Reviews (page 7 of 7)
I didn't really enjoy it. The album seemed to change midway through, and it was just not that great IMO. It'll get an extra star for not being Noise Rock.
Rather boring.
Never a bad time for TOTR.
Tbh I didn't love it as much as some others but I should probably listen again
At first I thought, "Art Rock", is this even a category? Then song two was unexpectedly really good. Then I heard the barbershop quarter known as "Ambulance" and then I thought I might actually need one.
It's 30-40% too experimental for me. Starting at the Sun, Dreams, Don't Love You really work for me. The vibe is good, but the vocalizations on a delicate line between being too falsetto and alternative-falsetto that plays well. Several songs don't really go anywhere (Poppy) and there's a few that are a bit too experimental for me. Interesting.
Rock with a different approach. I like it. Unusual arrangements that I find surprisingly catchy.
Not sure I’m a fan
I like a lot of their more recent stuff, so I was excited for this.... sadly it just didn't do it for me.
Some interesting stuff, but overall not something I'd seek out again.
Nojaa
Ihme vinkunaa taas
Extraño sincretismo musical con dejes noise que no ha conectado en ningún momento conmigo. Y no será por falta de oportunidades.
Okay
This obviously came from a different list, 1001 albums you'll skip through because it's absolute shit. That droning pulse is awful, the lyrics are trite, but that all pales into insignificance with those grating vocals.
Like they told Trent Reznor to re-do Downward Spiral, "but happier?" Also, take this saxophone. You'll know when to use it.
This is a great debut album. The production is really solid for the vibe of the music. TV on the Radio was a really unique and cool band to come out of this early 2000s NYC wave of indie bands and I remember liking this album when it came out but it had been a little while since I had listened to it. I feel like this one is a solid 4/5 for me. I went back for additional listens throughout the day, which is always a good indicator for me that an album should be in the 4-5 star range. Standout Tracks: The Wrong Way, Staring at the Sun, King Eternal, Ambulance, Poppy, Wear You Out
What's this? An album from the early 2000s that's good? I must be truly blessed this day. The album is really interesting. They go through a lot of different sounds and styles while still keeping it coherent. The production is excellent and gets great texture out of the music. This is one that I might have to pick up on vinyl if I can find it 4/5
Förvånansvärt bra. Jag är överraskad.
I thought this was fine but it wasn't really my style. Started bad, got fine, and then got worse. 5/10.
Started out strong, lost interest half way through.
First song is a bit much. Almost cool, but far too busy. I don't like this much at all. This might be one of the worst albums I've heard
stronger than Dear Science
A lengthy downbeat album that threatens to become interesting but never really does. The bass is pretty good and the doubling of the voices is an interesting effect. Beyond that it’s a kind of a snore. Best song: Wear You Out
It seems fairly rare than I’m generated an album to listen to that was recorded post-millenium. Today’s album is one of these, and is a band I’ve never heard of before. I can forgive myself for not knowing albums that came out before I was born, but anything post-1990 seems like something I should at least be vaguely aware of. Let’s listen! Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Staring At The Sun, Ambulance This reminded me of another band, although I’m not sure who that other band is. I like the layered vocals here, despite rarely being harmonised and generally being the same melodies. I don’t usually like that, but it sounded nice here. The music is quite odd and I’m not sure how to categorise it aside from alt-rock, which is too broad a genre. It didn’t blow me away, but it was a pleasant listen.
I’m not super familiar with TV On The Radio, but I did like this album a lot! Maybe just because it felt like something different than the norm, but the brooding drones and alt-rock guitar really scratched an itch. “Staring at the Sun” was the standout (though I think I’ve heard it before) and “Bomb Yourself” felt like a cutting political take on the era, but every track flowed nicely together into a cohesive and unique sound. Hearing this album makes me want to explore the band more since this is just their debut.
Rock experimental.
They have some good stuff going on here. I felt fairly neutral about it overall though, I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because most of the songs have a kind of self loathing feeling to them that I don't like staying in too long. I could see it growing on me though, we'll see.
I fell in love with these guys with the "Young Liars" EP and rushed out to get this record when it was released. Though they went on to expand their sound on later albums, I still prefer the directness and purity of this earlier work. By leaving more to the imagination, it somehow makes the atmosphere richer. I love their use of electronic elements throughout, and their choices for distortion and tone are exquisite. This album is a great example of being dark and heavy while still retaining a real human beauty. Besides enjoying the tangled webs they weave with their arrangements, I think the thing that is most exciting about their sound is that it's truly centered around the human voice.
Never heard this album of theirs. It's a bit more raw and artsy than their other work but overall pretty similar to the sound I'd expect. Kind of a wash over me and nothing sticks out, but it's a 3.5 rounded up to 4.
Wasn’t really feeling this one. Similar to Jungle in a sense but not as smooth and cohesive. The acapella-ish sound , if that’s what they were going for, seemed a bit disjointed. The best was very repetitive and, at times, seemed like it was building up a climax of sorts but then the transitions usually fell flat. Not a fan.
So close to a 5 Gets better with every listen I will revisit this one from time to time. I love the vibe, it feels like they would add a different instrument or backing vocal at any point to make any song better, it felt risky and rewarding. I'll go 4/5 for now, but this one will likely grow on me
This was kind of like Lost Souls by Doves, which was only about a week ago for me: mostly pretty boring, but I liked one song (Staring at the Sun, with this one).
Ehh I should like this but it wasn't really vibing with me. I like the indie nature of it but I wasn't feeling it. Something to revisit in the future and maybe it'll speak more to me.
-has a low-key sound -decent lyrics -most songs seem unresolved -nothing that really grabbed me or made me want to listen to it again
I liked this more than I thought I would.
Some quite good songs on here! Didn't love all of them, but definitely a few added to my library :)
This one was all over the musical map, some tracks were great some less so. The one that sounded like Bobby McFerrin was my favorite.
6/10. The fact that they had the lyric "Final Fantasy" in an album that was definitely released after Final Fantasy existed is an unforgivable mistake, really distracted me from the song, and now that I've written this review it's all I'll ever remember about this album.
Reminded me of Doves but felt more interesting. 7/10
God "punk", 4/5. Lidt ala AM. You Could Be Love er for fed!
Interesting good
Yeah I just couldn't get into it. Most all of the songs sound about the same
Previously had only listened to Dear Science by this band, this seemed more aggressively art-forward. It grew on me though and I ended up really liking it.
Starts strong but loses momentum in the second half. Overall decent. The bonus track is flat out terrible. Memo to musicians. Don't do bonus tracks. If the song isn't good enough to be on the original album, don't use it as a bonus track. More often than not, bonus tracks are awful.
Fun album. A product of it's time. Not gonna return to this.
Never heard of them. Wasn't sure what to expect. Seems out of time. Amazing.
Odd, kinda cool. Chill, weird noises. One of a kind
Nothing to say.
Hard
Long et chiant, un peu comme les séances de sport trop chers pour ce qu'elles sont d'eltrapeze.
Long et penible, un peu comme l'attente du review du mariage de Charles.
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Starting at the Sun, Ambulance
Quite Radiohead in its experimentalism. Textures and some surprising doo-wap. Bit boring overall.
A strong debut from one of the best bands of the 00s, showcasing their unique ability to blend multiple disparate styles, like post-punk, electronic, hip-hop, doo wop, etc. The first half is great, with Dreams and Ambulance as standouts next to the previously released Staring at the Sun. The second half is darker and more overtly political, which I think makes it a bit weaker.
Sembla que és un dels discos que han caigut de la llista de ‘1001 imprescindibles’. Quina mala folla. És el gloriós segon disc d’una banda única i possiblement el seu millor moment, tot i que els dos posteriors s’hi acosten molt. Solvent, poderós, innovador i vigorós, temes com ‘Staring at the Sun’ o ‘Dreams’ es troben entre el millor de començaments del mil.leni
Op basis van een andere album van deze lui had ik hoge verwachtingen, maar die werden niet ingelost; wat een nutteloos gekloot zeg.
Wat een ongedefinieerd geneuzel. Bah.
Beetje weird, maar ook wel interessant. En weer eens iets wat niet de gebaande paden braaf volgt.
Blehhh. This album was exhausting to get through and it annoyed me by the end of it. The vocals were grating and the music was nothing. It's a low two. Really hope the other one is better. I guess my favourite song was The Wrong Way, but I didn't like any of them.
There’s lots of interesting things going on here but none of them add up to a memorable song
Yea...I've got to get to some Blackberry Smoke prep, so this will be relatively quick. First couple songs had me interested and thought different, but OK. Then we got to Ambulance and Poopy and I started to get a little annoyed. About the time of Don't Love You and Bomb Yourself, I thought to myself, this dude sounds a lot like Peter Gabriel. In other words, the interest wore off and I was thinking about other things. The end of the album just seemed to be noise and chanting and I'll be a sonofabitch, but there was the damn flute. The flute! WTF and just wrong. Ran a little long too, but in reality, I was done once I heard the phucken flute. I was prepared to rate a 2, but given the flute factor, 1.5 it is. Scoreboard will show 2. 1.5
I liked the moody distorted bass songs more than the a-capella stuff which reminded me of when the Always Sunny gang does their joke a-capella stuff. 2
2 For a group I had previously never heard of and that I thought offered a pretty mediocre listening experience last time, I really wasn’t expecting to see these guys again on this list, but here we are… and it’s even less enjoyable than before. I’ll give them this, the group has a pretty unique sound, to the point where I have no idea what genre to even classify them as. Industrial easy listening? Noise lounge? Thankfully, I have Wikipedia to bail me out here, which classifies this album as “avant-pop” and “dark wave”, neither of which are terms I’m familiar with, but both seem apt. Unfortunately, it seems neither avant-pop nor dark wave are my thing - the songs here for me ranged from uninteresting to annoying (holy cow Ambulance might be up there as one of the worst things I’ve heard on this list so far). While I wouldn’t describe every song here as sounding the same, I would say they’re all doing the same kind of thing, and so I found this to be a really repetitive and uninteresting ride to the end. Not sure why the listmakers have such a hard-on for these guys - I really teetered towards a 1 here, especially with the inclusion of Ambulance, but I think the rest of the album is at least inoffensive enough to keep it out of that territory. Still, don’t see myself listening to any of this again.
TV On The Radio album #2 (#74 overall): another largely forgettable album. After this one was done playing, Wolf Like Me started playing and I can immediately see why this band was included. Why this album? It's not bad, but I feel like so many good albums were left off for this. Meh. 3/5
This is the kind of album I'm here for! Music by musicians, not frauds chasing moneybags. Loved how bizarre this was, obviously a passion project - will tune in again
White noise inspired. Sounds like to budding artists got together in a studio and recorded it. It's got potential though. A good album to drive back home to. Or listen to while you're being slow or about to sleep
Very solid and promising, not quite as good as their next two
4/10
Inte min grej. Alla låtar är likadana och inte på ett bra sätt. Tröttsam skiva att lyssna på.
They have better records tho!
It was an OK album. Not my style but I didn’t hate it.
I wish I could give this 2.5 stars, but alas that is not possible. So while I don’t think it fully deserves 2 stars, I will be giving it this. There were some parts that I liked, particularly some of the sounds at the beginning, but I have no urge to give it a re listen.
Turn on the Sirius XM alternative channel - is it playing this?
Fun and quirky and deep and weird. Loved this from beginning to end! Never knew what the next track would be.
Desperate is accurate. The album though is blah.
Ooh, this is really interesting, on many levels, even if it’s not immediately “easy to love”. I think it could really grow on me. Based on a quick listen to all the first half and part-songs in the 2nd half, 3.5 rounded up to 4 to make sure I do come back to it!
Whacko album. Track 1 sounds like there’s a motorbike in the background. Every track has some different sort of drum-beat happening. Ambulance is built around some sort of recurring doo-woo refrain. And it ends with the 7-minute Wear You Out, which seems to be built on drumming that brings to mind a native American beat, before it heads off into the territory of free jazz. I didn’t take any notice of the lyrics. But I really enjoyed the music.
I never bought into the hype around the cohort of hipster bands that emerged from the New York scene (especially centered around Brooklyn) in the early 2000s. TV on the Radio weren't as (uncritically) over-rated and fawned over to the same degree as, say, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or the Strokes. Pitchfork even described them as "soulless". This album is a bit cleverer (and more original) than most of the other bands on the scene (even if derivative of NY post-punk from the first go around), but it flatly does not rock. And you can't dance to it. It's really unfocussed and noodly. It could use a bit more drama, and a little less intellectual remove, or like the band are slightly sedated. It really just sounds like demos of what might have been a cool album. Two stars.
This album doesn't deserve to be on the list. While it is all right and has some character on some of the songs it is still meandering. Loops are not an adequate replacement for actual drums.
Not bad. Some half decent tunes, but doubt I’d listen again.
Quite a bit of different music genres melting together on this. Certain songs work really well, others not so much but I like the creativity.
I think this is a good record and a band with a new and unique sound. I’m not a huge fan although I do like a few songs. Feels 4ish regardless of whether I like it all that much.
A good listen, maybe not as high on my list as some of their other albums. Seem more low key to me.
It was fine. I hadn’t listened to this one in a while and I didn’t like it as much as I remembered.
Finally something original on this list. It could have been somewhat more abrasive but overall very nice
Yeah man, this was ok! Enjoyable but didn’t take my socks off!
This is the second TV on the Radio album that I've gotten in this generator. The first, Dear Science, was a teriffic album. This one... Not so much. A lot of shrieking and random humming on this album. Also, really weird and experimental music and noises that just didn't hit for me. Super disappointing seeing how much I liked that first album of theirs that I reviewed. Dude has a voice that sounds like Prince by times. Favourite songs: Don't Love You, Bomb Yourself Least favourite songs: The Wrong Way, Ambulance, You Could Be Love 2/5
Literally never heard of these guys in my life, but it’s like… very *very* good type of indie, got some good alt rock flavor of the time
Não é ruim, mas rockzinho alternativo meio cansativo
Nothing burger. But not awful.
4.25
Average at best
Decent, but I struggled to get enthused by it.
Very unique sound, lots of genres mashed together by a band that seems to have a lot of fun with it.
Weird indie rock that I sorta found too hipsterish and off putting for my taste. I think for the Pitchfork crowd this is like…a ten out of ten but I’ve never been much for that sort of thing. For me it’s more of a strong 5…outta 10
Very talented band. But not for me.
Nicely done.
first listen kinda boring and weird, sounds like a bad Bowie album (which he doesn't have)
TV On The Radio took the forward motion of motorik and laid it down record-length. Added some incongruous sound on top and let the knobs spin wild in the mix. That erases the foundation at points, but Desperate Youth stubbornly fails to come apart even as a cappella tends to drag. It is all a bit disorienting, the electric flashes in the night as rendered honestly by the cover. Useful illumination on the scaffolding of a later sound.
4.5
3.5 but want to come back to it
Groovy at points, but way too heavy on the falsetto. Best track: Don't Love You
I was excited to see that these guys have another album on this list. I listened to quite a bit of their music after I got dear science but was still unfamiliar with this album. It wasn’t quite as good as the rest of their music but still sounded like their signature (if a little rougher) sound that I liked so much before. This album had a couple duds (especially the bonus tracks) throughout but songs like dreams outweighed them.
This is another one of those albums where I get it, but it’s not for me. I appreciated some of the more unique production choices, but the minimal drum beats and marvel movie synth orchestra stuff really left me cold. I’m glad to have listened to this album, but I’ll most likely never listen to it again.
This was ultimately fairly disappointing for me. When I was listening to the opening track The Wrong Way, I was getting pretty hyped. I thought it was really out there, cool and weird. Turns out the rest of the album was not like that at all and pretty much just sounded like Bloc Party. It’s fine as far as that era of indie rock goes, nothing particular offensive, just nothing super interesting. Ultimately I’ve got no issue with this album and probably won’t mind if it comes on in an indie mix in the future, just probably not something I’ll go looking for (except the opening track, that was super cool)
Really cool aspects, but feels like generic 2010s alternative in a lot of ways. Cool they were so early, but 20 years later it is a bit boring
I listened to Dear Science about a year ago and was impressed with the accessibility of their music, with plenty of catchy songs to sing and dance to, and one of the strongest attempts at fusing funk rock with garage revival. Well, this one is far less accessible. In this earlier album, the vocals still remind me of Prince, but there's not much funky about it. The mood is overall very sinister, with dark synths and other eery instruments, like an atonal trumpet ("The Wrong Way"), wild flutes ("Wear You Out"), and a foreboding organ ("Don't Love You"). This record has no end to its innovation. Many tracks blend genres in a way that maintains a similar dark mood and atmosphere yet combines ideas for a song that you never thought could work. The first track ("The Wrong Way") straight away shoves all sorts of atonality and clashing instruments with some central melody that in some ways reminds me of the art rock work of Roxy Music. "Staring at the Sun", a re-recording of their first single from their Young Liars EP, and one of their most popular songs; follows a harsh drone (like the band Suicide). If the intro didn't push you away, this will grab your attention. "Dreams" is a typical post-punk revival track like what you would see on Interpol. No complaints, probably the most accessible track on the album. "King Eternal" is industrial rock on the surface. Could see this coming from a NiN record. "Poppy" blends beautiful a capella on top a very distressing, highly distorted noise riff. "Ambulance" is a minimalist doo-wop track with nothing more than lo-fi forest ambiance (and somehow the second most popular song). "Don't Love You" has a frail techno-theme going on that matches the old haunted mansion aesthetic that the organ gives off. "Bomb Yourself" is the most chaotic song on here, with weird effects coming from each speaker. If I had to describe it, it's probably a funk song thrown into an industrial filter with some folk instruments on top. "Wear You Out" is a loud and wild closer that gets increasingly more chaotic as it goes on, and it keeps going on and on until slowly dying off. Every track is memorable. The tracks are highly experimental and fun, but a lot of it does feel forced and clashes to not work as well as it could. It sounds fantastic but harsh at times. I could see them improving these songs to be grander or more accessible.
boring
Love love
I still can't quite understand the cultural impact of TV on the Radio. While they are indie darlings, no doubt, I had never encountered the band's name until I saw their 2008 album on this list. It was pretty good! This one is just good. Some interesting ideas being explored but never in any context that compelled me. Felt like a good start for the band that would go on to do better things.
3.9 - Starts cool and measured with some artful layering of growly guitars and husky saxophones on songs like "Staring at the Sun." The paired lead and falsetto backing vocals adds a rough element that blends nicely with the dark atmosphere. "Ambulance" marks a creative apex, sung a cappella. From there, the record takes a marked downturn and I'd say they extend that denouement for too long with "Don't Love You", "Bomb Yourself", "Wear You Out." One other solid rocker would've ended this record on a higher high.
Pretty good! This is the second TVOTR album I’ve had. I can see why people like them, although I don’t feel particularly compelled to seek them out on my own in the future. I really liked “Staring at the Sun.” More probably of a 3.5.
you guys accidentally turned the treble all the way down
Don’t understand the critical appeal of this band to begin with, much less this dirge of an LP. The last thing I needed today was TVOTR’s insufferable vocals over ambient drone sludge for an hour, maybe they got tired of pretending to care about writing interesting, dynamic songs.
Its ok. Cool soundscapes, didnt speak much to me one way or the other though
eu votei sem querer
The high vocals on TVOTR always sound like muppets singing to me. This album didn't change my mind.
It's like a mix of Pixies, early Radiohead and something else I can't really put my finger on. It's very experimental. This album was OK at best. I liked the first two songs but then it droned on.
yeah, pretty good.
The smooth sound of Morgan Freeman covered in jam. I was so high.
I'm thirsty, babes. Get us some blood.
Pretty interesting sound, I prefer it to the other TV On The Radio album that was on here. Ultimately it doesn’t really add up to too much besides a decent listen
Helt coolt men int greppande på någo sätt alls
I love TV On the Radio! This is not my favourite album of theirs, but cool to learn it was their debut. Staring at the Sun is an awesome track.
I really tried to like this and I do think there are a couple of good ideas spread across the album. But mostly the music is just so extremely inconsequential. Why this would be included on here is completely beyond me.
Fine pop music, in tradition of older NYC bands like Talking Heads but also seems to be inspired by e.g. Peter Gabriel and folky stuff. Liked the song Wear You Out best.
Ugh, horrible discordant noodling nonsense. Extra disappointing because I enjoyed Dear Science. Do they really deserve 2 albums on this list?
I think this album was alright, I really enjoyed their use of just vocals
3.5
Olipahan tylsä ja kaikin puolin laimea levy. Ei tuottanut mitään elämää rikastuttavaa kokemusta.
Vilahti vähän niinku ohi päivän aikana ku autossa ajeli. Ei jäänyt erityisesti mitään mieleen
It was much more of an art rock vibe than I thought it would be. I expected more of an electronic vibe. Definitely not a bad album, but left a pretty flat impression on me. Best: Ambulance Worst: Poppy
3.5
Really disappointing. Probably the most overrated of the early aughts indie bands. 2/5
This is pretty cool, despite being another album with absolutely zero cultural impact, that was dragged out of the deepest pits of hell and put onto this list by demon king Beelzebub himself. A very "it's the middle of the night and I'm on an empty highway"-kind of album. I dig the aesthetic. Haven't heard anything quite like this. Interesting listen overall. Glad I gave it a chance.
Alternative rock that's loud, post-rock, post-post-punk, completely undanceable and deconstructed. While it sounds aggressive and loud, it comes across more like a "back off" creating a wall of protection from the distorted guitar, bass and synth loops. The drums are subdued and quiet compared to the tremolo picking lines that are bright. Vocals interweave in to one another which makes this record more sophisticated than the "standard" post-rock faire.
Pretty good, but nothing special.
I remember the name but dunno if I ever heard these guys. Stupid hipster title in any case, even if it turns out to be great (it won't). eh, it's repetitive, minimalist indie rock. Was really bored by song #2 but it went for a full hour. Not a babe in sight. jeeeeeeeez. 2/5.
2 Again. Didnt quite hurt my ears Actually 1 I cant take this
Really only liked Staring at the Sun
Quite liked this one. Worth a few more listens.
-never heard of this band or album tbh -first song has a very interesting vibe -EERIE beginning of this one omg -i REALLY like this song -staring at the sun is in the liked songs club -dreams was okay -love the dum dum dum dum dums in the back of this one -i love the vocals and how high they go -overall i am enjoying this -i wish half stars existed cause idk if this is 3 or 4 stars
It's good but not great and also all the songs kind of sound the same.
It's an odd one.... nothing really exciting here. Might get better with time, we'll see. 2.5
I ALREADY RATED THIS YOU IDIOTS
There was a good, droney taste here that pulled from diverse sonic ingredients, but I wish it didn't get blended so homogenously. Every sip tasted the same.
I originally was disappointed because the album was not going anywhere, but about 3 or 4 songs in I fell in love with this sound. Very dark, dreamy, and Drone like.
Nothing enjoyable really. Like you can passively listen, but the sound is horrible. Sounds like it was recorded on a phone.
Interesting to hear the big variety of styles and artistry but overall not more than 3 stars
Pop sin contemplaciones con un estilo un tanto definido y una voz característica. Aunque se escucha fácil, pasan sin pena ni gloria
There are some hits and misses on this album.
Very intense, and dark, cool rock 3/5
Fela kuti + ar Kane + pixies played by theatre kids suprisingly tiring listen
Imagine if a barbershop quartet got deep into Sonic Youth and early 00s Radiohead, and you have a rough idea of what this sounds like. It's interesting - I feel like it would reward further listens - though I didn't bother then so I don't know that I will now. It's music I have a lot of respect for, but probably wouldn't buy.
Fascinating and weird, high tech and acoustic. Very curious.
No me gustó
Certainly alternative rock from the early 2000s, there's this sound you can pick up from it, but I like the addition of a sort of soul sound to it all, like if Lenny Kravitz started making music in this era instead. That being said, it is very repetitive, and almost none of the songs have a climax, it's usually the same song it was five minutes before with an extra voice and instrument or two. That isn't always true, but it certainly felt like it. Otherwise pretty alright, just feels like it should've done more.
This band definitely deserve more attention from my ears
3.75
Not a big fan of the instrument choices or the vocals.