorrow's Parties festival. Not counting the time security made the crowd sit down; those guys are real killjoys.

I do like me some noise rock. Reminds me of hold your horse is, and they did come out only a year apart I suppose. I really enjoy the chaotic math rock rhythms, but there's some solid guitar work too. Gets a bit repetitive in places but overall good stuff, I was a little surprised it was on the list since it's not that well known and a bit niche

What a pleasant assault on the ears. I'd love to see these live just to watch the drummer. very tempted to give this a 5 but I think that might be a bit much.

no. No. NO!! This is NOT music!

I listened and all I got from this was kill John Lennon. So to try and distract me from my murderous thoughts I’m going to dip my tiny hand into some curry powder and fist the neighbours dog. There’s a good boy shacky

It's like you're in a hellscape and someone released a swarm of pissed off wasps by the thousands and your on a rollercoaster ride to hell. What a trip! Fantastic noise rock. Best tracks: Assassins, Dracula's Mountain, 3 Towers 5/5 Stars

This album is pure energy and distilled chaos. I know some will argue that it sounds like a bunch of people playing their instruments fast and loud and it doesn’t sound like music, but to me everything feels very intentional. There is a blend and a balance to these parts as they turn music into something feral and primal. I completely agree that this album deserves to be on the list because everyone should experience this at least once, just to see what having rock instruments truly cranked to the point of exaggeration feels like.

lightning bolt's music makes me feel like a schizophrenic balrog who perceives the world in shades of red, artifacted like 20 year old jpegs, descending upon the city of Gondolin to hopefully have my cursed existence ended. 5 stars, who needs a guitarist anyway

This began and I feared for some awful experimental stuff that would give me a headache, but then the feedback-y intro gave way to some glorious fucking noise, which still gave me a headache. best one of my life

Oh this looks shit. Not in the way I was expecting though! I need some noise right now bc I'm going a bit mental. Do i need to buy the book bc i want to know why this is on the list. I'm not even hating it but like. Does anyone NEED to hear this before they die. Maybe its what you hear as you die. If you're yknow driving into oncoming traffic at 86mph. I'm literally enjoying myself. This is real good noise. Feel like my heads in a washing machine full of rocks. Tempted to burn a car copy but for the aforementioned driving into oncoming traffic at 86mph. And like noise is something I don't think about coming in albums but this is like. Well assembled. Good track lengths good variety this might be a perfect version of what it is but can I in all good consciousness give it a five when I'm under the influence of my natural brain chemistry. .............yes.

life is distracting these days. so here comes lightning bolt with their noise rock, to distract me further again. On this site noise rock has long been underrated, for this album as well: It gets a stunning score of 2.28. But it really came to stun me. since the band's lineup is nothing more than a bass and a drum, and if i didnt look up the facts, i would think its a trio or something because dude make these noises that make ppl think its a guitar. the singing are minimal in order to make space for the earthquake like riffs, which shook me like a log cabin in the middle of a strong storm, fuzzy and wild, shaking beliefs and minds. Some of the music and arrangement slightly tears a bit of the storm, and outside it, we observed a wonderful rainbow. this might be the coolest thing that ive ever heard. 5/5

If u get it u get it. "Incredible. It's like the rhythm is hanging on by a thread and they keep trying to cut it with a saw. Definitely best played loud, but it isn't just noise. There is real music in there. This is what I listen to this list for. Something completely new." Man i can hear things like death grips or Deaths Dynamic Shroud being heavily influnced by them. This shit rules hard.

This gives me a whole new kind of appreciation for Noise Rock. Even when I have no clue what's going on, the drums and the guitar are just so good on some songs that it pulls me right back in. Not every song is a hit, but the ones that are absolutely rip. Favorites are 2 Towers and Longstockings

This kicks ass. It’s so loud and noisy yet within that wall of noise there is some really tight drumming and guitar work. The vocals are so far away like the vocalist is behind a door. Album cover perfectly matches the sound. Favorites were Assassins, Dracula Mountain, Longstockings, and 30000 Monkies.

This is one of the first really big Brutal Prog albums. If you ever wanted to know what it would sound like if Pink Floyd would go into the studio with way to many party drugs and cocaine in their body, this would be it. It blends the manic and chaotic Noise Rock with the even more manic and chaotic Brutal Prog and makes it even more complex by playing with some very, very uncommon time signatures. It's crazy to put it in simple words. Just crazy. And while crazy can be good, this often times doesn't do it right. There are a lot of moments where it's so chaotic and weird that it looses the structure and turn just boring. Other moments though, are so repetitive that they turn annoying. When I compare this to the Brutal Prog of the last years, mainly Black Midi's Hellfire, I know why this album here is still the start of the "big" rise of the genre. But even though some moments aren't that good, some are really strong and do exactly what the album promises. The album starts with the improvisational Noise intro 'Hello Morning' which is does start off the project fittingly and with a lot of sonic ideas that it will go on to further explore. But isn't even a minute long which results in it not really giving out a lot of great moments and turns out pretty stale. Maybe it's just that I am not really big on Noise yet but I actually slightly dislike this short intro just because it doesn't really do anything except start the album in a not really needed way. This intro transitions into the Noise Rock track 'Assassins' which brings in some Brutal Prog elements while also adding Post-Hardcore with a lot of very complex sounding structures. I really like the song when it goes wild at the start and later but the moments where it's just the same droning synths with not much extra just makes it boring and not even really interesting. It's not that I dislike it sonically, I just find half, if not more, simply boring and the great moments sprinkled throughout aren't enough to make it interesting which makes this a very average song. Luckily, 'Dracula Mountain' makes things a little more interesting. The song is sonically more diverse and while the vocals are burried deep in the Noise, I do like the feelings of darkness, fear and the overall surreal atmosphere that it gives the song. I do think that they could've added a tad bit more melodic parts to help the Noise not feel bland but I think the result is the chaotic and crazy sound that the album tries to create. It's a great song and one of the albums best. '2 Towers' goes heavier and even crazier with a lot of complex and avant-garde guitar playing added. This is probably the best that the album can offer because it's noisy, loud but complex and weird with a lot of crazy playing. I think that they could've mixed the drums a little bit louder and added more noise but apart from that, this is a fantastic track and easily an incredible one. The songwriting is repetitive but this time it uses it as an advantage to create a lot of tension similar to what Post-Punk often does. And because it has more melodic aspects and not just Noise, it does work much better and actually great. If they had repeated this pattern of songwriting of every song with new ideas of course, it would've turned out much better. The first half of the album ends with the slightly psychedelic 'On Fire' which plays with more avant-garde melodies once more and actually has some great and redeeming qualities. They sadly tuned back a lot of the Noise but that leaves room for more melodies which does help the songs structure. I think the song turned out great, even incredible because I don't have much negative to say about it. The second side of the record is opened by 'Crown of Storms' which starts with more Avant-Garde and adds some Noise Rock until the vocals set in again. I do really like what they did on this track and the great mix of all of these ideas and weird concepts and sounds is magnificant. This is another incredible track with some really interesting and wonderful moments that do really do what they album tries and on top of that has slight but noticable variation. As if the rest wasn't weird enough, 'Longstockings' adds Experimental Rock ideas with some stinging guitar sounds and effects that set themselves strongly apart and while some of it reminds me a bit of what The Velvet Underground did ont their first two albums, this song here goes too far with these ideas. The first half is sometimes really annoying and feels really boring but luckily, the second half is so energetic and noisy that it really saves the entire song. While it doesn't end perfectly, it does sound really great in that second half. The title track, 'Wonderful Rainbow' removes a lot of the Noise and goes even more into the Experimental aspects, even does a Minimalist approach at the start. It is a very short track and doesn't really have any interesting moments or great ideas which let's it end up being pretty average. '30,000 Monkies' is a return to the Noise Rock and Brutal Prog sound with some really complex guitar solo moments throughout. The structure here is pretty wild as is the sound of course but I feel like the overall presentation is a bit overboard with itself. It sounds much more like a professional guitarist that tries to flex than some crazy Noise Rock. The second, much noisier, half of it though is where it actually goes wild. I do like the song and I think that it's really good but the album has had stronger pieces. The album closes with 'Duel in the Deep' which plays with some really interesting and ominous soundscapes within the wild Noise Rock. I like the ideas that this song has but the execution is a little bit lacking. It goes a little bit too far with the Noise and the result feels overly repetitive, tiring and after a while boring. Sonically, a perfect closer but in terms of enjoyment... not really. favourites: Crown of Storms, 2 Towers, On Fire, Longstockings least favourites: Hello Morning, Wonderful Rainbow, Assassins, Duel in the Deep Rating: decent 7 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

If you're an angry, sullen, or resentful teenager whose extended family is about to descend for the holidays, have I got an album for you....

Noise Rock is a different kind of genre, it certainly is not for everybody. I would not place it as one of my favorite genres but I do enjoy this album. "Assassins" feels like a Muse interlude or filler track. It is good it just is all build with no resolve. Honestly that entire sentiment tracks for the album, "2 Towers" is seven minutes of build which is anxiety inducing. The back half of "On Fire" was good minus the vocals on that. "Longstockings" is a great track until the scratchy breakdown at the end and again minus the strange vocal parts. I want to love this album and at the same time I want to hate this album. Some of the noise was a little too much for me and other parts were amazing. It sounds like a lot of different artists most of the time I was getting Muse and I also heard some RHCP elements in there too and some others that I can't place but know. It is also a fairly quietly mixed album and I had to bump up my volume to hear it clearly.

Wow. Unique. I thought a two-piece band but bass and drums not guitar and drums? How's that going to sound? Pretty cool actually. It's a lot of noise, which is a bit of a knock. But the bass is absolutely pumping; wouldn't have minded a bit more variety from the drums instead of just bash them as hard and as fast as possible. And just cut out the vocals, if you can call them that. It wouldn't be all the time, but I can see some situations where I'd go back and put this on. I found myself rocking out to 2 Towers on my second listen. I love the bass work on this album; not a lot else. Good offsets the bad, enough for an average rating.

Well, I'm glad to be done with this one. It's impressive how much sheer noise the two Brians are able to create with (in theory) just drums, guitar ("bass guitar"?) and horribly distorted vocals (apparently with a contact mic taped inside an S&M fetish hood). While this might qualify as art, it's not my idea of music, and despite the "1001 Albums" entry reviewer's note that it has some "welcome diversity" thrown into the mix, this just seems like a far less interesting version of the likes of Ministry or other industrial groups, and honestly sounds like a bunch of kids literally banging away (even though I know this takes a lot more technical skill than that to sound that way). Not only did I not need to hear this before I die, I really wish I hadn't. But two stars because (a) it's not nearly as execrable as other 1-star albums, and (b) these Rhode Islanders seem very earnest in whatever it is they think they're doing.

Enjoyed the noise, didn't enjoy the monotonous repetition.

Wonderful Rainbow I often make the mistake of looking up bands and albums I’ve never heard of before listening to them, and I miss out on the fun of a surprise, fresh listen. In this case I don’t think knowing about this album before would have made much difference to my enjoyment. It is pretty close to unlistenable. Not unlistenable due to a complete lack of ambition or due to a vacuous, empty poverty of intent like The Cult album or the Christina Aguilera album, but due to deliberately challenging obtuseness. Similar to the Spy vs Spy album, I get that the difficulty is kind of the point, so on that level I do think it achieves artistic merit. But on a pure listening level it doesn’t have much merit at all. And as a collection of interesting ideas or themes, which might bridge the gap between the artistic intent and the listenability it also falls a bit short. It is ultimately quite boring, and any moments that might vaguely lead somewhere, like the riff of 2 Towers, the middle section of On Fire or the stabbing melody of Crown of Storms, tend to get squashed at the altar of musical obstinacy and noise. Sometimes things like this get better with more listens, when subtleties and variations that aren’t immediately apparent start to emerge, and while I found it marginally better on the second listen, and a little more on the third listen, I think I could listen a further 100 times and it would feel broadly the same on listen 100 as it does on listen 1. In summary, although I find it pretty unlistenable, I do also tend to appreciate the idea of people ploughing a furrow making this kind of music, intending for it to be hard and challenging, regardless of whether anyone will actually like it - and in fact in this case probably actively wanting people not to like it. So when you put that all together, it’s a 2, another of those ‘I’m glad I’ve been exposed to it, I like that it exists, but I don’t want to listen to anymore of it’ albums. 🌈🌈 Playlist submission: Possibly Crown of Storms, but I’ll go Wonderful Rainbow as it is relatively subdued and only 90 seconds long.

Wow, just horrible. 0/5. No redeeming features. At least the album is short.

Sometimes I think I have good taste, until I listen to noise rock and absolutely love it.

This album caught me on the perfect day. The catharsis of pure noise is just what I need. I blasted this in the car, and the music had me banging my head and laughing at the audacity of it. This is brutal, industrial hardcore fueled by chaos and full of shapeshifting. Sometimes it resembles free jazz in the way the band seems to be improvising. Other times, it’s heavy and intense, finding a rhythm and bludgeoning you over the head with it. But there’s real craft and musicianship here too. These guys lock in for a very focused assault on the ears. Wait a minute — I just learned there are only two guys in this band! Bass and drums? Wow, that’s a surprise! Also, let’s appreciate for a moment that the Wikipedia article calls this the band’s “most accessible album.” I can only imagine what the rest of their catalogue sounds like! 😂

ебать лайтнин болт я тут не ожидал увидеть, тупо топ

Ha ha ha ha, this makes me so happy. Such a great album. This is one of my favorite bands of all time. I’ve seen them in concert twice. Two of the best and loudest concerts I’ve attended. They don’t perform on a stage, they put all their equipment on the floor in the middle of the crowd. So imagine listening to this music as a crowd behind you is gradually pushing you into a drum set being played by the Tasmanian Devil singing into a microphone attached to their face by a ski mask. If you want to see what sweaty American hipsters looked like in 2001 then watch the documentary The Power Of Salad & Milkshakes (available on YouTube) which has a lot of concert footage of this band. The song at about the 11:10 mark in that video is a good highlight.

This is absolutely brilliant. The organized chaos. (or not organized?) IDK. This feels like a Jackson Pollack painting. Its wild and rough but beneath the surface is smooth and fluid. The static, the drums, the guitars, the vocals. This is super cool. Its certainly not nothing that I gravitate to often, but almost like jazz, its something that I can understand and let myself enjoy and get into.

I didn’t expect to enjoy ‘noise rock’ at all. But it’s toe-tapping anti-music, flamboyantly baroque and reductive. I can hear the influence on prog rock revivalists Muse.

I like me a bit of noise rock, and this is that with a capital NOISE. Quite the opening barrage (which took me by surprise) which doesn’t relent, in what is an impressive album in its pure power and aggression. Much like thrash or speed metal in its intensity really. There were two or three tracks which went a bit extreme for my tastes, but there were also some great songs to feel pumped and get the head nodding. The last track in particular was ace; I love the distortion of the speakers left in just to give a feel of what this might feel like live. Tbh it makes my usual noise rock faves like ‘It It Anita’ or ‘mclusky’ feel quite poppy! I still prefer the latter, but that album was a great ride, and way more fun than most fare on this list.

I'm writing my review of this on January 6th, 2026. It's the first Monday of the new year and thus begins a restart of my daily routine that I've been missing over the holidays. I love this time of year because the last few years I've spent a lot of time introspecting and trying to find ways to improve myself and these usually manifest into segments that I add or remove from my daily to-do list. Want to read more poetry? Add it as something to do on Wednesday mornings. Want to get better at chess? Make it your after-work-on-Mondays thing. I love to organize this "second brain" and this album really was an ideal partner for me launching my latest and best iteration of this. It's energetic, it's loose and a bit crazy, and it's exciting. "2 Towers" is really, really awesome. I love how the guitar/bass/synth instrument stays consistent on the riff and the drums change the rhythm; kind of just pulls the rug out from under you and then puts it back. Very Meshuggah-esque. I also really love the snare tone here, where it sounds almost like a pork pie snare? It makes it feel more experimental I guess? than if you would have had a more regular or lower tuned snare as that would kind of make this track into a heavy metal one. I also love how organic the tempi are, and I rarely feel like they are attached to a grid. This past year I listened to a lot of pop music and a lot of heavy metal. I forget sometimes that there's really beautiful amazing experimental music out there like this that is both exciting and tasteful. Great album.

This album clicked with me pretty immediately. I remember learning about Lightning Bolt years ago and was intrigued by their performance style. The album cover of Wonderful Rainbow is one of the most perfect representations of an album I’ve seen. It’s chaotic and dark in the forefront, but peaking through is a brightness and beauty. The project itself is visceral with the pummeling riffs and relentless drumming. I loved it.

I know I’m in for a treat when I see an album by a band I’ve never heard of described as their “most accessible work.” Lightning Bolt prioritising the cathartic percussive qualities of the bass and drums over everything else makes me feel like I’ve had my ears cleaned out. This is not to say there aren’t melodic hooks, but they are delivered with such caustic blows that it’s the feeling of buzz, fuzz and distortion that I’m left with. Though energetic, relentless bursts of noise are my thing, I would say that the second half is just like the first but not quite as good. I’d be interested to see how they progressed this sound on their “less accessible works.”

I can understand this album being jarring to someone who isn't prepared for it or in the right state for it, but I really enjoyed it as a background as it played.

What on earth was that I just listened to?! Actually quite enjoyed the noise - a bit hypnotic! Dracula Mountain was the best track.

Never heard of this one so going in blind. 'Wonderful Rainbow' by Lightning Bolt - could be anything here. Most weather-related names I've pulled so far were jazzy or post-punk I think. It's quite recent though, and I've never heard of them so maybe it's a bit of US electronica? That said, 'wonderful rainbow' sounds twee and the cover has a colourful bit and a scribbly doodles bit. So maybe it's quirky indie? Well, it's neither of those things. It's absolute carnage. Rapid twatting of drums and a distorted wall of guitar noise, almost definitely fed through a series of sequencers and effects. This would be insane to watch live. At times I feel like I'm listening to a Prodigy side project but at the same time it's arguably one of the heaviest slabs of pure noise I've heard in my life. In the wrong headspace, I'd just stop it dead and set it on fire, but I can imagine it wouldn't care and just keep playing anyway. In the right headspace, which I seemed to have been when I listened to this on a long, wet drive, I somehow absolutely loved it and couldn't wait to hear it again. I generally love it when music challenges me and pushes me out of my comfort zone. If I'd never done this challenge I'd have no idea how strangely hypnotic and meditative industrial noise could be. It's definitely unique and I'm happy that I've discovered it.

I fell to my knees and cried out “Oh, Sweet Mother! Please send me something that will wash my ears clean of the memory of Lorde and her ultra-bland toadie Jack Antonoff!” The Sweet Mother replied, “hold my beer.” I have never heard of this before and I have no idea what the legacy will be in my life. All I know is that for 40 beautiful minutes this morning it ripped off my head and howled.

Finally some difficult listening to freak out the Clapton loving squares. I paid iTunes money for two (2) lightning bolt albums about 1 million years ago. It expanded my horizons. I regret nothing.

This album is mad. Apparently the band only has a drummer and a bassist, it's crazy that they manage to make so much noise with so little instruments. It's so wild, noisy and technical, with bass riffs (is that even a thing?) flying in all directions. A lot of chaos, but it's controlled chaos and sounds pretty incredible.

Driving, intense, discordant, but listenable. It's controlled chaos right from the first track, Assassins. Dracula Mountain really captures the essence of the name somehow, I can't really explain it. It's probably not easy listening, but it is truly music that makes you feel something and I can't help buy tap my foot and bob my head. At times there is this repetitive droning quality, but there is always something varied enough to move it along and it always seems to switch tempo at just the right time. Overall, I'm blown away by the technical prowess and sound crafting going on. I don't really understand it, but I respect it.

Damn, hard to not fall right into this. I can only imagine what a live show (aka frontal lobe destroy mission) of this would have been like. Frenetic? Yeah, freaknetic. Keeps on keeping on surprising. If you become attached to one run, hang on, it will quickly turn into something else you'll want to hang on to.

I gotta say I dug this one in spite of, or perhaps because of, how minimalist it was. Some of those sounds were otherworldly, and some of those grooves were entrancing. Thumb's up.

They were pretty sick with it honestly! I probably wouldn't listen to much of on its own, but it's so cool I don't think I can resist giving it a 4. And I did enjoy a lot of the tracks while I was there.

I’ve had bad experiences with the noisier entries on the list, so I dove into this one fully expecting to detest it. Turns out, I actually kind of love it??? I think the key difference is that this is basically a math rock album in disguise. Beneath all the oppressive instrumentation, there’s these meticulous rhythms that you can really latch onto as the noise washes over you. It's much easier to appreciate the chaos when it actually feels purposeful. An excellent pull! Standouts: 2 Towers • On Fire • Wonderful Rainbow • 30,000 Monkies

This is chaotic and awesome. When Is saw this was rated so low and was on the Global Stats list as one of the 1001's lowest, I was disappointed. But yet again, the sensitive and boring ears of the British majority on this site have missed out on a gem. Go listen to Supergrass, it'll be ok! This album has so many compelling themes, sick drum parts, and just an overall insane presence. Love it.

This was definitely fun.

I always wanted to listen to them. Not my everyday listening type of album but I had a lot of fun listening to it

Wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. It's like early Smashing Pumpkins crossed with Butthole Surfers.

Wall of sound permeated with windows of wonder.

This is the kind of music where the more fun it is to play it, the less fun it is to listen to it. Also feels more like it should be a live thing than a recorded thing.

depending on what kind of listener you are, you might want to turn up or turn down your volume for this entry. this is... well, pretty noisy noise rock. distorted, nails-on-a-chalkboard guitars paired with big crunchy drumbeats that sometimes play time signatures that haven't been documented. normally i don't like noise rock at all, but while this is loud as hell... it's not overtly surreal, irritating and pretentious. it's actually....okay? maybe it's me but i actually tolerated it more compared to the other people on this platform.

This is noise rock! More of a sonic experiment than actual music. Worth a listen just to say you tried!

super frenetic and abrasive, but really neat and has really good musicianship. it kind of blew my mind that this was a duo of a drummer and a bassist? there's stuff on here that doesn't even sound like bass, which i love. it's definitely not a pleasant listen and i don't blame anyone for listening to this and hating it, but there's something in the noise that i found appealing. on the other hand, it is wholly difficult to listen to. it's not something i would go out of my way to listen to ever again, but the noise is cathartic, in a way.

the headspace i was in while listening to this matched the music shockingly well. not a great thing unfortunately! i don’t know why it’s on this list, the band has less than 30k monthly spotify listeners and it’s not like this album shaped the course of music history. but honestly i didn’t hate it. i didn’t like it, it’s very noisy. but i didn’t hate it. a classic 3

It's a great album to listen to first thing in the morning as you're getting up over an hour earlier than usual as you're heading to catch a train for a business trip you're semi-enthused about. Thankfully, don't find myself in that situation very often. That said... I now have something to fall back on the next time I do.

Fun wall of noise- kind of chaotic but with massive bass riffs, frenzy drumming, the whole thing hanging together by a great sense of mischief. The bass has the lead quality of a guitar and h is SHREDDING my god. Chaotic but the whole thing is coherent and also just fun, even if a bit of an assaulkt on the senses. Very mood dependent how this hits

Noisy, aggressive, and chaotic but not without rhythm and melody. Much more accessible than other noise artists I've heard and would be a good introduction to the genre. 3.5 stars

Garage band-esque noise rock with some BEAUTIFUL melodic harmonies. Listened to title track twice on first listen