Your New Favourite Band

Do you wish the Strokes were more punk and less good? Well hot damn do we have a band for you!

Greatest Hits albums shouldn't be on this list. Automatic 1/5

This is a compilation album so it feels kinda weird to have this one listed instead of works like Veni Vedi Vicious or Tyrannosaurus Hives. Definitely should have just had one or both of these albums listed. Aside from that though, awesome collection of post punk songs.

My review, in the form of a math proof. Let N = Music that is 100% absolutely my shit. 1. I have never heard of these guys. 2. I am *extremely* into Early 2000s Garage Rock Revival. 3. Therefore, N is inclusive of Early 2000s Garage Rock Revival. 4. The Hives are Early 2000s Garage Rock Revival. 5. Therefore, The Hives = N 6. Therefore The Hives = Music that is 100% absolutely my shit.

Beloved of advertisers and sports montage editors everywhere, The Hives create predictable, comforting, post punk junk. Is this meritorious? To be blunt, it differs hardly from cynically crafted synthetic pop bands. Yes, you’ll tap your foot to a few tracks but feel guilty for having done so. As for deserving a place on the list, it is truly baffling. There are many finer albums out there.

my kids (who have never heard of this band and are unusually amenable to garage rock) think this is really good. I (who heard it 20+ years ago, and much of what it steals from decades before), do not. I record here the average

Listening to this album feels like someone enthusiastically re-gifting you something they forgot you gave them in the first place. The fact that they went to a lot of trouble to wrap it doesn't reduce the feelings of confusion and discomfort you experience when you've finished opening it. If anything it makes it worse. A gift card displays a lack of personalisation and original thought, but its often the best option. A gift of utility is never an insult. Being a cover band is good honest work. I know it's boring to criticise music for reusing common chord progressions, but come on... the entirety of the *opening track* of this *compilation album* is the one chord progression over and over, only changing it up in the most boring way possible in the chorus, (by alternating between one different chord, and the original progression), which stops at multiple points to highlight that chord progression, and adds nothing interesting at any other point. It's all about that chord progression. That you've heard done in more interesting ways in countless other songs. It does successfully set the tone for the rest of the album. If you've heard music before, there's no reason to bother with this album. You've heard it all before.

Fuuuuuck. This album completely shreds. It's a "feel your feelings" album that unites Gen X and millennials and I'm thankful for that. This album is the sonic personification of assertiveness. Does it have the absolute best track lineup on this list, objectively? Not quite. Is it fucking cathartic, kick-ass, and nostalgic to listen to? HELL yes. Hate to say I told you so (fave track), but this album aged very well.

I've got so many good things to say about The Hives. I liked these guys before they really hit big (I'm not being a hipster douche. I'm serious) and seeing them become as popular as they did,albeit briefly, was awesome. This isn't a proper album, but it doesn't matter. I needed this today. I was in such a bad mood and the combo of the beautiful sunshine and the nostalgia rush as this rang out through my car speakers was just amazing. I wish they had put The Hives Introduce The Metric System In Time on here. That was always amongst my favorites they really should've just went with Veni Vidi Vicious. Oh well. This is just so much fun.Stripped down rock'n' roll with the right blend of bite, melody, and swagger.

I am a huge fan of simplicity, and that's what I love about this band. Just the basics... three chords and high energy. However, despite the high energy and stylish uniforms, this band is flimsy and ephemeral. The Hives could be summed up in three words: Punk Rock Metronome. Sure, there's the contagious power of Hate to Say I Told You So and less-so some other tracks, but there's also a lot of filler. For example, 'The Hives are Law, and You are Crime' is suitable to burn time between bands or setups at shows. Also, it seems that some songs were released on other albums and then placed on this one maybe as a domestic release(?). Whatevvs. These songs are not expertly crafted and that's fine. My biggest gripe with this album is the lack of deviation. They've studied their influences. They dress like Kraftwerk and sing like The Ramones but what do they contribute to the sound? Roboticism? What happened to irrationality, incoherence of punk rock? And most importantly, the artistry in self-expression? Can you be a punk rock if you're a metronome? I don't think so. The Hives are a tribute band, and this albume is the music of 'enthusiasts'. But that is okay.

As everyone says, probably should have been Veni Vidi Vicious on this list. I first heard The Hives from the Spider-Man soundtrack-which is some early 2000s ass music. I listened to some of it tonight after this, but most of the songs are not avalaible on Apple Music (incl. the Chad Kroger song Hero. What a crime) I think the Hives are very good for a 2-3 song stint at a time. After that they seemingly start losing melody in their songs. Why don’t they try a slower or more downbeat song to mix things up? Also did some Wikipedia research on the Hives. Apparently they formed under a different name in 1989? They would have been like 9 years old! Even when the band was started in earnest in 1993 they would have only been 14!

What a bottled perfection of a millennial punk album. Swedes with an attitude and a sense of humour - who would have thunk? This album specifically is also a bit personal - skiving university lectures to listen to my friend describe this crazy band callled the hives that they saw at Reading - and pulling out their disc man and spending a morning with an ear bud each listening and discovering this album. Good stuff. Also perfect for running to.

I listened to the Hives on heavy rotation for a period of a few months in 2000. It was fresh, not too pop-sounding, and had just the right amount of scream from Pelle Almqvist. This compilation has some of their early best. A bit surprised to see a compilation on this list, I'd recommend Veni Vidi Vicious.

Today's album is like garage rock, or garage punk. The fact that these guys are Swedish blows my mind. Sounds so American.... If that makes sense. And in typical punk style, the album consists of 12 songs, and is done in 28 minutes. I remember the song Main Offender from the video game Rock Band. Favourite songs: Hate to Say I Told You So, A.K.A. I-D-I-O-T, Outsmarted, Main Offender, "Die, All Right!", Untutored Youth, Here We Go Again, Hail Hail Spit N' Drool Least favourite songs: Supply and Demand 5/5

Fucking rocks

Grew up listening to the hives so a little biased.

I gotta say I was surprised by this one! I like the usual ones from The Hives like Hate To Say I Told You So and Tick Tick Boom, but I'd not really listened to them outside of the popular songs. Didn't realise how punk they got, and I am so much for it! Definitely saving a few of these tracks to other playlists. Favourite: Untutored Youth

Collection of Swedish garage punk that's pretty one note, but what a fucking note! Best Tracks: I Hate To Say I Told You So; Main Offender; Untutored Youth

Garage punk rock. Brutal. Vinilo.

Here's the good shit.

Successfully brings the ethos of punk into the new millennium

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 8/10 Love the hives, saw them live a few years ago. Their latest album is amazing. Don't understand why the listmakers went for a compilation album. They've got great albums, guess the listmakers arent ready for that

Swedish punky garage, nice riffs, all in 28 minutes

Not bad but nothing that made it stand out

I think compilation albums have their place, but including that's just the highlights of their first three projects is just cheating. As for the band themselves, they're unremarkable garage rock revival, the kind of band to be popular in 2002 and disappear immediately afterwards.

Pleasantly surprised

Fetttt! Skjønner at folk tenkte at rocken ble gjennopplivet for 20 år siden. Hardt og vitalt! Ikke alle låter som står seg like godt, og kanskje ikke heller helt min smak lengre, men likevel når dette helt til topps.

the hives!

False advertising...they are NOT my new favorite band. I did enjoy the album though...lots of youthful energy.

Compilation albums on here giving Alan Partridge vibes. "What's your favourite Beatles album then?" "Tough one. I think I'd have to say... The Best of The Beatles"

I try to listen to these bands Iv never heard before with open ears, but rarely do I find anything that I say"Oooh! This is new!" Here's another indistinguishable band..

Absolutely fine garage rock, but this is definitely one of the albums which could be dropped from the list in favour of something else. An album I MUST listen to? I don't feel this enriched me or broadened my horizons. Also the pomposity of the band's stage names contrasts laughably with the tone and quality of their music.

Oh my god, these guys are my new favorite band! Because they told me they are! Even though I think their music is derivative and stale! And monotonous! And repetitive! And redundant! And it all sounds the same! With every passing song my enthusiasm is waning! Please make it stop!

Superb

Great rock album!

Bit tedious but great indie album

The awfully presumptuous title aside—I'unno, a lot of this sounds to me like it could've been in the SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD movie soundtrack. Y'know, put it next to the Sex Bomb-Omb songs... They're garage rock, The Hives are garage punk... Makes sense. And I really love that movie, and I really like those songs, so on that basis alone... They're not my new favourite band, but yeah, I'm happy with a 4. (Also, a fact: my favorite Hives song is "Tick Tick Boom". Thanks, LEGO ROCK BAND, for that one.)

I knew Main Offender and Die! All Right already. I thought listening to those abrasive vocals would be a problem over the course of an entire album. Fortunately, the album is only 28 minutes. (I actually listened to it twice, back to back.) The songs are short and fun for the most part. Not my new favourite band, but I liked it quite a bit.

Literally they are now my new favorite band. Fast and spontaneous riffs and choruses just are my type

On the plus side, it’s only 28 minutes long, so it moves quick and it’s a lot more punk than I expected it to be based off of the one Hives song that everyone knows. I’m just not sure that the one song that everyone knows justifies its inclusion here. It’s fine and i enjoyed it enough, but…from 2001, why not Discovery or Oh, Inverted World or Isolation Drills or Stephen Malkmus’ debut solo album, you know?

Big fan of this band, even as I can't tell the difference between albums

Good tunes but nothing new. Fan of these guys from before.

they are not my new favorite band, but they aren’t my new least favorite band so they’ve at least got that going for them

Guess what I came out in when I saw this was the record on the day of my youngest brother’s funeral? Mixed them up with The Vines, but they’re not that bad. Opening track’s the famous one, and it’s pretty good - hook hooks, and plays around with structure and texture just enough to make it interesting, Pixies-worthy. How’s the rest? Listenable, but little that snags memory. Recognised and enjoyed “Supply and Demand”. Garage rock is so swift and minimalist, that hooks, flourishes and refrains must catch fast, otherwise the songs sweep past traceless. “Mad Man” has a cute intro, enough to bite and note. “Here We Go Again”, has a strong axe-chop chord progression let down by a tepid chorus. After that track, only the closer, “The Hives Are Law, You Are Crime”, had me look down to check the song name, as it has a stomp and swish unheard elsewhere on the record, perhaps a factor of it being the only instrumental. The record is just under 30 minutes, which is welcome.

Fun, short bursts of music

AFter the first song you've heard them all. There's almost nothing to keep from that garage rock revival of the early 00's.

I enjoyed a couple of songs on it, but didn’t really listen to much of it again.

Not what I wanted after a restless nights sleep. Also, who does a compilation album after TWO fucking records? Strike one. Also also, my new favourite band? Too pretentious for punk. Strike two. It's loud. Fast. Repetitive. It’s punk garage rock energy, with an inch of depth. Feels like a rougher, more hyperactive take on early The Strokes, but with none of the mood. There are hooks, surprisingly, but they fade fast. It’s fucking exhausting by the end. Strike three. It will get the "Playlist Additions + 1 Star" treatment, because it's not unlistenable, and it may have caught me on the wrong Tuesday. Playlist Additions: - Hate To Say I Told You So

2/5

I seem to remember there being a song by The Hives in a Rock Band or Guitar Hero video game, but other than that, I can't say I'm familiar with them. As it turns out, I've heard "Hate To Say I Told You So" and "Main Offender" (maybe that was on Rock Band?) before, but the rest of this album was new to me. Anyway, I guess I'll start with the things I liked about this album. The guitar riffs were pretty infectious, and fun to tap along with, especially the first three tracks. I liked that these songs came fast, hit hard, and then moved along. It's a minor note, but I also enjoyed "The Hives Are Law, You Are Crime." There was some distortion that I really liked, and there was a part towards the end of the song where the main guitar riff faded really low, but everything else stayed the same. That guitar riff was so low that it was barely detectable, but it created a really cool effect. As for the things that I didn't like about this album, there was a lot of shine, but no substance. The guitar riffs were fun and infectious for the first three songs, but after that, the album sounded really repetitive. The Hives aren't really doing anything on this album that hadn't been done before, and this album certainly doesn't break any new ground in my opinion. I got pretty bored with it after "Supply and Demand," and the last track pulled me back in a little bit, but it was too late by that point. There are a couple of catchy tunes on this album, but that's pretty much the only thing it has going for it.

This whole album sounds like the Dollar Tree version of Blitzkrieg Bop.

I liked this type of music 20 years before this album was made but in 2001 there is one obvious question: Why?

There's literally nothing new going on here. It's just punk with a facelift, modern production and pop-punk vocals. Such a bizarre decision to include this compilation. Not even a cool compilation of various artists like No New York, just a greatest hits album. That's automatic 1 star. No other artists get the benefit of having a juiced up tracklist, and even then it's pretty bad considering this is a greatest hits. Rating: 1.1

It just made me feel anxious and stressed. Yell yell yell yell yell all the singer does is yell. It’s exhausting.

No, this is not my new favourite band. If this is a collection of their best songs, I'd hate to hear a collection of their worst songs. Some of the most annoying singing, and clashing of instruments I've ever heard. Favourite song: "Outsmarted"

I didn't feel anything while listening to this. It just sounds like generic rock music you would hear in a bar, blending into the background and quickly forgotten as people go about their day. Nobody will Shazam this, and no one will remember it once they get home. It will simply fade away, a relic of another time, with no one to recall it, forever overshadowed by bands that did the same thing but better. 1.5

It's kinda cheating to feature a compilation over a proper album, even if it's a couple of albums too early in their career to be a true Greatest Hits. That said, it is how much of the UK discovered them and their only platinum-certified. As a result of that cherry picking, every song on here is at least a good one. 28 minutes of pure bangers, and a nice cross-section of energetic and undeniably poppy garage rock as well as their earlier punkier stuff. Probably more of a 4.5 but happy to round up rather than down to offset the US-centric and recency biases that plague this site.

Ist zwar kein richtiges Album sondern ne Compilation EP. Aber egal. Hives machen immer Stimmung und kannte vieles noch nicht 👑

First 3 Hives albums are all 4.5/5 for me. This collection album is made up of songs from first 2 albums, and an EP that is 5/5. Therefore, this is 5/5, by way of rounding and averaging.

I knew they rocked, but I didn’t know they rocked so consistently and so awesomely hard. 4.5/5

Nice. This is the type of garage punk I like. Short, sweet and to the point. Never listened to this band before but I'll check out the rest of their catalog.

This is the album that got me into the Hives. Wonderful stuff.

Quite a fun album. Pop punk with out the juvenile humor and immaturity. Great stuff.

Still an awesome, fun album High energy, fast, catchy rock n roll

Like other of the era, the Hives just get you going, even on a sleepy Sunday Night. This best of / compilation album is a great reminder of the band for those that were around when these were originally released and probably a great primer for those who were not. This album will likely find its way into my rotation.

Nice! Fun, a bit chaotic, but overall, the whole thing was right up my alley. Fun instrumentals, and spot on punk vocals. Loved it! 'Die, All Right!' was my fave from the bunch, but they have quite a few bangers in here!

Love some good short punk rock

Really great album. Loved it

Love the Hives - but this is a greatest hits album and so shouldn't count

Pretty much blown away. The most energetic, effective punk I’ve seen, 4.85

The energy is off the charts. Every song is faster than the next, and its aggression is awesome.

Fun punk rock album here. Good energy. 4.5 gonna round up.

Robert Dimery: "Okay everyone, we need 1001 essential albums, but NO compilations, because that's just cheating.......... Except for that album by The Hives because that shit is the TITS!!!!"

When i need to get in the mood, i just turn on one of their albums, and mostly it's this exact record

Really love the high energy and loud noise of this album. Howlin’ Pelle is a phenomenal vocalist and I think it really makes the album. I’ll definitely be coming back to this one in the future. The Vibe: You and the boys are out raising hell.

Best so far!

On the one hand, it's a compilation album, which i feel like should be a no-no for this kind of list. On the other hand, it fucking rocks.

When I was in high school, I was in a band that covered Bloodhound Gand, Blink 182, etc. I remember playing a gig where bands from all the local schools came together to perform, and one of them was called Amplex. They were all around 12 years old and covered Hate To Say I Told You So and outperformed everybody in my eyes. They rocked! Anyway, memories aside, I love this album. It’s the perfect blend of raw passion, yet still with plenty of melodies to avoid getting messy. Damn, The Hives are good.

yeah babyyyyy 5/5

I love this band, idk if it’s just the mood I’m in or what, but these guys kinda just hit that pop/rage funk vibe for me

I'm really confused why this album exists and why it's on the list instead of Veni Vidi Vicious. Anyway, I digress. I was in high school at this time, absolutely loving the garage rock revival. Someone told me, "Hey, you'd probably like The Hives!" so I went out and bought VVV, having never listened to them before. I instantly loved it and it was the soundtrack to my summer in 2002. I remember putting this CD in my Walkman and riding my bike listening to it, hoping it wouldn't skip. Kids these days will never understand our struggle, man. I'm not sure why I stopped listening to The Hives because this was such a great trip down memory lane.

hate to say i told you so main offender supply and demand outsmarted here we go again automatic schmuck the hives are the law, you are crime

So much better than I remembered. My dad hates the hives which makes me like them even more. Also full of gold so, that's awesome.

hammer

Great!

I liked this group for a long while but I never stopped to listen to their albums. It was very good !

Amazing album. I wouldn’t call it an album, though; it’s more of a compilation. We already got a Motörhead live album as an album, so I don’t really blame Dimery for his choice. Definitely gonna listen to more of The Hives soon. 4.9/5 Fav: “Die, All Right!”, “Main Offender” Least Fav: None

I do agree that it's weird to put a freaking compilation album here, I thought it's not allowed. Anyway, The Hives are pretty bold to tell me that they'll be my new favorite band. But after hearing their hits here, I think it might be true. With a fun, rocking punk that is not annoying, this album is among the few punk albums that I enjoyed from start to finish. Anyway, it's a 5/5 experience. I don't really care if it's not supposed to be here, it's not the album's fault.

Great punk vibes

10/10 I’m surprised that I love Swedish garage rock this much, but damn is it a great rock album

Great early 2000's rock album. Very punk, pretty alternative. HTSITYS is a classic album but Main Offender and Automatic Schmuck are also great.

I’m a big fan of The Hives and have seen them live. Some real belters on this album!! 😎🎸🥁🎼⭐️

Real cool

High energy while still being very catchy, solid instrumentation and great vocals. Best album I've heard on this list in quite a while. Ez 4.75 rounded up

I've always liked the Hives. Their sound is so honest and fresh to me even now. Not the most musically diverse, best produced or cannily written lyrically but good to groove to. There's so much energy here.

Hate to say I told you so was amazing

Discount Jefferson Airplane

somehow i've never seen these play.

A colossal masterpiece that hurtles its sexy ass towards you like a bottle rocket. It's a fascinating fantasy fuck that you never thought you'd get to experience. Your wildest dreams are fulfilled and you just can't wait to phone your mummy and tell her that you've just become a man. The Hives are a heroic bunch of scallywags with tongues firmly in their cheeks and fingers firmly in your pussy. It's a 1000 mile an hour lightning bolt that penetrates you in a way you haven't been since Uncle Roger buggered you senseless behind the shed when you were just a boy.

I've long enjoyed this album - a shade under thirty minutes of Scandi-garage ramalama bristling with hooks and attitude. I've heard 'Hate To Say I Told You So' often down the years but I still ain't bored with it.