All Born Screaming

Broken Man is cool. Flea is cool. Big Time Nothing is verrrry cool and groovy. Violent Times continues the groove and I'm into the album now. Sweetest Fruit is so cool. We Are All Born Screaming has such a weird easy groove with almost grotesque lyrics. Like if Lorde's Solar Power was a stoner from Bushwick and also an existential happy nihilist. This was so cool! need to revisit.

Holy shit what a great album! Blew me away. I’ve always loved St Vincent but haven’t heard much from her lately. Wow she’s been cooking. Nobody makes music like her. Fucking incredible

Holy crap, this is good. Dark, atmospheric, and full of interesting layers. Some of it sounds like it could be the theme to a Bond movie, which is definitely a compliment. Just a really interesting album that kept surprising me. Added it to my library before I even finished listening. Easy five stars. ★★★★★

St. Vincent basically makes nothing but great albums.

Ah, so that's why I've been told to check these guys out

Excellent, bit of a builder that gets better on second listen

3.5 stars. Starts heavier (almost industrial rock) and morphs into brighter sound (art pop-y). Slick, modern, production which at time helps and at time detracts from the sound. Standouts are "Reckless" (really the second half) and the title track which is nice closer and encapsulates the album's start to finish evolution.

starts sick and just gets better. goes from snappy art pop to big fuzzy beats to late stage alex turner crooning and back again. very cool variety of sounds and rhythms lassoed together with strong and cohesive theming. dope beginning, dope middle, dope ending, feels like a complete and neatly tied up package. it goes by so quick, i think because there isn't really a spot where it drags. had to listen to it a few times because it felt weird fawning over such a recent release, but i think i'm just a fan. favorite song is maybe Sweetest Fruit but the bar is pretty high

Very good. Me like.

Love this!

I was familiar with St. Vincent but had never experienced until this album. I liked it a lot! -very passionate with a great rhythm.

Not her best album. But a below-average St. Vincent is better than most bands’ magnum opuses.

Glad to listen to some St Vincent at last, although I'd have preferred to start at the beginning! Ticks a lot of my boxes - electronic, interesting. Not all the tracks grabbed me on an initial listen, but I'm fairly sure I'll be coming back to the band for more.

Loved this. New to me, wouldn't have heard otherwise, really great

I saw St. Vincent circa 2008 and she was amazing! This record is a disappointment.

This was terrific, new to me

"Set me on fire, Kerosene!" I wanted to return to this updated list with a more critical eye, but this is 7 in a row now that I won't complain about! (Including Brat and Songs of a Lost World, which technically came up on our user list first) Not first listen, though I never spent much time with this one. I checked my lil' diary to find out I first listened to this on November 30, 2024. That's the same day I got Kid A from this website. Fucking A, no wonder I was distracted then! I don't know if this is the best example of St Vincent's music. I can't begin to tell you where to start in St. Vincent's discography. I will say I had already heard Actor and Daddy's Home before All Born Screaming, and all three are so god-dang different from each other. I probably took to the former two, experimental rock & psychedelic soul projects, faster, but relistening to this I can say this is another quality album from her. Two tracks that aren't my FAVOURITE thing ever are "Big Time Nothing", which is almost too obvious a throwback to 90's alt-rock, especially U2's "Numb", and "So Many Planets", because isn't there enough white reggae on the original list? But pretty much the rest of the album is a smorgasbord of dark, danceable rock tunes mixed with some heavenly-sounding synths. I'm glad to come back to this after the dust from the "Best of 2024" lists have cleared, and finding out it's still solid. HL: "Hell is Near", "Violent Times", "Broken Man", title track October 20, 2026

i'm not well versed in st. vincent's oeuvre enough to make complaints about which album(s) are on the list and which aren't, but i am floored that none of her albums were added to the list until this one. for someone who is widely regarded as innovative, forward looking, and influential as she is, it's a shame it took until the 2026 edition of the book to add one of her albums. for that reason, i'm glad she is at least represented. as for the album, it is effortlessly cool. a lot of it is reminiscent of prince, with a modern indie rock flair. i can definitely see why she is very well acclaimed. that being said, based on the reputation, i was expecting something a bit more from this. it's not bad, just wished i got more out of it.

A triumphant guitar god taps into her soul after a bit of noise and funk.

Favourite so far out of the new released albums (which I guess are 2020 onwards). The flow of the album is quite nice and it's an easy album to listen to, with nice vocals and some mixed styles which I liked.

“I needed to go deeper in finding my own sonic vocabulary...I like to think of [the record] as post-plague pop, it’s a lot about heaven and hell – the metaphorical kinds. Which is appropriate, because sitting alone in a studio for that many hours I would say is a version of hell.” Annie Clark (St Vincent), Mojo Magazine February 2024 Highlights: Hell Is Near, Broken Man. Rough like Nine Inch Nails. Defiant like Fiona Apple. Experimental like 80s Kate Bush. A fusion of Annie Clark's previous work. This is what All Born Screaming is about. Annie said in an interview that this was the album she wanted to make earlier in her career but needed more life experience to do it justice. Which is a good call. St Vincent is a must listen. You can take your pick with the albums though. I recommend Masseduction, Daddy's Home or St Vincent first. Overall: 7/10

Hey! It’s one of the new albums and one that I happen to know already! Great choice user. Congrats and RIP your notifications

Solid sutff. I enjoyed this. She always provides original, fresh, and unique songwriting to her work. I appreciates that. Maybe I need to listen a couple more times to get familiar with the songs, but it could feel a little samsies towards the end. No other gripes. I like this. 4/5

Just doing the most. Very intense and dramaric, but a lot of the songs are surprisingly upbeat. Really enjoyed the use of trumpets and funky drum beats throughout. Made possible by a huge glowering synth covered in LEDs that will be revealed to be evil in the 3rd act. Favorite tunes : Reckless (purely for the drop) and Sweetest fruit, and of course, Broken man

I've heard of St. Vincent a bunch but have never dug into her stuff. This is damn good. Was really loving it all and then Violent Times kinda blew me away. What a fuckin song. This isn't the highest of 5's, but that was extremely enjoyable. Production was on point and loved the sound and vibe of the album.

I don't have any specific song notes, but really enjoyed this on a single play through. Nice production and the front half was really strong and kept things churning forward. Low 4 for me.

That was a really cool unique album. Flea was an awesome song. All Born Screaming was really f'in trippy at the end but a great way to close it out

This one was originally my user-submitted album on the generator and I was very excited to see it added to the 2026 edition of the book (and thus, moved to the main list of the generator). I'm also excited to finally be able to leave a review here. When selecting my user submission, I had a handful of artists I really wanted to showcase. A handful of them were submitted by others before I had the chance, and when the time came, I knew that I was going with St Vincent. Annie Clark is an incredible artist and it's criminal that she didn't make the cut earlier. I honestly think she's one of my most interesting artists out there right now. Now having read the other reviews, a question that I saw come up a lot was why this album? I was really on the fence about it, to be honest and very nearly went with Masseduction, which I thought is likely to be the most popular pick. Ultimately though, this is the album that really made me fall in love with St Vincent. Arguably, she has better songs on different releases ("New York" and "Actor Out of Work" to name some of my favorites). But "All Born Screaming" is, in my opinion, the better complete album, albeit maybe more of a slowburn. When it came out, I found myself listening to it constantly without skipping a track. There are so many amazing songs here, but my favorites are "Flea", "Sweetest Fruit" (an ode to Sophie, another amazing artist), and the title track. And there's a fantastic selection of musicians on the album as well, including Dave Grohl, Josh Freese (Foo Fighters/Nine Inch Nails), Justin Meldal-Johnsen (Nine Inch Nails/Beck), Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint) and Cate Le Bon, one of the best producers on the scene right now. The other reason I went with this album for my user pick is that I figured, if anyone else is going to add a St Vincent album (and I hope someone does!), it probably won't be this one. So let me take this chance to promote a personal favorite. It seems as though Robert Dimery proved me wrong though and picked the same one! So my plea to listeners is, definitely check out her other albums when you can, but don't dismiss this one. There's a lot going on here.

It started out alright, but I lost interest a few tracks in. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it that day, but there was no resonance.

Good album.

Oh cool, another good album. That's always nice to see. I've vaguely heard the name St. Vincent thrown around a bit in online music discussions, so it's nice to get an album from an artist that isn't completely obscure and could therefore be justified in being here. I'm going to try and be fairly quick with this one tonight. I liked this album! It's pretty good. St. Vincent's artistic spirit is strong on this album and it works for me. There's a lot of musical variety which I love. Her voice is pretty solid. I'm definitely getting vibes from artists like Kate Bush on this one, which is always welcome. I also got some more unexpected influences from bands like Talking Heads and even a bit of Nine Inch Nails on songs like "Broken Man," so that's cool. Good song, by the way. "Big Time Nothing" was cool as well. "Violent Times" kinda felt like a Bond theme, which I liked. The whole album is good. Apparently this isn't even the best St. Vincent album, so I might want to check out some of her earlier stuff after today. All I know is that my current opinion of St. Vincent is a positive one. I like her vibe and I like this album. Decent 4/5.

Surprised at liking some of this as it went on. I didn't realise how close to Goldfrapp her sound was.

Nope.

Again perfectly fine, but not doing anything new or standout from the 100s of other artists doing this in 2026

I'm really surprised by the lack of strong, fierce female singers on this list... Instead it's just a bunch of mediocre bands fronted by women. This definitely falls under the latter category

This Art Rock album feels like walking through a city during a thunderstorm, watching familiar streets flash into view under sudden bursts of lightning before disappearing into darkness again. St. Vincent combines distorted guitars, pounding drums and unsettling electronic textures with moments of delicate, almost dreamlike calm. Her voice shifts between intimate vulnerability and theatrical intensity, making the music feel unpredictable and emotionally exposed. The sudden changes in volume and atmosphere keep me alert, as if something could erupt around every corner. Beneath the noise, there is a sense of someone trying to find beauty and connection in a world that feels unstable. I move through this storm without knowing where it will lead, almost drawn onward by the contrast between its destructive force and its fleeting moments of warmth.

Violent Times sounds like it was developed for a Bond movie that never got made. Overall, this album had some high highs and some middle-of-the-road moments. There wasn't really a low point, but there were lulls.

I could definitely identify some influences here, a bit of Kate Bush, some Talking Heads, lots of others. Sadly, many of the inspirations are from artists I don't enjoy listening to. Couple this with the pop sensibilities on display here and we have a bit of a stinker I feel. I'm going with two stars because there were a few odd occasions where it seemed to be going somewhere different, even though it ultimately didn't.

Interesting soundscape, liked, didn't love it. 3/5

Electrifying rock music with verve and swagger. St Vincent is a class act.

A really cool album that's easy to listen through with some stand out songs. Not music That I usually listen to but some songs definitely made playlists today.

мне хватило одного альбома Ст Винсент, я её осознала, оценила её навыки и подходы, больше меня ничего не цепляло

Review - I think this is the first time I've got an album brand new to the list. I've never really gotten into St Vincent but also never really given her a chance. This album is pretty good. Sometimes I'd be finding a song a bit dull, then she's bring in some interesting backing vocals or a weird chord change and it got back on track. It's very well produced and the song writings good. But it definitely tapered off towards the second half of the album. Also Big Time Nothing is very Bjork influenced, song title like Big Time Sensuality and synth like Army Of Me. That's sort of where the drop in quality started, just made me want to listen to Bjork instead. Score - 7/10 Need to listen? YES

I've tried over the years to appreciate St. Vincent, but this album is pretty average stuff.

New additions to the new edition day #6 Immediately know this is a 4, since it isn't a 5, and an immediate new entry into the 'right artist, wrong album' list. If the last 25 years music history and 1001 book as a whole had been updated logically, and reviewed as a whole, one of St Vincent's earlier albums would definitely have been included. A personal favourite is Actor, being where I boarded the train, but you can genuinely make an argument for any one of Strange Mercy, the brilliant collab with David Byrne Love This Giant, S/T, or 2019's Masseduction. As the editors refuse to go back beyond the previous publication date and correct errors and oversights, coupled with 2021s Daddy's Home being a bit of a mis-step, we have instead got All Born Screaming to represent Annie Clark's output. As this was previously added to the User list and ported across, I sincerely hope she has better representation over there. All of which is not to say this is madness, it is far from her best but it is a definite solid return to form, and a return to the shredding for which she is famed. I was fortunate enough to go to both the Masseduction and All Born Screaming tours, and while the former show was good and an 'interesting' concept, I know which one I vastly preferred. Though I may suspect these days much of the public persona to be an affectation, even when she's rocking out and climbing barriers to get to the audience, I will still always be a fan. I doubt I'll ever be as big a fan again as I was for that run of untouchable records in the 10s, however.

I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. It tried to be rock, but maybe not really. Even after a couple dedicated lessons, I’m really not sure what I thought of it.

I've seen St. Vincent perform on TV multiple times and find her kind of interesting. This album didn't knock me out but I enjoyed it for the most part. Favorite song - Big Time Nothing

Really good album. Nice to be back with a few worthy records to take time out of the sludge offered up by lots of the completists.

Très cool Rob! Je savais qu’il t’en restait en réserves!

The instrumentals feel very inspiring yet innovative. I love how she dips into so many genres while having a cohesive sound for the album. Favorite songs: broken man, flea, violent times, all born screaming. And the guitar on so many planets

Given the album name and the cover art, I was expecting something completely different. It's a 3-star album, since it's competent, but I'll apply a penalty due to my expectations.

Really really solid and cohesive

Funny thing... this album was released on April 26, 2024. I started this "1001 Albums Generator" challenge on April 27—the very next day! How the hell does an album that’s ONE day old end up on a list of albums you have to hear before you die????? Give me a fucking break! That being said, good album.

Not great, not terrible.

3.3 4x

What an awesome surprise! I was very big into Strange Mercy and especially her self-titled album for a period of time in my early-mid 20s but I didn’t keep up with St. Vincent much after that. Only a few songs in and I am blown away. I think this is every bit as good as those records, if not even stronger in its maturity.

It's St. Vincent. That's usually enough. This album though... mmmm... no. It's so low fi in the beginning that it hardly seems like St. Vincent. Much the album that rocks sound like outtakes from other albums. There are a few new ideas here, but they don't click; The rest comes across as filler. Nothing grabs your face and makes you listen. I found myself skipping through way too many songs. That St. Vincent produced this makes me sad.

Every time I try to closely listen to this album my mind seems to get sidetracked and I lose focus. I guess it's just not all that interesting. 5/10

- bisschen Seelenlos irgendwie - also krass produziert dies das keine Frage - und auch spannende parts und so aber lässt mich irgendwie kalt hört sich mehr nach irgend ner Film Musik an und irgendwie auch zu langsam

I enjoyed parts of it, but won't listen again, 3.5

1. hell - 1 2. reck - 1 3. man - 0 4. flea - 1 5. time - 0 6. violent - 2 7. pouuer - 1 8. fruit - 0 9. planetz - 0 10. born - 1

Perfectly fine

Favourite songs: Big Time Nothing, Broken Man, Violent Times Least favourite songs: All Born Screaming 3/5

Of the recent entries to the list over the last few editions, this is probably one of the few so far that sticks out to me as worthy of inclusion, at least on first listen. Granted, that’s kind of an off-the-cuff assessment, because I don’t really remember every single album that’s been added over the last decade. It could also be that it’s a record that more within my usual sphere of listening, than say, a pop record, but I thought this was well done. I mean, it’s a little too polished for my taste, but it does have a little grit and the blend of synths and guitars worked for me. I could do without the reggae on So Many Planets, Violent Times’ melody sounded a lot like The Carpenters’ “Superstar”, and the the jam band-ish first half of the title track was a little grating to me, but overall not a bad inclusion. My knowledge of St. Vincent’s catalog is slim, though, so I can’t really say if this is the right St. Vincent album to add here.

I like Violet times but find the rest a bit hard to digest.

Not the worst thing I've heard on this list.

Partially known. Some great songs but I never fully got into the album as a whole.

I don’t want to scream

Better than I expected. But I forgot about the record before lunch. It's not bad at all. Just sort of... Meh.

Buen disco de pop "moderno". En ocasiones, canciones un tanto sonando a experimental. En líneas generales, bien, aunque sin llegar a engancharme. Incita a tener algo de movimiento.

3/5

It sounds more like a mixtape than like an album. The more experimental songs are really good, other songs sound more like a theatre nerd's misinterpretation of trip hop. The performances are alright. The mix has too much reverb for my taste.

I don’t really know why, but this does absolutely nothing for me. I feel like I’ve listened to so many other albums that do this exact same sound but better (read: anything by Fiona Apple) that its worthiness for the main list is, in my opinion, negligible. At least it’s not another fucking British album though.

This one could be me but I thought this was going to grab me more. Tried it twice. Decently done but nothing blew me away

This was so bland for me. It's really well made, but there are no guts. I listened multiple times, good production value, but nothing hooked me.

So close to being amazing It sounds terrific and is constantly surprising But there’s something about her vocals that means that things don’t quite land for some reason

Me defraudó un poco este disco. Cuando una guitarrista se va a la electrónica me pierde. Me guardo Reckless, Big time nothing y el "reague" de So many planets. Pero se queda en 3 estrellas.

not sure. at least not boring

Inte helt oävet faktiskt. Sången är väl sisådär men musiken är stundtals ganska okej. Tycker även hon ser snäll ut.

One kinda fun song. The rest was not there for me.

Not bad, but did not blow me away.

Liked it? Liked it. It was fine. It gestured at meaner/darker and I would have liked that more.

I liked it! this is probably 40% sadder than my usual fare but much closer to my taste than almost anything else on this list. Album flowed together in the way that I can't recall individual songs, but I think worked well on the whole. Curious if I'll like these songs if I come across one solo on a playlist somewhere.

I liked this fine, I like St. Vincent, but I'm now 2/2 on the 2026 additions for wondering why this album was chosen. I think some of her other albums were more unusual/ahead of their time and this one is good but her sound was already established.

9/10 St Vincent is one of the best, most inventive, most interesting artists of the last 15+ years, and her guitar playing is simply another level. Not sure this her best album and how something so modern fits in with the wider selection, but I'm glad it is now on my radar. 5 stars for being awesome

It is a grower. I didn't immediately get much from it and found it a bit one dimensional. It was actually disappointing if I am honest because I expected more. This is a funny thing with records/artists when I am not coming totally cold. Preprogramming kicks in and makes adjustments - be they allowances or forfeit. I give it a few more goes but rather than as a whole, randomly jumping around tracks - playing if the appeal skipping if they dont and slowly, I start to like it a little more. Would I buy it? No. Will I give another listen? Maybe in a while when very I'm very bored and have an itch nothing else is scratching and I am thinking about records that fit the criteria of "try again" but it wouldn't be with any expectations of suddenly discovering an album I could fall in love with.

This was ok but I expected more.

After thinking I'd completed the list, I'm dragged back in as the new edition has 13 new albums. This is the first one I've been given. It's 2 years old and isn't even St. Vincent's most famous album - and from what I can see from the new ones, it looks like the writers just threw a few darts at a list of recent albums and said "That'll do." Again, the issue of recency bias rears its ugly head with this list. Anyway, back to the album. You can hear she's trying to move away from her more rock sound with drum machines, electronic crashes and all manner of things artists do when they are reinventing themselves. It starts off slow but when the singles make an appearance the pace picks up and becomes more interesting but it can't keep it up. No way should this album be here. Best Tracks: Broken Man; Flea; Big Time Nothing

2024 -- 7th studio album (Strange Mercy was 3rd) -- rock / pop / art rock / indie rock -- opened to universal acclaim -- solo career of Anne Erin Clark of the polyphonic spree, wrote cruel summer w/ tswift -- from Tulsa/Dallas; produced the entire album herself; "Clark compared it to 'taking the long walk into the woods alone' in order to find the messages of your heart"; singles Broken Man and Flea (LOOOOVE); 90s revivalism; "tight and digestible affair"; 7-minute closing track; "her most hopeful record to date" The album won three of its four nominations at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards: Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Song for "Broken Man", and Best Alternative Music Performance for "Flea" I loved this album on first listen, which is always such a gift. I would happily listen to this a hundred times to get to know every single dip and valley to it.

Enjoyable record, with some strong tracks and performances. Didn't dislike anything, she is talented artist and I'm a fan of her other work. While this is a good album, I'm not sure this must appropriate St Vincent record to be on this list, Strange Mercy is probably her best and Masseduction is her artistic statement in album form that suits this type of list best. On a side note, she won't get the chance but Annie Clark has a great James Bond theme song in her somewhere. 7/10

A really cool album. It’s like she’s channeling some Prince here.

There is definitely a thread of that gritty, theatrical, unhinged cabaret-meets-industrial energy that feels very Tom Waits-ian. ​In fact, the connection runs deeper than just the vibe—Annie Clark is a longtime fan and has actually covered Tom Waits songs in the past, including standout renditions of "Big Black Mariah" and "Tango Till They're Sore." ​On All Born Screaming (especially on tracks like "Violent Times" or the jagged grooves of "Flea"), you can really hear that shared DNA:

Another St Vincent album that does nothing for me. It's admirably assembled, artfully arranged, full of ideas and cool sounds, and is nice enough to have on but it entirely fails to grab me, hold my attention, or draw me in.

Not her best album, but glad to see her get some recognition. Eclectic and super talented performer - I'd be happy to her more shredding from her mixed in with the bleeps and bloops.

3.5

I have really tried to love St Vincent over the years I just haven’t been able to get there. Stuff isn’t bad it just doesn’t excite me the way I hope it would.

Art rock, progressive rock, art pop, industrial rock. Ni fu ni fa.

This was an interesting album. St. Vincent has been on SNL a ciuole if times, and at this point I usually fast forward through the musical guests. Looking back now I wish I hadn't , as this album was quite enjoyable. I did think the last song went on a bit, but it was supposed to, right? "Flea" was probably one of the weaker songs musically, but lyircally I kinda liked it out, so that balanced it out. In fact I listened to it almost immediately afterwards which speaks to its "relistenability." Strong, solid album. SHould it be on the list? I don't know, but if one St Vincent album goes on there, I would definitely pick this one. Top tracks: "Hell Is Near," "Broken Man," "Violent Times," "Big Time Nothing"

I think I liked this album overall. It went by kinda quick, and I'm not sure how long I was listening in silence before I realized that it was over. Point being, it didn't hold my attention super well, but any time I checked in with it I thought it was cool, so I'ma give it a solid grade 4/5 sure, why not

Art rock, progressive rock, art pop, industrial rock. Ni fu ni fa.