Reviews (page 5 of 7)
TV On The Radio! Yay! Oh man, I haven't listened to this album in... *checks last.fm stats* ...five whole weeks! Gosh, it's been such a long time since late February. This time I've got my tortoiseshell cat trying to stick her tail in my eye, so it's still technically a new experience, right? Anyway. My biggest disappointment is knowing that there's no more TV On The Radio left for me to review in this project. However, Tunde Adebimpe is releasing his first solo album in a couple of weeks, so I still have something to look forward to!
Na
Fantastic debut record really is a vibe. My only issue is some of the songs seem to be all build and need to just explode but sadly never do. Still in rotation and I just got the anniversary edition so it's not like those things bother me in the end
Gear: Focalman Cleardara Artwork: 🚘🛣️🔌 Production: 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🗺️👥💥 Rating: 📻📻📻📻/5
Delightfully weird, just what I didn’t know I was looking for
Art Rock - aha. Überwiegend anstrengend zu hören, mehr gequietsche als Musik. Ein paar Stellen machen Hoffnung, aber die wird auch gleich wieder zerstört. Ich habe es nicht durch das ganze Album geschafft. 1/5
The sound here is heavily electronic, with the only obvious "acoustic" instrument being the vocals for the vast majority of the album’s runtime. The singing, to be fair, is pretty good. I enjoy the falsetto backing vocals that appear in just about every track (though in some cases it sounds odd and slightly out of tune - see the songs Dreams, King Eternal, and You Could Be Love). I feel that the lack of acoustic percussion (excluding Bomb Yourself), or even the lack of clear/rhythmic percussion in general, really takes away from the record's energy. The album moves very slowly and takes a cool 60 minutes to finish if you include the bonus tracks. It might be better to have this in the background than to commit to the close listening this project normally requires. And then there's the bonus track You Could Be Love, which is so bad it's no wonder it was left off the original album. Fortunately, the groovy one-two of Bomb Yourself / Wear You Out makes up for this. Staring at the Sun, as a vocal-only track, is also worth shouting out. Reminds me a bit of Homeless by Paul Simon - though Simon’s song is better. The 00s decade had so much great and influential material to offer the world, so it's pretty surprising that something like Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes made it on this list. Some of the music has merit, but for the most part it's just not interesting or fresh enough to compare with artists like Aphex Twin, Muse, Radiohead, or Green Day. TV On The Radio doesn't have the influence (judging by info on their Wikipedia article) to justify being on the list at all. The album only barely charted in France and the UK, and didn't chart anywhere else. Once again I question the metrics used by Dimery and his musical goons. 2/5 Key tracks: Staring at the Sun, Bomb Yourself, Wear You Out
Not good, didn’t like any of it tbh. Sometimes you come across albums on here that are not ones you need to listen to in your lifetime.. well that’s this one.
Found their sound somewhat grating.
I thought this was pretty good, but my cat fucking hated it.
The myriad of creative sounds wouldn't be wasted if there were any good songs to go along with them. Alas, there aren't. 2/5
очень странное дерьмо
Very experimental stuff, not sure if I really connected with this one. Theres a good chance that this might grow on me with more listens, but unfortunately with this list I'm listening just one time before scoring it.
Listened Before? N NO. Stop with the "art rock". Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Staring at the Sun
Compared to other albums in their discography, "Desperate Youth" doesn't stand out but it's not bad at all. It has the qualities of a good album but in the end it's not TV On The Radio's best album.
There are some songs I really liked and enjoyed a lot of the sound they are trying to create but I just felt they ran out of steam on the album and it descended into soundscapes by the end of the album and just eating up time rather than enjoyable time.
Good, original art-rock is hard to come by. You can feel this band has some heat behind them. Williamsburg hipsters in post-9/11 NYC, the last vestiges of Old Weird New York disappearing. The stage was set, but ultimately I think their range is pretty narrow and if this doesn't hit you straight-on, it doesn't hit you.
Canción destacada: Poppy
And I will be your one more time If you will be my one last chance
The second half was worse than the first half. I liked the other album more than this. It certainly is unique.
Starts really strong, but fades across the length of the record. An interesting sound and a good listen 👍
# Album Name: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes # Artist: TV On The Radio # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Pretty underwhelming to me. I didnt enjoy it. There was one track which i recognised. Otherwise i didnt connect with this album. # Top Tunes: Staring at the sun # Would I listen to it again? No, except the one single.
One of the most pointless albums since Houmous and Chutney released their purposefully pointless album ‘This is Purposefully Pointless’ back in ‘64. 1.8
I came to like this band, but can't say I enjoyed this album.
First listen, not impressed. Pretty sure there won’t be a second listen
Felt like noise for the sake of noise, got annoying fast
Tämä on #päivä897 #1001albumiasinuntäytyykuullaennenkuinkuolet-haasteestani, ja olen jälleen iloisesti pettynyt tästä listasta. Olen kuullut vain bändin nimen, en koskaan kuunnellut yhtään kappaletta. Tarkoitan ei koskaan. Joten olen iloinen, että tähdet ovat linjassa, enkä vain löydä TV On The Radio -ohjelmaa heidän debyyttistään, vaan myös kuuntelen sitä nyt, 20 vuotta sen ilmestymisen jälkeen. Nyt tämä on monimutkaisen outoa musiikkia. Ja vihaan oudosta! Pari muuta nimeä tulee mieleen TVOTR:a kuunnellessa: Pink Band ja Radiohead. Kaikilla kolmella on yhteinen ydin. Sielu. Mutta kun ensimmäinen bändi yhdistää sen industrialiin, darkwaveen ja hip-hopiin, toinen - shoegaze, TV On the Radio - post-punk, noise ja kaikenlaisia kokeellisia äänitarvikkeita. Se oli todella mielenkiintoista. Tästä syystä annan sille 2/5. Odotan innolla #päivä898. ambulance
3-
Not always an easy listen, kind of glad it's out there rather than a favourite. 2.5 stars really but feeling generous.
Day424 - i guess it’s fine. their moms and girlfriends are probably the only ones demanding tv on the radio gets two albums on this list
I never heard of this band, such a cool sound. Most of their tracks have a psychedelic overtone to them. This album makes the "add to collection" list.
Diverse, can hear the influence of the 2000s and 90s. Rather wailing.
Super bass, high pitched vocal harmonies, sales and brass. Niche indie. It's distinctive but prob not their best work. Interesting.
After listening to Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsy Babes and reading various reviews, I’ve come to the conclusion that this album simply isn’t for me—I just don’t connect with it the way others seem to. While there are some interesting musical moments, the vocal delivery feels uninspired, and the album as a whole lacks momentum. Across its 11 tracks, it constantly seems to be building toward something, yet never quite reaches a satisfying payoff. In the end, TV on the Radio doesn’t resonate with me. Favorite track: If I had to choose, “Bomb Yourself” stands out. Least favorite: Unfortunately, the entire album. Album artwork: The cover is fine, but nothing particularly memorable.
Good, not one of my favorites by them. Maybe needs another listen
Woooooow. What's this???? New acquisition
I think this would be 5 without that singer. Otherwise pretty innovative and impressive
Kind of a cool vibe, unique. Not something I'd revisit. 2.5/5.
Really truly enjoyed this. Very different from most of the stuff on this list and felt like a true discovery of a band that I wish I'd know about a long time ago. 3.5⭐️
This album still sounds so fresh. Vaguely psychedelic with no concern for stylistic limitations, it’s too melodic to be industrial but far too sparse to be shoegaze or synthpop. It really sounds like nothing else.
First and last song save this from a 1. Ambulance... blimey that was struggle. The vocals felt incredibly monotonous on that track and others. I really enjoyed the sound on the first track and had expected I would like this but the rest was quite different.
so boring
Not bad for background music
kann ich nicht wirklich was zu sagen
Love the vocal style and funky vibes
A nice surprise. Some creativity on display here. Lots of interesting sounds - a capella loops, fuzz bass, distortion. I'll be revisiting this one.
Meh. Curiousity value alone. Ok, not fair. They were adventurous and must have had a way with words to have succeeded in getting a major label to engage with this. But. Not all art rock is pretentious… ‘Wolf Like Me’ changed everything b
Essential listening in the early Noughties (or Aughts, however you want to call that era). Crossing musical bridges you didn't know existed and setting new standards for indie/art rock.
some really great hooks too far and few between eccentric singing pushing the limit of listenability.
i did not need to hear this before i die! the grating vocals, backed by a 4-octaves higher shriek, followed by the same 3 guitar chords, are so boring to me. i do not understand the appeal.
This one starts right off the bat with cryptic lyrics including a snarling take about the offensive cliché of so-called "magic n*ggers" in Hollywood movies, nicely setting up the universe of TV On The Radio -- a deconstruction of indie rock, post-punk, kraut/electronica and soul music tropes that actually sounded very close to Young Fathers long before the Scottish band picked up that particular thread. Just like them, and probably more famously, the New York City act saw its members having diverse backgrounds infuse transcendent African and African American influences to their elated vocals, soulfully performed by Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone. The result is very good, generally speaking, with quite a cohesive first side (thanks to abrasive opener "The Wrong Way", catchy "Staring At The Sun", driven "Dreams" and the subtle ode to sexual desire "King Eternal"). As good as that side is, a welcome change of pace occurs with "Ambulance" right in the middle of the tracklist -- good lord, what a love song, mostly supported by Lynchian Acapella Doo-wop vocals and a killer emotional chorus, something along the lines of "I will be your ambulance if you will be my accident". The rest of the album is a little hit-or-miss, but long triply closer "Wear You Out" easily reaches the heights of side one again. Minus point for the production and the overall sound of the album, though -- so paper-thin it unfortunately takes away the potential pleasure those compositions can offer to less delicate ears than mine. It's an issue that the band's own Dave Sitek would solve himself later by partly handling the production side of later LPs (maybe out of disappointment from this one?). Oh, and *Return To Cookie Mountain* is probably a better candidate for a list such as this anyway (better sound, as I said, but also more iconic songs and more memorable vocal lines -- "Wolf Like Me" is a gem, for instance). Not that *Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes* doesn't have its own assets, mind you. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) Number of albums left to review: around thirty or twenty, as I've gone over the 1000 line and this generator is including albums from all editions of the book. Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 464 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 281 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 336
Some cool ideas. 3.5
alright, i don't think this one was quite for me. there were moments on here that i really liked, but this one is a bit too dissonant and unpleasant for me to really enjoy. mostly this is from the vocals, which often are group vocals doing dissonant harmonies, which was a bit hard for me to get down with (especially when the one guy is hitting the falsetto, my lord). the instrumentation was pretty alright, but i had trouble with the vocals. to be clear, i don't think this album is supposed to be easily consumed, it is definitely an album that is trying to be challenging. and it achieves that pretty decently well. but i'm not sure i really enjoyed the challenge here.
Dear Science will always be my goto TVOTR record, but this is a STRONG debut, especially as far as debuts go, for an experimental band like them, seems they found a voice early
Very interesting 3/5
8/10
Although TV on the Radio have a number of songs I really like, I just can't appreciate this entire album. Not my thing.
3.5
This band is its own thing soulful post punk insanity. Love it.
I really thought I would hate this. But oddly by the end of the album I didn’t. It was interesting and something different. Didn’t mind it.
Really, really good.
Too much noodling. Not in my wheel house.
Wow! Another album i wish never to hear again in my life
Too out there for me. Some of the vocals made me laugh out loud with how annoying they were.
Not for me. Listened to the first two songs and the consistent static sound throughout the songs isn’t working.
Kind of neat one to have after a Brian Eno album - some of the same goofy experimentation, but coming from a different place. A lot of highs, some aggressive jazzy noodling, all in all it's a 4 but with some extended pieces that I think bring it down to a 3.
Solid album with a lot of good tracks. A good listen and listened again the next day.
A curiosity and an interesting album. Lacked enough real songs to be a classic but had enough originality to be well worth a listen.
Good, need to revisit
This took me a while to get through. For all its clevermess and layers, and even though its right in my wheel house, i couldnt get onboard. It seemed too pleased with itself at times.
Album so long and have so many minute, yet leave such few impression. It’s not offensive and even has some interesting experimental bits, but is ultimately fairly boring. 3/5
Very, very average with little to recommend it.
Musical it's very good, just not my particular genre. It's very free flowing and varies, and I can tell each artist is very talented. I just wouldn't go back and relisten or seek it out on my own.
This is what happens when every kid gets a trophy. Bah!
I can't think how to articulate why at the moment, but I really liked this quite a bit.
Not sure how I've missed this band all of these years. Very noisy and a little quirky. I liked the album, but didn't love it. I could see myself bumping up this score on relistens.
Different but not good. They sound like a low budget Imagine Dragons, but with a singer who came from a Beach Boys cover band.
I had never heard of the band or the album before. After the first few bars of the first track, however, I was interested. An interesting sound. I quite enjoyed listening to the album. In the end, I found the longer a capella parts a bit exhausting. I probably won't listen to the album again, but it was definitely interesting. 3/5
The album started extremely strong, but lost me a little in the second half. Standout Tracks: - Staring at the Sun - Dreams
Sounds like flight of the Concordes
a potential 5 but ultimately a well deserved 4
Fairly obvious indie stuff. Am not a fan of the voice, but some of the noodling was interesting. None of the songs grabbed me especially, but it wasn't offensive.
The brass section saved this from being indie shite landfill. It's actually quite thoughtful in places. The acapella is a nice touch, with the songs building up from the bottom. Not my usual genre of choice, but there's plenty worse. I thought I would bail, but I stuck it through until the end.
Day 0018/1001 of Listening to One Album a Day / Listened to whilst: studying Some nice moments in this but sort of passed me by and didn't really make an impression on me, bar Staring at the Sun. Love the album cover though. Fav tracks: Staring at the Sun / Dreams Worst tracks: Ambulance
This was so disappointing!! I only knew one of their songs before hand - Wolf Like Me (not on this album but a banger) so I went in with high expectations But jesus this was so boring and repetitive!! 😪 2 ⭐️
More mid indie noise
Decent
This was wild. Very interesting and experimental. I really appreciate the fearlessness of their style. Not exactly radio ready. But some of this has got to be thrilling live.
Unusual sound. Dreams is a neat sound.
TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004) Это пи*дец, товарищи! Скажу так: единственная причина почему этот альбом мог появиться в списке «1001 музыкальный альбом, которые ты должен услышать, прежде чем умрёшь» — это то, что редактор списка торчит дохрена денег кому-то из этих, прости господи, музыкантов. Другого объяснения у меня нет. В принципе, когда я увидел жанр «арт-рок», уже понял, что будет какая-то шляпа. Но я не подозревал, что настолько. С музыкой чуваки решили вообще не париться. Гитара? Давай будем теребонькать две ноты и сверху кинем побольше овердрайва, чтобы получился просто шум. Клавишные? Вон, видишь синт — надави одну клавишу и держи её всю песню. В какой-то момент они настолько преисполнились, что захерачили трек с одним зацикленным лупом «дум-дум-дум» вместо музыки. Не, ну, а чё? На протяжении всего прослушивания меня не покидало ощущение, что типам было ну о-о-очень лень записывать этот альбом, но просто другого, более весёлого занятия они себе придумать так не смогли. Сам альбом однозначный кал говна. Не рекомендую.
I started out not thinking this had anything for me but it grew on me. I saw these guys play around the time this came out and thought it was a little pretentious and unmusical so I never paid attention to them after that but listening to this makes me think they're better in the studio than live?
I've enjoyed listening to TV on the Radio over the years, and own the other album by them in this collection ("Dear Science", 2008), but I don't think I've ever heard anything from this album, which is nice. It's not as entertaining (to me) as "Dear Science", but I suspect this album was included largely because it was their debut. And the debut-ness likely contributes to how different the two albums seem to me--unlike a few debuts that seemed to have emerged fully-formed, this one is rougher and still seems to be searching for a sound and groove. "Don't love you" is an interesting track, although pretty bleak, while "Staring at the sun" and "Dreams" are much more light-hearted tracks, and I can definitely hear in the latter two the band that I've enjoyed on "Dear Science", albeit with a low growl that seems to be their signature on this album. I guess it just took them a while to find a more compelling combination of harmonies and beats and backing music. A shame that the Wikipedia entries for this album and the band are so sparse, as it would have been nice to have more context for this album; I *did* notice that they cited Brian Eno (who is everywhere) as one of their inspirations, which was fun to see. And I appreciated the "1001 albums" entry noting the connection to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the formation of the band (although not a band member but the producer for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs).
I liked the fresh sound, esp the sax, but none of the tracks really stuck with me.
If it wasn't for the awful singing, I could have liked this record. Ditch the falsetto, put in just the tiniest bit of effort, couple of extra takes to get it right. There's no excuse to sing this bad on a record after 2000. Favorite song: staring at the sun.
The Wrong Way 3.2 Staring at the Sun 3.6 Dreams 3.4 King Eternal 3 Ambulance 2.8 Poppy 2.7 Don't Love You 3 Bomb Yourself 3 Wear You Out 3.2 Score: 3.1
Ambulance is my favorite song on the album. I've never heard anything like it. I don't dig their other stuff, but i can't get ambulance out of my head.
Uninteresting and the songs seemed to drone on
A bit generic compared to the other TV on the Radio record in this list (Dear Science) - it starts well but then tapers sharply after the first couple of songs. Disappointed.
First off I just have to write a few notes about the presentation of this album. Holy cow, what a sprawling impression. The 'TV On The Radio' font looks like something fitty for a cheesy wedding invitation. The album name 'Desperate youth, bloody babes' makes me expect either an emo album or a hip-hop record. And the actual image itself gives me synthwave associations. I am not exactly sure what we got, but it's not that. The record was a quite slow start for me. Didn't enjoy any of the early tracks, even though they seem to be the more popular ones judging from number of plays on Spotify. It felt like they were just dragging on without any real hooks or leads. I did find 'Poppy', 'Don't Love You', and 'Bomb Yourself' quite a nice trio of songs of which all I enjoyed. But that was about it sadly, even though their sound did have something. Probably will have to be weak 3 for me since it wasn't that good, but at least I managed to find some joy.
Awful album cover but good music. Enjoyed the a cappella parts and the more grungy songs. I had trouble finishing this for some reason but I think it was mostly due to external factors more than the album itself. I feel like I need to come back to this album at some point since it really has something going for it. From the first listen I enjoyed "Don't Love You" the most.
Good music, terrible album name. Except for "You Could Be Love." That was bad.
Ehh, not my cup of tea. Alot of it was kind of noise with some good beats. Did not care for the large use of falsetto singing. 2/5 won't come back to.
I'm really struggling with this album. It's playing in the background right now, and I'm on about track 4 or 5, but it's not really enjoyable. It's not 'pull your ears off' bad, it's just laborious and boring. It feels like I've been listening for about 3 hours.
Art rock must be interesting, and this is not that. Weak vocals struggling to produce mediocre, repetitive melodies over music, that, while unusual, is utterly forgettable.
they made some terrible choices on this album. the only song i remotely liked was ironically titled "the wrong way". it would've earned them two stars if i hadnt accidentally listened to the version on spotify with the bonus track "you could be love". i usually try to keep my review to only the original album but this bonus track was so bad it soured my already negative perception of this album and i cant shake it.
Not a fan
I really like this album. Loved it when I first heard it 20 years ago. Staring at the Sun is a great song.
I went back and forth with this. Great at times, grating at others. Overlong but on the whole I enjoyed it.
This was an interesting follow up to the White Denim album in that it took the experimental inclinations a step further and into stranger territory. My enthusiasm waned as the album played, it was challenging at times, but I appreciated the bold songwriting and arrangements and ideas. It may have dipped to a 3.5, but the exciting parts buoyed this to a 4.
i wouldn't say i enjoyed listening to this, but i kind of got into it. i dug the dark and grimy textures. the vocals weren't my favorite, but they weren't a deal-killer, either. reminded me a bit of Liars and Menomena. good stuff.
Loved this!
Interesting electro-alt-rock (not my favourite album from them)
Yeah, nice. Like a mild alt-j
I thought I was vaguely familiar with TV on the Radio, but now I’m not so sure. This isn’t what I was expecting. But I can dig it. Very unique and experimental indie, I was into it. I’ll check this out again for sure.
Legendary album and so innovative. Great sounds, unexpected lyrics, vocals on point. This is one of the truly great ones.
When you begin an album with two verses like these, you're in for a ride ... Wake up in a magic nigga movie With the bright lights pointed at me As a metaphor Teachin' folks the score About patience, understanding, agape babe And sweet sweet amour When I realized where I was Did I stend up and testify Oh, fist up signify Or did I show off my soft shoe Maybe teach 'em a boogaloo Busy playing the whore I was not aware of their first album, 'Ok Calculator' until I saw this great overview of the band. Check it out if you get a chance ... https://youtu.be/lhlRHOxMNys Also, the Tiny Desk Concert will put you in a great mood ... https://www.npr.org/2024/11/26/g-s1-35036/tv-on-the-radio-tiny-desk-concert
I always want to like TV on the Radio a little more than I actually do. There’s just a bit too much that’s off-kilter or discordant. But it’s not like I dislike them. I like them quite a lot. But I think of them as a 5 until I actually try to listen to a full album. Then I get put off briefly multiple times through the listen, and get pulled back in just as many times with some brilliant stuff. While this debut album is a low 4, it’s “Return to Cookie Mountain” that actually gets closest to a 5.
An eclectic band and it shows in their debut. Ultimately maybe a little too eclectic for me.
The distortion on the opening track reminds me of The White Stripes. These guys bring a fresh, eclectic soundscape.
This was a weird, indie-sounding album which I had the weirdest sensation of both liking and disliking simultaneously. I think it was a bit more of the former so I will rate it a 3.
One of the best indie albums from the 2000s. Changed they way I viewed and played music
feels inventive: super enjoyably groovy
I can't say this caught my attention in any meaningful way. I listened on a walk and found each track bled into each other. Until Ambulance and that was sounded liked a failed barbershop quartet. Its just not that interesting a I struggled to get through the whole album. Stand out tracks: - Poppy
altern. Rock, 2003 -> 2
It feels like I may like this more in some years.
A weird one, in that they're really very good, but also quite a stressful and uncomfortable listen. I think it's all the honking.
Just when I thought the sub-3 star albums was where the good stuff was, I got hit with this one. I could feel the seconds of my life leaving my body as this album went along. Incredibly bone-dry instrumentals complemented by equally tepid vocals and lyrics. In all fairness it's not the worst thing I've heard, but it's pretty far from what I'd consider good.
Good, but not as great as they'd become.
Interesting without being great
With Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, TV on the Radio set a new standard and a high bar that kept getting increasingly cleared beforehand in the last age of indie rock before the complete corporate takeover, proving that black musicians can conjure up the same kind of mood shifting sounds as any other. Favorites: The Wrong Way, Staring at the Sun, Dreams, King Eternal, Ambulance, Poppy, Don't Love You, Bomb Yourself.
Meh
Staring at the Sun // Dreams // Poppy //
I hate this. It’s like a strictly inferior version of Midnite Vultures. I have to admit the last few songs have a bit more room to breathe which is an improvement
Hard to describe this one. It's got the dark, droning, soaring feeling Explosions or Godspeed, but a soulful barbershop quartet thing going on to. Production is excellent and the sound is unique. Never really gotten into this band. Always thought Dear Science was just okay, but this one hit me
Was okay, I guess. Some catchy beats but otherwise forgettable. 3/5
Fantastic
Loved this. So much texture and interest
Dreams is nice
Quite interesting. such a variation of styles, some of it (the drums especially) remind me of massive attack/trip hop kind of thing. I quite like a lot of the singing, some of the lyrics are quite creative. Some songs could have gone much harder though. I'm not sure if I can even pick out a best (or worst song). Overall around 7/10
Not nearly as good as their next two albums, but decent. You Could Be Love was absolutely atrocious, but i'm ignoring the bonus tracks.
Some cool sounds, chiefly utilizing repetition and distorted textures to achieve a chilling atmosphere. It is a very well produced album, and to begin with it's quite good, but the vocals sound like an afterthought, the songs themselves aren't great and for a whole album, it wears rather thin. After reading some of the rave reviews it was, well, disappointing.
Kinda happened, made no impression.
Always liked this, still sounds good 20 years on. Good album choice.
This is an album I might actually listen to! It's edgy and disconcerting, but I like it.
Just another ex-1001 album!™ http://1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie.wikidot.com/album-artists-a-z-ex Quite enjoyed this, I warmed to the distorted drones, dark and dreamy.
Interesting sound. I rather enjoyed it, though the vocals start to grate on my nerves after a while.
I'd heard "Staring at the Sun" on an Adam Freeland mix, but the rest of this was new to me. They're just so unique and this album is timeless. It's the aggression of rock with the instrumentation of jazz and all these searing harmonies. A band I should have paid more attention to at the time.
I listened to this one while I drove to school, and my county was on fire at the time. For some reason this was fitting, but also something about the album kind of grosses me out, and I’m not entirely sure why.
I really, really liked this. This is one of those bands that I overlooked when they first came out, but now I'm able to appreciate them. They are permanently going into my rotation.
GoI’m d but not my thing
Two absolute pieces of crap in a row. Who decided this album should be on the list!? Absolute waste of time. Time that I will never get back
De eerste geluiden maakte me niet heel gelukkig. Het klonk een beetje als herrie. Maar toen ik eenmaal aan het eerste nummer gewend was, vond ik het best aangename muziek. Het tweede nummer voelde al meteen rustiger, waardoor ik het hele album heb afgeluisterd, ondanks de soms te hoge tweede zangstem op de achtergrond. ***
I thought this would be higher, as I really like TVOTR and Return to Cookie Mountain (the follow up to this album) is one of my favorite albums of the 2000’s. There are some good songs on this (The Wrong Way, King Eternal, Wear You Out) but a lot of the songs lack the dynamism and complexity of their subsequent works.
I listened to this album through a busy morning, it didn't hit me too hard one way or the other, but kept me going, so that's worth 3 stars.
Sounds like this glee club from my alma mater known as The Cheezies, except cheesier. Favorite Track: "Poppy".
Pretty interesting avat pop/experimental album at first though it gets a bit boring towards the end. The singing isn't my favorite and the songs are not that memorable either. But it was for sure something different than most albums here.
Lemppari: Staring at the sun Vähiten lemppari: The wrong way
What a coincidence! This album was just re-released for its 20th anniversary. I've always liked TV On The Radio, they stood out for the crowd of 00's New York indie bands by bringing a fresh sound, with inventive arrangements, rather than simply falling into revivalisms like most of their peers. This is a very good debut, but I prefer their following couple of releases. Key tracks: Staring at the Sun Dreams
Nothing to dislike, but nothing mind-blowing either.
Trying to be different for the sake of being different.
4 - I like the sound and I have liked them in the past. I think it's maybe a bit toooooo rich? As in one or two songs are great individually but as an album I was waiting for it to end.
Pretty unusual album, I liked it. Fave Tracks: The Wrong Way, Poppy 3.9/5
I thought this was easy listening for the most part. Indie/alternative vibes. Did not dislike it, but didn't love it. I hated the vibrato/vocals at the end of "you could be love" (which may have been a bonus track).
From the onset, I didn't think this album had a terribly good dance to win with me.. Even before the website goofed up and allowed me to think about The Monkees today, seeing Wikipedia label this album as "dark wave," "experimental," "avant-pop..." "POST-PUNK..." Yeah, not a prayer I'd give it higher than 2 at most, far as I could see. I figured at best it'd just be a thing I'd hafta get out of the way before I got to what I actually wanted to do. Color me surprised, then, that I actually liked it a lot more than that. I'unno if I've explained this before, but for some context, whenever I see something labeled "experimental," I'm typically expecting, like... Y'know, noise and atonal nonsense, that I'm supposed to be impressed with because it's "art." Similar feelings go for post-punk — it wasn't my lowest rated genre for as long as it was for no reason, after all. It made me all the more surprised to actually hear convention in here. Beats, melodies, guitar and key parts... Stuff I could actually latch on to Sure, none of this would land on the Hot 100; it's too odd and minimal for that, but I was actually getting engaged in some of these songs. Someone else in my group compared it to early Gorillaz, and, honestly, I can hear it. Really, my biggest problem with the album is that the songs can be a bit too long. Even as much as I enjoyed them, I don't know if they generally do enough to really justify each song having an average length of, like, five minutes. I suppose the point might've been to lose yourself in the atmosphere — and it's not like that's something I can't accomplish — but for some reason here I wasn't really able to. I guess I just clicked with this album too late for that? I'unno. Either way, honestly, I'm feeling a 4 with this thing. I never would've guessed that's where I'd end up, and I might look back on this and think I was too generous, but for the right now, I really was just that pleasantly surprised. So, hey, good on TV On The Radio for that. Now — hey-hey, it's onto Monkee business! Woo!
Really gives me early Gorillaz vibes if they leaned more into rock than hip-hop. I dig it, so I’m giving 4.5 bumped down to 4.
I wish I could hang this at a 3.5, but I’ll have to bump it down to a 3. This is a weird album, in that I wasn’t too captivated in a lyrical or vocal sense (save for a few tracks), and it was sort of easy to lose track in the moment, but while I was listening to it, there was usually something oddly engaging in the soundscape and production that kept me hooked and attentive. I can’t really describe that paradox, but somehow that’s where I was with this – zoned out and attentive at the same time. Not necessarily hooked on vocals or lyrics, but hooked on hearing how it would all meld around the production and somehow find a melodic basis to work with. The “problem” with the album then, which I’m sure is rather intentional and purposefully designed, is that it takes a long time to get to that melodic basis on a number of these already long tracks. When a track doesn’t find a melodic basis, it’s just sort of a flop, and this album has enough of those flops to feel disjointed and not as coherent as it could be. That’s not to say there are actively bad tracks (save for the dreadfully minimalistic “Bomb Yourself”, which truly goes nowhere in its 5 and a half minute runtime), but there is a lot of empty space here, and those empty spaces don’t quite do what I think the band wanted, which was a sort of eerie, artsy liminal feel. Instead, it just feels… kinda boring. When it picked up, it hooked me right back into it, but this album doesn’t do a great job of balancing its time between the “empty” and the “full” – if this were a roller coaster, it’d be too many upward hills and not enough drops. However, with that roller coaster analogy, this album does have enough momentum to not feel like a total wash. I think when the soundscapes do get going, and the tempo and energy pick up, the band genuinely sounds good and all that buildup feels worth the release. There are some good tracks here, and ultimately, I did end up liking the album, just not as much as I think I could have. With a little more tweaking, I think this could’ve found a great balance on its execution, but in this state, it just feels a little undercooked. Someone else will get a bit more enjoyment out of this than I will, but for my tastes, it’s at a 3.5 that just doesn’t quite get up to a 4. Hence, the 3, but a 3 that’s worth giving a try at the very least.
Nothing special really.
2.8
Weird and kind of whiny overall. Some songs were ok.
Kinda cool. A lot of different ideas working into this record and I think they’re executed well. 6/10
This album gave me a headache. I can give them some props for creativity but god damnit, why is there so much reverb? It's a lot of that and piercing sounds contrasting each other and I am in physical pain after this.
This sounded a lot like Bon Iver, I thought it might have been him at first. I would guess he had some influence from this group. Good album though, I'm in between a 3 and 4. I'll settle with high 3, but I think that could change to a 4 after a few listens.
Improved marginally as album progressed, but sounded way too raw for my liking.
This one took me several tracks for my brain to adjust to their sound, but once it did, I really enjoyed it. I liken it to The Decemberists, but with more experimental and punk/edgy influences.
9/10
Lots of things in life are about timing and this album came up on my list the day after Adele’s 25 - so it’s kinda like spending an evening sipping 25 year old single malt whisky and then the next morning someone hands you a can of warm Budweiser.
Pretty decent will say first half had me more the second half is good but the backing vocals were getting in the way I felt. Really like the sound of this album. If anything you can say this band is experimenting while still having some song structures.
This album was slept on by me
Forgot how the rest of the album sounded because I listened to Wear You Out for 2 hours straight when I came to it; until my headphones ran out of battery. I probably thought the rest of the album was a 2 given how unmemorable it was but Wear You Out carried it to a middle 3
Listened to this The Wrong Way and it had me back in my Dreams.
I liked the other one better but this is very listenable.
I expected a bit more from a band that is named "TV on the Radio" but it was a bit meh, although nothing too annoying as a background listen. I would say that it was decent but nothing really happened throughout the whole album, it was just a bunch of stuff going on every now and then.
This has a lot of elements of something I’d like but for some reason it just doesn’t hit. Maybe the vocals maybe the business. I dunno. Low 3s
Not for me
I didn't come up with this but, "catchy AND weird?? you son of a bitch I'm in." Halfway through the first song I thought "when are these guys coming to my hometown?". Pure alt record, could have come out in the 90s or yesterday. Good discovery.
Like Modest Mouse, this has a very different, innovative sound. Modest Mouse, initially a bit whack for me, really grew on me - I don't think these guys will do the same, but maybe....
Interesting.
There’s something I like about it but I just couldn’t quite get there. 2
Very indie and melodramatic. A bit theatrical at time, good music. Not 100% in my tastes but there's some things to be excited about here. A dynamic blend of pop and shoegaze, with lush soundscapes and really tight grooves.
No thanks. I liked the atmosphere but not much else.
A little more out there than what I was familiar with. It was good, just maybe a little slower than I usually like. 2.5/5 Probably won’t listen again
I used to think that this album was the weakest in TV On The Radio's collection. However, after giving it a few listens over the past day, I realized that I hadn't given it the time it deserved. From the opening track 'The Wrong Way,' through 'Staring At The Sun' to the magnificent 'Dreams', the album takes you on a textured dark journey through various sounds and genres, including acapella, industrial, indie, funk, progressive rock, and gospel, all anchored by deep, dark bass layers. It's an album that really opened up a whole new world and broadened my musical horizons when I first heard it, and I'm only now able to truly appreciate it.
I remember listening to this in 2004 and thinking I should have liked it, but could never get into it. Relistening now confirmed that its not really my thing. It's not bad - there are several aspects of it I liked (Don't Love You was good). I didn't particularly like the falsetto. A low three.
Interesting. Clever and unusual.
This was a nice surprise. Weird enough to keep me interested. I'm adding to my list to listen again.
Nope.
The ideas are there...the execution decidedly is not. Woof.
They’re doing some interesting things that remind me a bit of minor league Radiohead. I won’t listen again, though.
I really liked dear science, not as keen on this one. Doesn’t need to be on the list given Dear Science is the superior album.
End was better
As the Young Liars EP was just perfect, this album is a bit hard to rate. From memory: Return to Cookie Mountain is their best album and this is one is next. . score in 2004: 8/10 score in 2024: 8/10.
I had expected Dear Science. The debut is less convincing although definitely worth listening.
Primer acercamiento a TV On The Radio. Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004) es es álbum debut de la banda neoyorkina, y vaya álbum. Bailando entre el Rock Alternativo, la Electrónica, el Jazz e incluso el Soul, el grupo entrega un trabajo tan increíble como complejo en su composición. Así, la mezcla de elementos músicales poco convencionales tiñen a este trabajo de una calidad casi avant-gard. En lo personal, me costó bastante escuchar este LP hasta poder digerirlo. No obstante, tras unas cuatro o cinco escuchas quedo enterado de lo que se buscaba con este trabajo. Lamentablemente, creo que las voz principal y la que escuchamos en los coros me resultó sumamente distrayente, al punto que creo no haber tomado la suficiente atención a las letras (que estoy seguro pretenden decir algo). En conclusión, un buen trabajo y una interesante escucha. No me veo volviendo a escucharlo. FAVTRAXS: The Wrong Way, Staring at the Sun, Dream LEASTFAV: Bomb Yourself
Did this Album change my life? No. Did I have a good time? Absolutely! Is this the bare minimum to get 4-5 stars in this list? For me sadly yes.
I liked King Eternal.
Ei. Taidepaskaa. 2/5
Kiinnostavalla tavalla erilainen. 4/5
Remarkably unremarkable. This left no impression on me other than it was not a bad album, just utterly unmemorable.
Avant-pop experimental. Ni fu ni fa.
Normal.
Not so easy listening.
Rousing tunes very enjoyable
If you're a spaceman listen to this. 2.5
Normal.
The vocals are uncomfortable, but not in a good way. I'm finding the instrumentals to be uninteresting and the lyrics aren't saving it.
Interesante grupo pero un poco denso para mi gusto.
Dat bonus nummer echt een -100
I loved the first tracks but over the course of the album the songs got quieter which I did not like that much.
How different this album is to Dear Science. In comparison it comes really flat - songs have more garage quality, which sometimes is preferable, but not in this case. Also, no distinguishable single or hit makes this album pretty basic. I still listen to DLZ or Golden Age, Staring at the Sun is just not on that level.
The debut from TV On The Radio is cool and all, but this might be the album pick on this list that boggles my mind the most. I'm not the biggest fan of the band, but I thought it was quite unanimously agreed that Return to Cookie Mountain and especially Dear Science are superior albums to their debut? Yes, 'Staring at the Sun' is great, but I just don't understand this choice at all. Unless, of course, one or two of the above mentioned albums are also included here. In which case I'll have to say that including more than one TV On The Radio album is also strange.
A bleak and dark debut focusing almost entirely on the bottom half of your speakers. It’s one of those rare albums on this list where I had to give it another listen, as I wasn’t quite ready for what hit me. Did I actually like? Was it simply too barren? Turns out I really dig it! Looking forward to revisiting Dear Science later on.
Different, in the best kind of way. I like Dear Science better, but this is a solid album with great lyrics, production, and composition, and its absolutely worth a listen. 4/5
Nah just nothing here that needs to be talked about in my opinion. Pretty boring but I guess some lyrics and some sounds.
Not only am I familiar with TV on the Radio as a post-punk and art-rock outfit, but I've already heard "Staring at the Sun" from their first EP Young Liars that shows up again here on this debut album. Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes works effectively because the group took their dark and atonal sound and transformed it into a cohesive and melodically arranged set of tunes. It might take a bit to get going on the first minute of the opening track "The Wrong Way", but once the drums kick in, the band settles into their weird sonic pocket. There's a comforting feeling from Tunde Adebimpe's laid-back vocal delivery, which made the acapella track "Ambulance" and the third verse of "Poppy" personal highlights. Pairing that with the droning guitars, Martin Perna's saxophone work and minimalist drums resulted in an eclectic and hypnotic style, culminating in the crescendoing closer "Wear You Out" with the added flutes. This was an amazing debut from TV on the Radio. It's worth checking out if you're curious.
Not a fan of this, felt a bit dull.
One of the best experimental bands of the 90s-early 2000s honestly
This was a two listen one for me. I just could not latch onto the music the first time. But with more focus on the second listen I was rewarded. This album is dark, deep, and somehow also upbeat. It's also very experimental which is something I can really appreciate. This is hovering somewhere between a 4 and 5 star for me. I'll bump it up to a 5 though because that last song as the outro (without the bonus tracks) was crazy.
Not bad. Smooth and easy. Some odd a cappella in places
Erg goed, hele originele arrangementen, af en toe net wat saai.
Oh brother, these guys STINK! But seriously, TV.O.T.R are so boring, please stop making me listen to them.
I always dismissed this band because of the name. I have to say I was incorrect with my judgements. I'm on my 3rd listen and there are lots of strong tracks. The space left between the notes creates a great groove. The vocals are outstanding, it's like dueling Princes. Quality art rock.
Decent early 2000's hipster rock
TV On The Radio is a band I've dabbled with in the past and certainly a band that I'd like to get to know better. I see there's another album on this list that I haven't got to yet so I might give this the benefit of the doubt and bump it up to a 5. Fave: Staring at the Sun is great but there's so much more here to be uncovered.
Huh, I gave "Dear Science" only 3 stars and really struggled to connect with it. This album, on the other hand, immediately hits the spot. I guess I played it a few times in the late 2000's so the familiarity probably helps. Gonna revisit "Dear Science" to give it another chance, I think. Fave tracks - "Staring at the Sun" is an obvious choice - dig all the a capella biz on "Ambulance" too!
Very good album with a unique sound. Not quite sure how to categorize it as the sound is at once otherworldly while being accessible. My vinyl copy has the bonus ep with Staring at the Sun that brings it to another level. 4 stars
deep fried yelling. i cannot stand the dual-tone layered vocals i feel like im going insane
Totally fine. Not something essential. 3/5
A desperately youth sapping album with zero redeeming features that made me thirsty for the blood of its creators. Seriously this sucked. And zero babes in sight.
Not really feeling it
This is #day28 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge and... I'm pleasantly surprised again by an entry on this list. I've heard only the band's name, never listening to a single song. I mean never. So I'm happy the stars aligned, and not only am I discovering TV On The Radio from their debut, but listening to it now, 20 years after it came out. Now, this is intricately weird music. And I like weird! A couple of other names come to mind while listening to TVOTR: Algiers and The Veldt. All three share one common core. Soul. But, while the first band blends it with industrial, darkwave, and hip-hop, the second, with shoegaze, TV On the Radio, with post-punk, noise, and all sorts of experimental sonic paraphernalia imaginable. That was really interesting. This is a strong 4 out of 5. Looking forward to #day29.
Sounds really interesting. Certainly worth more listens.
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is an intriguing and bold listen. When it's good, it really shines, blending atmospheric sounds with soulful melodies and sharp lyricism. However, there are moments when the album feels rambling and disjointed, losing focus in its experimental nature. Despite this, the uniqueness of the sound makes it worth exploring. At a time when much of the music scene was playing it safe, this album stood out for its willingness to push boundaries. Its fusion of indie rock, jazz, and electronic elements creates a fresh and unpredictable vibe. While it may not always land perfectly, the ambition and creativity are undeniable. For those seeking something different, this album offers a refreshing departure from the norm. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 2 STAND OUT TRACK - Staring at the Sun
I liked this album, especially the opening track and its weird sounds
I got excited when I heard the sax, I thought maybe this would be more like Morphine. It’s not, the album is okay, but not something I am likely to circle back to anytime soon.
Eh, some songs are fine, some are a little long… not my favorite.
These guys are one of the big bands from that aughts era indie that really shaped my music tastes. I'll usually go with Cookie Mountain over this one but they're both bangers. This one definitely feels a bit more raw and dark.
man TVOTR have one of the coolest original sounds on the planet freakin love these guys
Staring at the Sun
I've always thought these guys were pretty cool but not quite enough that I've given them any time. They're solid and very unique but still not anything I'm going to pursue much further.
Not my fav TV on the radio album but still a good one.
The end of the album was a bit weak, but the first half was interesting enough to warrant another listen.
Ok
7/10. Was choosing between 6 and 7 early - then started thinking between 7 and 8 by the end of it. Enjoyed throughout.
Uniqueness and creativity on a list of tired classic rock. Staring at the Sun is a banger.
This album took me by surprise. I remember listening to Dear Science earlier when I got it for the album generator and having...mixed opinions. But this was genuinely really good. I liked the darkness, the soundscapes, the quirkiness.
Trying to sound like a British Indie band but hampered by being just too American.
was not expecting the barbershop
It took me longer than expected to dig the vocals. Maybe it was the doubling with one in falsetto which irked me, I dunno. The production of the album seemed very... canny. Like they were playing a tin can or something. So the SOUND of the album, along with some of the vocals, kinda turned me off to it. Although a couple of songs I liked ("Poppy," "Staring At The Sun," "Bomb Yourself") it wasn't enough to make me like the album. Top Tracks: "Poppy," "Staring At The Sun," "Bomb Yourself"
Largely copy and paste my review of their other album here. I now know them a bit better but none of the songs I know are on this album. They make some interesting sounds and harmonies and are fairly eclectic. In some ways this epitomizes the new alternative rock - weird, tough to describe or categorize, not even sure if rock is the right word. Unlike their later album on this list, this one is right down the middle for me. Average, neither love nor hate, and a clear 3 and nothing more.
Millennial hipster music but I kinda dig it. One of the two singers is a little whiney (particularly prominent right out of the gate on The Wrong Way), but overall there's a cool vibe through most of the songs. Main criticism is it suffers from the same thing as a lot of the genre - each song is a really cool riff or beat that they just extend into song length. Yeah, the riffs are cool and they build and sometimes ebb, but learn how to write a bridge or a chorus or something - just have the song go somewhere new once in a while! I liked the a capella approach in Ambulance, although it went a little long. Relatedly, the album has a demo of Staring at the Sun that's also a capella. I wonder if that's their writing approach and on Ambulance they just decided to keep it that way? Interesting approach if that's true. Favorite tracks: Staring at the Sun, Don't Love You, Wear You Out.
Was aware of this band, but had never really listened to them. I enjoyed this, they are trying to do their own thing - favourite track was Bomb Yourself. Will come back to them.
Was this meant to be released in 2004? Sounds straight from the 80's. Favourite Songs: The Wrong Way, Staring at the Sun, Dreams, King Eternal. Least Favourite Songs: Ambulance, Don't Love You.
Challenging and a bit out there…. Probably needs a good few listens to ascend from what the hell is this to actually this is genius
This one threw me and challenged me a bit. At first I thought it was just pretentious art wank but then, about half way through, I started to appreciate the skill these cats have. I'm giving a 3 but only cos I feel it might not be their best work. Imma habe to listen to this more, and their other stuff. It's growing on me. This album, and presumably,their others, is not an album to stick on when you're doing the dishes or painting the kitchen. This demands your undivided attention. Headphones on, no distractions and just, listen. I'll be doing that properly with this soon.
meh
I’ve heard a few TOTR songs before but this was my first time listening to a full album. They do a lot of interesting stuff on this album. I don’t know how much I like it after just one listen but I did enjoy it. Going to give this a 3 for now but it might be a 4 in the future.
Another difficult one to rate. Pretty weird and not my cup of tea in any way. Still could be catchy and interesting at times. Maybe a few more listens would improve my rating but I don't think it's worth it.
Very hypnotic arrangements, beautifully distil the essence of the topics they talk about.
Well that was tedious. Musically I didn't mind it but by the end of the album, I just wanted the singer to shut up. I find his vocal style so grating.
TVOTR been one of my favourite finds in this album thing.
Nearly a 4
It starts out really strong with the first few songs. I really liked the addition of the saxophone. I also wasn't expecting doo-wop, but I liked it. A lot of the songs feel like they drone on, but in a good way. Favorites: "The Wrong Way, "Staring at the Sun", "Ambulance"
Dear Science (TV On The Radio’s 2008 album) was one of my favourite discoveries from this project when it came up a couple of years ago. Their energetic blend of heavy grooves and alternative rock, with soaring and multi-layered vocal melodies ripping out over pounding or slinking basslines, just makes them very exciting to listen to. This album sees them crafting that sound along with a healthy dose of a capella soundscapes, sounding like a proto-Young Fathers, and while it doesn’t quite reach the dizzying heights of Dear Science (also heard in 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain, which I don’t believe is on this list- though worth nothing the first edition of 1001 Albums came out in 2005, so this would have been their latest offering at that point), it must have been incredibly exciting at the time, and serves as a great indicator of what’s to come
This was really terrible.
This was alright.
Fun, creative album.
I was going to give this a higher rating due to the fact that I am a casual fan of TV On The Radio; however, as the album dragged on, I realized that if I were coming into this without knowing their later albums, I would have been slightly bored. It's dour post-punk, minimalist as hell. The drum machine sounds don't work well with the recording. It only hints at what they would become, but if it were what I discovered them as, I probably would have given them a pass. Favorite tracks: "King Eternal", "Poppy"
Ive heard a couple of TV on the Radio songs before and have really enjoyed them, so I went in thinking I would really enjoy this album. However, aside from staring at the sun, im really not enjoying the sound of most songs. They seem to be going for a discordant sound that can be grating at some parts. The vocals can sound good but sometime feel like they are out of the lead singers range. The instrumentation is often really simple and kind of goes for a garage rock-y vibe. Still, I can see the makings of a strong band here, and imagine I would enjoy some of their later albums. The album ends better than it starts, and sounds a little more like their works i am familiar with
Started off ok, descending into a more annoying version of Bloc Party.
I just really like it
After I finished listening to Dear Science, I thought, “Hey, that wasn’t actually half bad”. What I didn’t think was, “Man, I really want to hear another album from that band”. It was much more a one and done thing with me. Much to my dismay, this popped up today. It’s just another one of the many examples of serious missteps in terms of what albums were chosen. There really did not need to be more than one album from this band. Just having the one was probably more than needed. We couldn’t even get one album from Godspeed You! Black Emperor or J Dilla. But instead, I found myself listening to this. Being that this came out a couple years before the other record, it was bound to be somewhat different. Safe to say it was. It was such a drastic switch just within the first song, that I actually went back and listened to the opening track of Dear Science. And the differences are staggering. This takes a much more experimental approach. And I’m really glad their music evolved away from this over time. Because there is so little genuinely enjoyable music here, it’s surprising. This is not experimental in the right ways. At least not in the ways I like to hear. It’s more like if some AJR fans who are also theater kids came together to make an indie rock album, and were like “Let’s make it really dark and weird”. What results from that is this jumbled mess. First thing I have to speak on. The amount of A cappella on these songs drives me insane. Because this is the last context it would sound any good in. I am not opposed to that form of singing at all. I am an avid fan of Smooth McGroove. But you do have to be able to sing well in order to make it work. Singing well isn’t something these guys mastered. I actually found their voices interesting and enjoyable on the other album. So they must have improved between this record and that. This is like “baby’s first experimental rock album”. And it’s not one I would recommend to someone who enjoys that kind of music. Rating: 3/10
A couple very enjoyable hits, which I was not expecting!
Very enjoyable, I liked the vibe of it especially from a band I've never heard of prior to this
Grating... not for me. 2/5
polar opposite of the lcd album i gave a 1 star to..
Interesting
Niet mijn ding, hoor allemaal geluiden door elkaar heen
2.5
This was genuinely horrible. It made me think of Suicide (NOT a double meaning) just in a different time with different drugs. And by that I mean it was genuinely horrible.
Album 487 of 1001 TV On The Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes Rating : 3 / 5 Some good indie rock. A bit strange, at times, but that is all relative.
I'm not a fan of monotony in music, and so far, this album seems to feature monotony. Four more songs in, and it's unchanged. This does not appeal to me.
I really like an album of theirs that isn't on this list, this was not good - all the worst bits of their other stuff
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes did not sound like something I'd enjoy from the write-ups and the genre, and so it proves. This is awful indulgent rubbish from people who have an over-inflated opinion of themselves as musicians. 1.
Didn't like this at all; not sure we needed two of their albums on this list really? Definitely preferred the other one we had (700 albums ago!), this one doesn't have the same edge to it. Staring at the Sun kind of gets there, but nothing other than that really moves me, it's really forgettable. Sounds like an album full of songs that Bloc Party didn't want. 2/5.
Had I found this when I was 17 it would’ve been obsessed with it. A Side is way stronger than the B.
Interesting. Really needs a few more listens to make a great review, but it’s not something that really makes me want to listen to it again right away. So that tells me something. Just kind of meh! 2.5
Wouw.. this is bad..
only listened to 4 songs, it’s giving Beck if he was art pop and picked up the electric guitar.
I had heard this album once or twice before. I like it, it’s a nice blend of indie rock and experimental sounds
There are elements that are reminiscent of other Indie bands from around the same time, something about the vocal phrasing and layering of vocals reminds me of Bloc Party, but there’s also an element that I can’t quite put my finger on which kinda turned me off it. It’s not that I disliked any of it actively, I just couldn’t find myself invested in it