The Last Broadcast

701 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die...Plus 300 Assorted British Albums

actually forgot to listen to this, but its currently in the cd changer in the car. yeah you heard me right, its a 6cd changer. don't all get too jealous.

This album sounds like just about everything that XFM was playing in 2002 (You're an idiot, play a record!). Peppy Brit Pop. This also sounds a lot like early Coldplay. You could probably toss a coin in 100 realities and find that in 50 of them Coldplay became the huge megaband and in 50 of them Doves became the megaband. Kind of generic. A solid 3 across the album. I wouldn't turn it off, but none of the tracks have a particular hook.

A better version of Coldplay. Still shitty, but better than Coldplay

Imagine if the apocalypse came and this carnival of janglewhine actually _was_ the last broadcast. Sheesh.

I wonder what ever happened to SubSub, the guys who did Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use)…

Its always darkest before the dawn. Behind every dark cloud there’s a silver lining. This little light of mine, I’m a gonna let it shine. Doves. Never heard of ‘em. Wished I had before now. I think I love ‘em. NME called 'The Last Broadcast' ‘the most uplifting miserable album you’ll hear all year.’ I’m not typically a fan of Brit-pop, precisely because of the inordinate time the genre spends celebrating misery. That, and the music often sucks. But Doves have stopped me in my tracks. I found the music bright and joyful, almost effortless. And the lyrics, while a far piece from puppy-producing joy, were definitely more optimistic than the soul crushing bleakness of, for example, Pulp. Even on ‘Sulphur Man,’ who is described as ‘A soul in tatters, as black as coal,’ the lyricist still hopes ‘… you can find what matters.’ The other Brit-pops would advise suicide, right now, before the rest of this day ends up surely sucking even worse than yesterday. But even that doesn’t really matter, they say. Live, die, whatever. Who gives a shit? That’s not Doves, though. Things do matter. Even negative things. Maybe especially negative things. Or maybe more accurately, you matter. Negative things do not have the final word, they are not an end to themselves. On ‘Satellites’ you can actually hear the emergence from bad times into better times. Even the expression, ‘Sweet Lord,’ is sang with what sounds like a choir. There’s a lot of those kind of moments, cool little surprising sounds- tinkling chimes, pounding hammers- sprinkled liberally all over this album like jimmies on a donut, never detracting, but always enhancing the song. In fact, I felt as if I was back in college (late 70s) listening to this LP at the local video arcade, every song on 'The Last Broadcast' accompanied by the whirs and whistles and beeps and such emanating from Pac Man and Asteroids and Donkey Kong. (Have I completely lost the millennial readers?) I watched a recent series of conversations between the producer extraordinaire, Rick Rubin, and a musician named Paul McCartney (whom you might remember from Wings, not to mention a little band he was in before.) They spent the time in front of a mixing board console, Rubin manipulating the various tracks, highlighting the bass parts and asking questions about composition and historical context, etc. Well, he’d have his hands full with 'The Last Broadcast.' I mean, when’s the last time you heard a clarinet on a rock n’ roll record (‘Friday’s Dust’)? Then again, now that I think of it, McCartney used one on ‘When I Get Older,’ a track off of one of those LPs he did with the fellas before Wings (and you might of heard of this one too), 'Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.' But I digress. Dove takes their time with the intros and exits. I like that. Lots of echo in the vocals, giving the overall mix a dreamy sound, reminiscent of Syd Barrett’s Pink Floyd (‘The Nile Song,’ i.e.) I like that too. There wasn’t one bad, even mediocre, song in the bunch, including the two droning instrumentals serving as intros for the next songs. Oh, and check out their adaptation of King Crimson’s ‘Moonchild’ on the fourth track, ‘M62 Song.’ It took me until the very end before I finally consciously realized what my subconscious knew from the beginning. The fact that they even know who King Crimson are rates them a bonus star, don’t you think? There’s an oldies radio station here in Denver that advertises, ‘Remember when music was good?’ I don’t ever want to turn into one of those guys, yelling at the kids to get off my lawn, and grousing about how today’s music ain’t got the same soul, so start playing old time rock n’ roll. 'The Last Broadcast' is proof enough that good rock did not end with the turning of the century. Now if I can just figure out the significance of the album cover?

I can probably think of plenty of UK albums that deserving of making this list that probably aren't be the time it ends. Maybe not quite landfill indie but on the road to the tip.

These guys are so frustrating, it's like they want to do something interesting but they can't quite bring themselves to do it. There's a bunch of variety to the instruments on here, but all the songs still end up being the same decent mid-paced track. Solid songwriting only gets you so far, I don't see any spark that makes me want to go back the album or any track in particular.

Very much my kind of thing. Two notes: each song feels slightly longer than it needed to be, and the vocals are just on the edge of annoying to me. That said, I dig the music and the lyrics, so it balances out.

Less gay Coldplay

Music so average you might aswell listen to silence.

This was a brilliant album. Having never heard of Doves, I didn’t know what to expect. This is a really chill album with brilliant music. It’s upbeat, catchy and skilful. I really enjoyed this album and it will be one I return to many times

I wasn’t sure what to expect but this album was truly great. Elements of Britpop meet influences such as the Beatles, Radiohead etc. to form a lush textured album that is familiar and new at the same time. I find rock albums from this time tend to sound a lot like each other but this album stands out. I loved the instrumentation as well

Distinctly average album. I wonder at the criteria used to decide that an album is worth hearing before you die. I mean, surely they have to be more interesting than this offering?

It was a pretty generic, but some songs were really good. N.Y. was my favorite 2.5 /5

Unremarkable. Similar to many pop rock bands around that time, mainly Coldplay, but not as catchy. Bland, inoffensive roadtrippy. 2 stars may be a bit harsh but this is not a 3-star album.

So very, very boring. I couldn't wait for it to end. It was like Coldplay on valium.

One of my favourite bands, I love them perhaps more than strictly their music warrants (ie inordinately). But I listen to this again and think who else can blend the anthemic, the melancholy, power and reflection quite as well as they do. Yes the two singles (Pounding and Fear) are peerless, but Sulfur Man, Caught By The River and Words reveal themselves this time as their equal.

Oddly I was only familiar with the Doves' first album Lost Souls which I love. This one on first pass didn't do as much for me. But. Almost immediately upon second play i am hearing the differences...in a good way. The strong sense of melody I was waiting for is everywhere but I think more varied this time around. I almost wish I had multiple days per album to properly digest some of them, this is a good example. I'm thinking I'm going to like this more and more as I get to know it. If you like melodic dreamy melodies, this is for you. 7/10 4 stars.

L'album que Coldplay aurait rêvé de réaliser, mais ils préfèrent répéter "Para para paradise" dans la moitié de leurs sons

Solid album, didn't like really stand out for my tastes but perfectly neutral music, I feel like it would be hard for anyone to dislike this.

Un excellent album de Coldplay emmené par un Chris Martin très inspiré. Celui-ci répète d'ailleurs à longueur d'interviews que l'album Last Broadcast était sa plus belle fierté personnelle : "- L'album Last Broadcast est ma plus belle fierté personnelle. - Pouvez-vous répéter, Chris ? Vous avez parlé trop loin du micro. - Bien sûr. L'album Last Broadcast est ma plus belle fierté personnelle. -Merci, Chris." A contrario, on entend souvent que le batteur du groupe a une aversion toute particulière pour cet album qu'il aurait à de multiples reprises qualifié de mauvais : "- Vous entendez ? - Non, qu'y a-t-il ? - Il me semble que le batteur de Coldplay a une aversion toute particulière pour l'album Last Broadcast... - Cesse de dire des bêtises, tu veux ? - Tu as raison..."

Scene: an inn high up in the Pennines, grim-faced village folk drinking pints served in large Yorkshire puddings, staring at Doves on a small stage. Ham and eggs are everywhere. We confer at back. Me: "They sound like Coldplay, but with the tunes surgically excised." Simon: "You hate Coldplay." The audience murmurs: “Threw out baby and left bathwater.” “Sounds soft.” “Nowt always wrong with soft, Heathcliff.” The ham and eggs start to stir, the pints in puddings too. Soon the air will be full of them. The band huddle; they play on. The audience draw closer. The night presses closer.

I had a friend who was into bands like this. If it was British and sounded like Radiohead or Coldplay and was even the slightest bit “experimental” (read: used synths), he fucking loved it. All that early-2000s, maudlin electro-sadsack rock…every single band, he would go on about how they’re the future of music and the greatest, most important bands of all time. Then a few years later, it was The National. He got visibly upset with me when I told him that I found their live show “a little boring” after seeing them at a festival. They followed Broken Social Scene, who, frankly, blew them out of the water and should have headlined that show. Anyway, Doves were British music-rag darlings in the early aughts: if you read the NME or Mojo, there were probably multiple articles that said the same kind of things about them that my friend did. The truth is, they don’t really sound all that different from most of the bands that received similar hype in the British press those days…bands that are littered across this list like The Beta Band or Badly Drawn Boy or Elbow or the fucking Zutons. You don’t need to hear this before you die, because you’ve already heard the same thing wrapped up in several different packages thanks to this list. In fact, this record has been removed from subsequent editions of the 1001 Albums book, which is further proof of how inconsequential “The Last Broadcast” is.

They weren’t the first to do, they weren’t the best to do it, but they did it anyway. Couple of half decent singles on a mostly indifferent album.

Two instances of these dullards? Most interesting thing about this dirgefest is that, apparently, the catatonia-inducing "M62 Song" was named after the wrong motorway by mistake. That tells you all you need to know. Do better, 1001 Albums Generator, please..

Bo-ring.

A mix of Dream Pop and Post-Britpop with aspects of Indie Rock might sound like something that should work well, this album kind of proves otherwise. It's pretty bad, bland, uninspired and often times just dreadfully boring. It's way too long with many songs that just seem useless and streched. The album definitely has some nice ideas but the execution isn't that what it's supposed to be. It's unfocused and often terrible in the delivery, production and mixing. The albums starts with a short and building 'Intro' that is simply some Ambient soundscape with a Drone background. Nothing crazy but it's alright. Doesn't harm anyone, it's just a little too long and doesn't really work as an intro to this album. The first actual song is 'Words' which is a pretty psychedelic Indie Rock song with dreamy guitar and vocals and while the first of that works really well, the vocals on the other hand aren't as good. They aren't terrible but they are very basic and something that you've heard over and over already from other vocalists. They also don't really fit together with the overall atmosphere of the song. Overall, the song feels very streched out and unfocused. It doesn't really go into a clear direction which harms the overall enjoyment. It comes out to a below average song that isn't really anything special at all. The slight influences of Dance music on 'There Goes the Fear' does result in a slightly more interesting song at the start that has some pretty nice moments including much better vocals but it feels even more streched out to nearly 7 minutes when the song realistically didn't need to be more than 2 or 3 minutes. It's not a good song although it has some redeeming qualities like the songwriting and chorus but it overall turns out boring and stale and just way too long which actually makes the song feel dreadful the last two minutes. I actually think that this makes bad song although it's far away from being terrible. The ending is pretty funny though. 'M62 Song' combines some Field Recordings with Psychdelic Folk and actually makes something that might have been actually with emotional weight if it wasn't a straight rip off of 'Moonchild' by King Crimson. Same melody, and the exact same lyrics, just slightly changed to avoid copyright or something. I hate this. Nothing artistic about this. Stealing CAN be art if it's done right (homage, cover, sampling) and done with respect but this is not how you do it. The Space Ambient interlude of 'Where We're Calling From' isn't bad at all and has some nice moments but it's too short to actually work. It's pretty "meh" in the end. 'N.Y.' is definitely trying something but it feels like a rip off of Suede with the way they did the Britpop on this song. It's a bad song, nothing can save this thing anymore. Bland, boring and annoying all together with some awful songwriting and terrible performances and deliveries. It tries so hard but fails so badly that the result is straight up terrible and unlistenable. On the albums second half, 'Satellites' returns with clear Dream Pop aspirations and it's executed a little better this time. It's also streched way too long but again, it isn't as bad as one other songs here. The overall execution of this song, is probably the best the whole album can offer and it is a decent track with some nice moments but it overall still fails to create longer worthy continuations of that. It's a listenable song, the only one remotely close to being good while still being far away from that. 'Friday's Dust' has to be one of the worst Folk songs ever created. Stupid, basic and just terrible lyrics that are undermined with some bad produced and mixed instruments including strings that try to make the song "emotional" which is just stupid because the lyrics itself are just bad. I absolutely hate this with every bone in my body. Nothing good to be found on this track. 'Pounding' feels perfect when heard right after the last one but when looked at it without a terrible song to lighten it up, it isn't merely much better. The song is mixed absolutely horrendously with drums that are so loud you don't hear anything else and after a little bit, it just turns worse and worse until it's not much better than its predecessor. This is genuinely mixed to the point that it turns the whole song terrible. The title track 'Last Broadcast' follows with not really much more that it adds. It's got bad songwriting and an execution that is just terrible. The only thing keeping it "bad" and not "terrible" is the fact that the chorus is not total garbage. But this is still very bad. 'The Sulphur Man' now tries to go a little bit into a Baroque Pop direction with the additions of strings and other instruments that frankly, do not work at all with the song. It's a total mess with everything: the build up and songwriting do not work and are broken up, the arrangements are just horrendous and the vocals do not fit at any point. At this point, this album is causing me physical pain because I cannot write this review with a straight mind when listening to this in the background. The album (finally) ends with 'Caught by the River' which does have a slightly better songwriting and structure but to be honest, it's not enough to make the song likable at any point. Some production choices are downright bad and ruin the song completely. It's not terrible but still pretty bad. favourites: none least favourites: Friday's Dust, Pounding, N.Y., The Sulphur Man, M62 Song Rating: strong 2 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes

The production fucking sucks

My god, all this Brit pop is killing me.

Really tranquil and beautiful all the way through.

An underrated masterpiece. This album should have had them filling stadiums

Sounds like a more raw coldplay? Lovely.

Love it, Pounding is a proper all timer

This scratched the right part of my brain today I'd never heard of Doves - was expecting it to be more rock. But it sounded like early Coldplay, with hints of Snow Patrol Loved it!!! What a find 5 ⭐️

Another surprising winner.

This album slaps! I liked how well the album flowed from one song to another. It got me wanting to listen to the album again and even explore more music from them. 'N.Y.' was my fave. Shoutout to 'Pounding' too.

Very nice!

- Hab den Namen der Band immer mal wieder gehört aber mich noch nicht wirklich aktiv mit den auseinandergesetzt. - Ich dachte teilweise während ich das Album gehört habe: Sind das etwas "coole U2"? Weniger Pathos und Klischee mehr Authentizität und Ehrlichkeit. - Die Platte war richtig aufbauend und und steckte voller Energie. Habe ich vielleicht im richtigen Moment gehört; Sie hat mich jedenfalls voll abgeholt. - Manche Passagen, Effekte und Ideen sind vielleicht etwas in die Jahre gekommen; das hat aber meinem Gefallen keinen Abbruch getan. - Irgendwann beim Hören kam der drittletzte Song "Last Broadcast" und da dachte ich dann "HÄÄÄ?! DEN KENN ICH DOCH?!" Ich weiß leider nicht mehr woher. Hab den schon hundert mal gehört aber kann den in keiner Playlist finden. 4,5/5

Been a huge fan of Doves since I was a teen. One of the first gigs I ever went to was Doves in Colston Hall, Bristol. Every track is brilliant on this in my book.

Boundless joy. One of my favourite albums of all time.

Soaring, sprawling anthems interspersed with gentle, dreamy acoustic led numbers. Reflective and melancholy but optimistic, this is Doves creative and commercial peak and a great way to bring up the 1001. Particularly shout out to 'Satellites'. I love that song. Rating: 4.5/5 Playlist track: There Goes The Fear Date listened: 15/04/24

I wasn’t familiar with this band or album, but I thought this album was fantastic. “Words” hooked me right from the start, and there until the last track, this album was full of beautiful melodies. There were so many great sounds to take in on every song: great guitar playing, light and airy percussion, beautiful synthesizers, and hypnotic string arrangements. This album reminded me of The Bends, with a dashes of Beach House, My Bloody Valentine, and The Charlatans sprinkled throughout. One of my favorite things about Echo & The Bunnymen’s Ocean Rain is that the album feels both massive and intimate at the same time, and this album’s vocals really achieved that affect too, through some clever echo effects. Even though this album reminded me of work by other musicians, I thought the overall sound was incredibly unique, and it never felt like it was just trying to copy and paste someone else’s sound. This was beautiful from start to finish, and I’m excited to review the other Doves album on this list.

Good album. Enjoyed listening!

very cool

I liked this album. They sound a little like Coldplay. A few duds mixed in but I’m excited to keep listening to the good ones!

If Coldplay were better

Reminded me of Telescreen

Never heard of them before. Awesome stuff.

I vibed to this one so hard

Apparently I was raised on this album. Who knew.

A really fun album! Somehow I missed everything about it for the last 20 years - how come I have never heard of it, is it not as catchy as Blur and Oasis? Well, probably it's not, not even close. Also, I'm not a fan of Man City, so how could I know about their great song "Words"? This album is genuinely great piece of interesting indie rock, with no extravagant motifs, but very entertaining from the top to the bottom. I was not bored during any of their songs, very solid record overall. I would like to come back to this album later, so to catch my attention I will give it a 5 stars, but to think of it, I would give it the highest note anyway. Doves will now regularly fly in my playlist.

This was a very good album. I'm really fond of this early-to-mid noughties post-britpop kind of thing, so I knew I'd enjoy this. I'd heard one or two of these tracks before, though I couldn't say I was familiar with Doves as a band. This was a generally chill record, pretty upbeat, though it slows, darkens, takes weird turns, and never really gets boring. It felt quite psychedelic and spaced out at times, and I'm all for that kind of thing. Definite Radiohead vibes, but maybe a little more generic in the lyrics. Still a very good album though! Favourite: The Goes The Fear

One of my favourite bands. I know no one who knows them though. I discovered Doves when I was on Oasis forums in the early/mid 2000s. What can I say I was a popular person in university. I had downloaded Some Cities off a torrent and it sat on my iPod for a few months until I remember I was in bed one night listening to music and a song from them came on and I was immediately hooked. I had heard The Last Broadcast and the rest of Doves a ton in the 2000s (I actually saw them live in 2009 when I went to Scotland at T in the Park. Excellent show). This is their best album, although I still have a soft spot for the melancholy vibes of Some Cities. I haven’t heard this one in probably 10 years though. I forgot how much Doves are a vibes and groove band. Very much like The Verve. The songs all do go on for too long, the vocals are really not great. Now that I have good speakers to listen on and not iPod earbuds I can hear the production on this really is not good. But I have enough nostalgia to carry me through.

Will definitely replay this again

I am speechless. Unsure what to say here. Literally could not miss. I have never heard of this band or any of their songs until now, but it was worth the wait. Some call it brit-pop, others call it indie rock, I call it perfection. The first listen through made me think 4 instantly, but for days afterwards I was singing the songs in my head. I had been saying that I regret not giving Oasis a 5, but this album felt exponentially better. Albums like these are the reason I joined this group. I just feel pure bliss.

I have a lot of pre-existing love for Doves (Although slightly prefer their previous album to this one) and, I'm not gonna lie, seeing all the reviews comparing them to Coldplay stings. In my head they're filed in a totally different box to Coldplay, but I guess I can hear what people are talking about. 😒 Goes to show how much having stuff forced on me by the TV and radio really coloured my perceptions. If Coldplay had got less airplay and Doves had been plastered over the airwaves, maybe my sympathies would be reversed? On the other hand, listening through again, maybe Doves are just objectively better than Coldplay and I was right the whole time - yeah, let's go with that! 😈 Fave track - "Words", "Satellites", "Caught By The River" are all solid. The bonus disc has a cover of something from the Wicker Man soundtrack too! 😍

Ett jävla bra album

Underrated band that weirdly didn’t have the staying power of Elbow. As good? Yeah probably.

One of the very very best

Really liked this album, never heard of this band before either. Such an eclectic mix of songs, chill album, will definitely listen again! Saved tracks: There Goes The Fear, M62 Song, N.Y., Friday's Dust

Surpriseingly Nice album!

Forgot how much I love the doves! Great album!

Didn’t know this band at all, and I’m impressed! Rich orchestration, interesting arrangements, nice variety. All in all, a really great album. Adding this to my list of favourites from project!

Got a good Coldplay sound to it. I really like this. VERY underrated album how have I never heard of this album, any of the songs, or even the band?!

Merci messieurs

A fantastic album. I am a big fan of their music

Hooked from the first song. I almost skipped this one due to lack of time, but I'm glad I made time for it. There Goes the Fear is super catchy. Satellites is lovely. Friday's Dust feels haunting.

Very dramatic episode of a 2000s TV show vibe going on. Really enjoyed it.

Yeah this really impressed me different in areas but worthy of a re-listen. Kinds felt a bit like Coldplay meets gorillaz but was also its own animal

This is one of the best British albums of all time. There isn’t a bad track on it.

I listened to their first album before this one and it blew me away, 10/10 post rock I think the first song I noticed that I found really phenomenal was Sea Song, the three songs before that were amazing but it was that fourth song that really made me love the album, and everything after that was incredible too but then I listened to the second album, and I think I liked it even more, it had so many cool songs, that is easily worth a 10/10 for me but then I noticed they did something really special, THEY DID A COVER OF A FUCKING KING CRIMSON SONG Moonchild is one of my favorite songs in general, the fact they made a bluesy, post-rock cover of one of my favorite prog rock songs is so fucking cool idk I’ve always had a soft spot for any media that uses King Crimson, especially in movies like Mandy, Children of Men, and Buffalo ‘66 (although there are MANY other reasons I love that last one) anyways this a really incredible album for me, if you like post-rock this is definitely worth a listen

Classic album. excellent guitar led rock. Pounding on of my top 10 songs. Cover art 3/5

me surpreendeu bastante até agora! tem até um brasileirinho em there goes The fear auhsua AMEI

Bueno!

I really loved this. I don't think I fully absorbed it, but I'm going to give it a 5 because there's nothing i DIDN'T like about it, and I think I'll continue to like it more and more as I re-listen.

This rips

I was really impressed by this album, I love the instrumentation, the I love the mixing, I LOVE THE MUSIC. The voice is great, and it's just all around always great sounding to my ears. I loved this album, lots

Wonderful piece of work

Grata Sorpresa

Great indie-brit album. 'Words' is an all-time great song. Similar to Interpol, Elbow, British Seapower.

Have never heard this before. Easily one of the best albums ive heard in 10 years

Words: very good There goes the fear: excellent M62 Song: good N.Y.: very good Satellites: amazing Friday’s Dust: very good Pounding: amazing Last broadcast: very good The sulphur man: excellent Caught by the River: excellent 9.5/10

I didn't know who this band was, but I'm glad to have found them. This album is remarkable.

Best album from a fantastic band

"Pounding" was a great track, and "Last Broadcast" reminded me of a Gorillaz track. Moody British indie tunes, what's not to love?

Brilliant.

9,3 Discazo

Early 00's mellow Grunge

jinudge ko sila by album cover but they turned out goooooood! WHY DO I KNOW THERE GOES THE FEAR! ohhhh 500 days!

A truly great live band, but on record, you need to give these songs time to sink in. As others have said, possibly not as good as their debut, Lost Souls, but it has some excellent singles and the intensity never drops. Brilliant!

This album is a gem. M62 Song, N.Y, Satellites, Pounding; lots of great songs.

Contrary to others, I found it a pleasant surprise to find this on the list. Doves were a favorite band of mine in the 2000s, and although their debut is my favorite, this is a more commercial/accessible album. Personally I think it still stands up, and I'll defend it's place on the list to represent that era.

3.5 I like Doves but don't love them. I saw them a couple times back in the day, and they were pretty decent live. However they just don't grip me like I think they should. This album feels slightly bloated. There goes the fear is a good example, good song but does it really need to be 7 minutes? Absolutely not. Enjoyable listen but not something I'd have on on rotation

I liked this album a lot. It was like a more normal Everything Everything? Nothing quite brought it to a 5 star level, but it got close

I was expecting more britpop from the early 2000s zeitgeist, but this one was more nuanced than most of the stuff from that era. It was still certainly of its time, but it didn't defy explanation for its inclusion as so may other albums I've listened to. It's not a perfect work, but it is very good and deserves a thoughtful listen.

Maybe I listened to this a few times in the early aughts and it's nostalgic, or maybe it's good. Hard to tell. He's got a droning voice and some of the beats get repetitive but all in all, I'll keep revisiting this.

That was actually surprisingly good

4/5