It's Blitz!

This album feels like the quirky lovechild of Rocky Horror and Napoleon Dynamite. Kind of fun and weird in a good way at first, but after a few songs the vocals wear on me and I’m ready for something different.

How have I completely forgotten about this album? It's fantastic. Welcome back!

Deffo saving this - good recommendation

Indie disco floor fillers. Love it.

Karen O is preeeetty cool. Pretty nostalgically linked with going out in the early 2010s.

Never heard it in full! Actually never heard of any albums of them. The big hit was obvious, although I do prefer the remix. The thick synths were great but the slow songs a bit dull. Most of the ones i didn't recognise were rather boring.

It was a fun album!

Really enjoyed this album - especially the slow burns, like "Skeletons" and "Little Shadow." I had heard the main hits off this album but like the B-sides even more. Love the production and slow builds. Love the singer's voice. Cutting a point because it didn't resonate with me lyrically, and I think it could have been a bit longer of a project with a few more tracks to fully feel complete.

I can’t believe I’ve never listened to this album. I knew heads would roll but the whole album together is fantastic. Hysteric and the acoustic version blew my mind.

There is one song I’ve heard by this band and I can’t remember the name of it. I love this opening track. It’s so good. I love the sounds and the energy. Ok, so about halfway through a en it’s good, but not grabbing me. Not sure I would think to seek this out again.

Kompetent elekrorock, men show your bones är min skiva med yeah, yeah, yeahs

A great album, lots of contrasts, tough at times, delicate at others, gentle and loud, rough and smooth.

dancing dog

Surprised to find out that the "Off with your head" song is by these guys. I found the album itself to be a little lacklustre but Heads Will Roll is a banger.

I’m not sure why I didn’t listen to It’s Blitz! when it came out. I liked Fever to Tell a lot, and Zero and Heads Will Roll were great singles. Especially after the underwhelming Show Your Bones. On a first listen, nothing tops those singles. Soft Shock is good. Skeleton irks a bit with its Highland-style countermelody. The sequenced synths start to feel wearying; Nick Zinner’s one-finger synth lines don’t have the same expressiveness as his four fingers on a guitar. The drum machines obscure what I know to be Brian Chase’s more inventive acoustic drumming. When, I wonder, did drum machines become more limited than the people they were built to replace? It all sounds very 2009. Or at least how I remember 2009. A little Metric, some Feistian keening. Faint traces of Animal Collective and Fever Ray. That whole era’s sonic bootprint is stamped all over it. And for all that I liked those singles at the time, I’d had enough of 2009 even before it happened. I was already fed up by 2005. That’s probably why it’s not easy to go back now. Still, there’s a lot that I like — most of the record, in fact — though the pacing feels off. I found myself waiting for a slow, spare number like Hysteric. Then they follow it with Little Shadow, a second slow closer. Not a bad ending, but a wan one after all that came before. The acoustic version of Skeleton, which was tagged onto the expanded edition I listened to, would have done a better job at track four than the electric version. Even so, it - like the acoustic Soft Shock - has the air of a mid-2000s advertising sync. I looked it up: the Karen O commercial was from 2005. That’s when the bloat set in. When everything started sounding like that. Still, there’s enough to admire here to make you wish you didn’t feel like you were being sold a T-Mobile G1 while listening to it. 2.5 When it came out much was made of this 3-piece rock band’s daring pivot to dancey synth pop but truthfully it was superficial change. This was just another Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. It’s Blitz has the same weaknesses but fewer moments of justification than its predecessors. As usual they simply hook their listener into submission. There are no long (or even medium-sized) lines in either the lyrics or the music. Short guitar/keyboard riffs go round and round and round. Short melodic ideas go round and round and round. A second one of each is introduced and then we are bludgeoned with that for a while. The singer sings nonsense but as the chorus of The Beatles ‘She Loves You’ taught them; singing the nonsense three times usually does the trick. That has been the story of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s process since album 1, track 1: [idiotic guitar riff] ‘I’m rich/ Like a hot noise/ Rich rich rich’ (Rich) Nevertheless these arbitrary fragments are mercilessly enjoyable; the addictive drama of Karen O’s brilliant voice, at once powerful and fragile and Nick Zinner’s clinical unsubtlety on his guitar (or synth). It is songwriting as stickle bricks; each piece is so colourful and pleasant in itself, who cares that you can’t make a cathedral out of it? Not my toddler, who sticks two of the bigger pieces together and declares that she has made a robot. Wonderful work I tell her, and I mean it. So how good are the 11 robots on It’s Blitz? They’re alright. Somehow the two previous albums had better ones. Far better ones. Y Control and Maps and Gold Lion and Fancy all create their potent drama out of familiar rock tropes and in doing so invite you to believe for a couple of minutes that something profound is being reached at. You bring your own ‘meaning’ and ignore the lyrics. On It’s Blitz the shop front now reads ‘Dance! (dance, dance)’. The rock artifice is discarded and with it the suspension of disbelief that makes the Yeah Yeah Yeahs seem even faintly credible as songwriters. As I said at the outset it’s really a superficial change - you could always dance to the YYYs and you always knew they were basically shit. I quite like this cover and would be interested to know how many eggs they went through to get it just so. 2/5

There are parts of this that I really liked ('Skeletons' is a keeper), but unfortunately, it had quite a lot of meh, too. Kinda tough to pin down exactly why this isn't better than it is. I mean, it seems like they've got a winning recipe here, but it's just missing some important ingredient that would have made it gel. Perhaps an egg?

While this wasn’t difficult to listen to, i did have to question why was I listening to this. First little bit of the album had some good things to it, and then it fell flat. Never recovered after that.

It's hard to rate this one. It has a certain beat, it's experimental and the band has an identity. Somehow it felt a bit off, not gonna lie. In some songs at the end of the first half you just zone out. And I have to say: The acoustic versions are a lot better. All in all, I think it's an ok album, but nothing that needs to be on this list.

Another album that somehow passed me by during this era. I like the energetic songs more than the slower feel-y ones, but this was excellent.

Fantastic upbeat call to the dance floor

It’s a good record. Not as good as Fever to Tell. Could of lost this and replaced with Interpol Turn on the Bright Lights.

3.5/5

Interesting.

This album is ok, and Karen O is a great front lady. I feel this album gets almost all its work in the first 15 mins, and I gound myself not caring for or remembering back half. But Zero, Heads Will Roll, and Soft Shock are all great (and indie radio darlings), and that's enough to keep the album passable. Soft Shock is my favorite, even if Heads Will Roll is probably better.

I really like “Zero” & “Heads Will Roll”, but the rest was while musically interesting, lyrically boring. Too much repetitive for me. I didn’t love the album, but I’d buy the two singles.

Heads will roll fire album yayyyy

The glitter's all wet :)

3 bangers on the track then pidder ditters into borderline boring emo gobbledeegoops

Lots of fun!

I enjoyed this. It's got an unusual sound for 2009 Indie Rock. Massive, really. It builds up as the album progresses. It's disco-rock at times reminiscent of Blondie. That's good.

Never listened through an album as I thought they were a one hit wonder Good album and will be checking them out more

Love the YYY. Beautiful album no skips

nice voice, great acoustic versions of the tracks too.

2008. New York. Synth-punk, alternative pop, synth-pop, pop rock. !!!!!

The start of my fascination with eggs. Wait. That came out wrong.

This didn't do much for me. It's not a bad album, or bad music, but it's not great either. Very little that stood out or was worth remembering.

Better as an album than as individual songs. Decent but not great.

Awesome upbeat vibes. Comparable to M83. Kind of dance rock like Racing, but smoother and more airy and synthy. Some more ambient stuff thrown in there too. Fantastic album

Alternative rock. I like the slower songs but a good mix.

Solid

Didn't realize that "Dance Till You're Dead" beat came from this album. I prefer this version over the dance remixes.

I liked this album a lot when it came out, but I was also a senior in high school with the same amount of self-seriousness that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had during & after this album. Or maybe I’m just projecting! Haven’t listened in probably a decade or more. I still like this, but I’ve heard better remixes of most these songs since & do blame Karen O for a lot of cringe bad vocalists in the early 2010s.

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeahs

great alternative album, thought it was a 3 at first but my second listen was better so I will give it a 4

not for me tbh

Everyone knows this band for the second song on this album, and that's about it. Nothing else is notable.

Pleasant rock album, not sure if it's a 3 or a 4 or a 5. I kind of think of it as a feminine equivalent of Royal Blood.

Unlike Mr. Brown, this is in my wheelhouse of music. "Maps" was a song I always liked on Rock Band from these guys (on another album). This was good indie listening, although to Scott's point, it definitely has a 2000s dated feel to it. That's just a nice nostalgia blanket for me. Best tracks: "Zero," "Heads Will Roll," "Soft Shock," "Hysteric"

--Zero...good opener. I have a sneaking suspicion this song is about the female orgasm --Heads Will Roll...I like the production but it lacks a decent hook --Soft Shock...not a total banger, but something that could grow on me with time --Skeletons...I feel like this was a very therapeutic song for Karen O. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate into good pop --Dull Life...the guitars are back! This song kicks and takes some fun turns --Shame and Fortune...grimy. I like it --Runaway...interesting diversion but I think they should've kept it more minimalist. Just 2 minutes, Karen O, and a piano would have been great --Dragon Queen...great track. Love disco shit --Hysteric...nice ballad. like it a lot --Little Shadow...more of a vibe than a song

I've always liked this album and am glad to hear the whole thing, not just the hits, again.

First time listening, was only family with “Maps”, overall an enjoyable album.

Would like another serving for this please. Amazing vocals, first two tracks got my attention. Rest was quite some change in pace but still loved it.

Loved it

A masterpiece of 2000’s indie pop. Gorgeous album.

Once again I'm really impressed by the vocalist here. She's utterly perfect for the kind of rambunctious techno-pop-rock they're aiming for. I wasn't sure what to write that didn't mirror my previous Yeah Yeah Yeahs review, but another review here spoke to me: "Electrifying. Karen O is a rock and roll goddess and the band has a blast on this record. Every song is just a ton of fun, very original, and a lot of good grooves too." I'm not sure that I would go quite that far – seeing as the album peaks compositionally at the beginning and never quite recovers – but it's still darn good. The relentless bass synth in Zero starts off the album on an intriguing, dark, yet hopeful note. Heads Will Roll is tailor-made for radio play, which (contrary to popular belief) is completely fine. The vocalist's tone alternates between smooth and almost whispery in the bridges(?) to brashly matter-of-fact in the infectiously catchy choruses, to somewhere between in the verses. The chord progression here isn't anything spectacular, but it gets the job done. Soft Shock is another great song, with a peculiar high synth that sort of acts as a makeshift bassline while the bass itself is more dronelike and immobile. Again the singing is fantastic, working with the instruments flawlessly. At this point in the album, though, all three tracks have had roughly the same mood and tempo as one another, and the listener is looking for some tonal variety. Skeletons, with its thinner texture and relative lack of a solid beat definitely achieves that – but at the cost of being just a little less interesting or memorable. The album is pretty good from then on, though I wasn't "wowed" by anything else. 4/5 Key tracks: Zero, Heads Will Roll, Soft Shock

A true bop. Reminds me of the days of labouriously adding the correct album covers to each pirated track on iTunes so that there were no blanks when flicking through them on my iPod nano. I am old.

Hell yeah yeah yeah!

Not bad, just kinda bored

Fun album, dance till your dead is a classic meme song.

I like indie from this era, so this was a recipe for success. I think the instrumentation holds up. It's not exactly to my taste, but it's a solid album.

I actually liked a couple songs but wouldn't go back to it.

5/9

a fun album. i love karen O's voice.

Overrated

Great sound to this record, synth-pop meets indie rock, some great hits with the rest of the album really solid

Danceable rock with female singer

Nothing as catchy or groundbreaking as MAPS on here. But decent enough alt-pop I guess. 3/5 #109

Good stuff

Incredible album front to back. Another instance where I knew a bunch of singles but never heard it front to back and I'm disappointed I waited this long to do that. A timeless sound from the early indie era, the guitars are loud, the synths are groovy and the drums slick and heavy. Don't even get me started on Karen O's lyrics and vocal performance, mesmerizing, unique with incredibly versatility. If you like any indie, alternative or any kind of dancefloor bangers. Do yourself a favour and listen to this record. Favourite Tracks: Zero, Heads Will Roll, Skeletons, Dull Life, Dragon Queen, Runaway Least Favourite Tracks: Shame and Fortune, Hysteric

Synth-fuelled indie groves and dance-floor beats along with some lovely ballads.

Rv/g

Very contagious energy.

BAO DMS

like a lot of people my experience with Yeah Yeah Yeahs is Maps, so I was a little bummed it wasnt here, but it turned out to be pretty good! Some good vocals and songwriting here, way more synthy than I thought it would be, and it reminds me of a less intense Chvrches. Runaway was pretty good, but the acoustic renditions of some of the tracks at the end of the album probably caught my ear the best, felt more suited to the type of soft, quiet music this is.

This was a fun pop album! Knew their song Maps (not on this album) and was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed a whole album of that soft voiced lead singer. Good stuff!

- Something about the album cover disturbs me. Perhaps because it makes me imagine what having raw, runny eggs all over my hands would feel like - Zero is a fun and upbeat track that sets the tone for the album - Heads Will Roll is similar - When Soft Shock started I was confused why it had a loud, high pitched tone playing, turns out the fire alarms were going off in the house. I do like this song, and It's definitely better without the screeching. - Skeleton is a calmer song which is nice on my ears. Though I find the lyrics far too repetitive - Unfortunately after this point I realised I wasn't able to concentrate on my work, so I switched to some calmer music Overall, I enjoyed it. I love the vibe of the band, and I think the more upbeat songs are an absolute vibe and are perfectly balanced by the calmer ones. Howe, pop is not really my thing, so, overall, I'm not absolutely thrilled by this album, though I found it pleasant enough. I will say though, a lot of the songs kind of sound the same...

One of the few bright spots musically from this era.

this banged

This is not a band I was expecting to enjoy. This is the second album I hear from them (the first being their debut), and although it sounds nothing like the other one, I think it is as good, if not better. Compared to their debut, this one is not as riff driven and relies a lot more on electronic effects and synths and overall a has a lighter, more playful tone. Usually I'm not a huge fan of this approach, but this album executes it very well. At the same time, it sound big and lush. Even the more quiet songs here sound epic, for some reason, and I like that. The vocal are nice too. It’s just fun. Nothing particularly special, but it’s fun.

Loved it! So solid from top to bottom.

Fun!

Ryan if you’re stalking me I think you’d like this one

Well made pop album with a heavy reliance on synths. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Does it need to be on this list? Not really.

I don't understand bands that don't have a bass player. What's Up with that?

It was an ok listen, I mostly got on with other things with it in the background. Didn't grab me, but I didn't dislike it.

Eh

I liked the change of pace. This is a good album, it just gets too full at times and repeats the same climax a few times. The lows are pretty bland and there just wasn't enough there to earn 4 stars, but it was close. - Modern rock! Doesn't suck from the start. Very indie - First song is fun, has life. Got a bit dumb at the end - 2nd song: Hey, I've heard this one! v popular, decent

Not for me

This one felt like more a product of its time, I think. A blast of 00's vibes to send out that decade, I suppose. For a bit of horizontal commentary, it's starting to sound like many of these albums follow similar emotional (Musical? Narrative?) arcs, starting upwards and finishing downwards. Casual observation: Note the similar vibes in the first (Zero) and the last (Faces?) song.

I’m ambivalent with this one.

Does heads will roll pick this up to a 4? I think maybe not.

I miss this indie, a little bit ethereal, but also with a punch and cool voice

Meh

A perfectly encapsulated 2000s summer night in audio format. It raves and wriggles and has tension soft enough to hold but ready to explode. Two steps above other indie dance synth punk of the time, it is weird and experimental, and its complete lack of squeaky-clean radio-ready-rock production makes it feel deeply intimate. Nick Zinner's guitars roar and hiss with noisy intricate layers forming massive sounds, yet his exploration in to synths is what forms the bedrock of this album. Peak Karen O vocals all over this thing, every performance fully intentional and filled of emotion. Favourites - Zero, Heads Will Roll, Skeletons, Dull Life, Shame And Fortune, Hysteric

Should’ve been called the Meh Meh Meh’s. Zero (7/10) Heads Will Roll (8/10) Soft Shock (7/10) Skeletons (6/10) Dull Life (8/10) Shame and Fortune (6/10) Runaway (5/10) Dragon Queen (7/10) Hysteric (6/10) Little Shadow (6/10) Faces (7/10) 6.6/10

No sé nada de ellos. A ver qué me encuentro. La portada, se momento, está bien. Otro disco que podría haberse quedado en mi ignorancia. Cada canción tiene una linea melódica que exprime más allá de lo saludable. Tres, cuatro o cinco minutos con una sola idea musical está para mí más cerca de cadena de montaje que de música.

It’s great, it’s cool, but I’ve never been obsessed with it

Sympa sans plus. Un peu lisse

AWESOMEEEE loved the vocals

Close to perfection. Just brilliant

Satisfying indie pop rock

Great album! It's more polished, but it still has a "raw" feel.

karen o i love you always forever!!!

Album 807 of 1089 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz! (2009) Rating : 2.5 / 5 Not bad. I preferred their earlier garage band type sound as opposed to this synth-laced dance-punk.

7.5/10 Definitive 2000s pop rock. I listened to this a lot when it came out. A confident band with a post punk sensibility doing their thing well. First 4 songs contains 3 solid gold bangers, it does trail off a bit towards the end though. Best: Zero

"Zero" +1, "Heads Will Roll" +2, "Soft Shock" +1

In 2009, Yeah Yeah Yeahs – along with the rest of that scene of NY “indie sleaze” bands – no longer owned cool. They were an established, respected group; high enough up festival bills to be legible on the backs of merch from 30 yards out. “Heads will roll” hit the moment perfectly; a cantankerous jam that demanded to be danced to, remixed, danced to, remixed and repeat. It did a fine job of responding, with authenticity and in artistic good faith, to the general direction indie was going in – more prominent synthesisers, less dramatic in-song dynamics. A shift across indie music that, looking back, was the start of a nudging away from attitude and toward vibe – HEALTH, The xx, Washed Out (a gentle metamorphosis that would reach its apotheosis in 2012 with Beach House’s “Bloom”). It’s been 15 years since all that; so I’m pleasantly surprised that “Heads will roll” sounds just as exciting today as it did when it was first released. And “Zero”, album opener, sounds even better. All fantastic signs that I’m in for a long overdue sitting-down-with “It’s Blitz!” in full (for better or worse, I was listening to Animal Collective on repeat in 2009). Well, not so much, in the end. It’s Good! … but aside from the hits and a couple of others (“Dragon Queen”, especially) this is a pedestrian group of songs; fun enough but never quite getting to a height you suspect that, with just a little extra risk, it could reach. If “Heads will roll” was among the early triumphs of the attitude–vibe continuum, then “It’s Blitz!” might, in its own small way, have been among its first victims. A good album that’s somewhere between a scream and a yawn. Lights up, indie, the party’s over.

First time listening to this great record, that I always refused to listen to. Dont know why, shame on me. Fav: Soft shock

Boring

The first few songs are so GOOOOD

Had good variety. Not amazing but good

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are fine but didn’t listen lol

i liked this more than the The Strokes album. less repetitive, but still only a song or two that i really liked.

Curiosamente, el segundo lado me gustó mucho más.

Trying too hard to be orgasmic.

Fun to listen to this again.

increased by heads will roll tbh

good and fun

Great. Remembered more of this than I'd realised. Saw them touring this at Reading.

Surprised how many I recognized

Did not engage me and I'm unlikely to revisit it.

Opening four tracks are so good. Really strong opening. Next two rolling in at around a 6.5/10 for me. Not bad, and definitely in keeping with the rh overall aesthetic, but lack the emotional heft and urgency of the first four. The next three - though maybe not quite as impactful as the first four - are a really return to form with groovy, danceable rhythms and typically gorgeous melodies from Karen O. The last song, Little Shadow, is absolutely wonderful and a fittingly evocative and ethereal way to end a great journey.The intimate acoustic epilogue provides a beautiful capstone. Lovely album with only one or two minor dips.

6/10 I listened to this twice, first time I enjoyed it more than the second, but I was concentrating less. It kind of washed over me in a kind of (like Jimbo said) ‘enjoying at a festival’ way. Second listen, I found it to just be a bit too ‘Indie Band with synths writing festival anthems’ for my taste. It also often relied on the same, or very similar basic chord structure or rhythm through both verses and choruses that made it a bit uninteresting in places. I think I wanted to like it more than I did actually like it. What it really screamed out to me is that they found or programmed some interesting arpeggiated synth patches, but didn’t know how to transition to and from from those patches between different sections of a lot of the songs, so a lot of them just kind of relentlessly persisted throughout. A bit like yesterday, liked it, didn’t love it. Zero - Decent kick off. Not massively keen on the driving synth that dominates the mix. Heads will roll - Liked this more than the first. Soft Shock - Decent song, but doesn’t do anything that interesting. Skeletons - Another, more low-key anthem. Dull Life - Really like this one. There’s a bit more to it, more dynamic and stylistic range, Shame and Fortune - Like this one a lot too. Not as interesting as the last one, but it’s got a great groove. Runaway - Good song, a bit samey throughout. Dragon Queen - Loved the groove in this one. Doesn’t really go anywhere with it though. Hysteric - A bit dull. Little Shadow - Nice, also a bit repetitive. Faces - Like it, didn’t love it. Similar to the rest of the album, it was just a bit repetitive.

Punkish pop, I don’t hate it.

Not what I expected, not for the better. Take your euro synth pop back to the early 80s and leave it there. Except for "heads will roll," that’s perfect for a Halloween playlist. Also, I'd like to hear that with a Pete Rock remix, a Butch Vig remix, an industrial mix and a house mix that uses "Dance, dance till you're dead" very prominently. 'K thanks.

I didn't mind this and found it more listenable than Radiohead!

'Heads Will Roll' is just so good

Less skin crawlingly pretentious than the previous Yeah Yeah Yeahs we did, but this is still absolutely devoid of any substance. A truly terrible band.

Not my thing

Meh, not really my thing. At first, it just sounded like The Pretenders... until it didn't.

Oh, I love this.

I enjoyed this one a lot. I had not listened enough to this band before, so this was a pleasant surprise.

I only knew Yeah Yeah Yeahs from "Maps" and had no idea they had a synth heavy album. Karen O's expressive vocal performance and lyrics took this record to the next level. I wish they kept their foot on the synth-pedal all the way through the album, but the final three tracks aren't without merit thanks to O.

eh

Couple of hits good album

I’m too lazy to go back & check but I think this is the 2nd Yeah Yeah Yeahs album. Might be one too many. Might be enough.

Loved it. Soft Shock is a banger

It's like dance punk but uninteresting

Fantastic album. Great soundscape and some instantly catchy songs. Runaway and Heads Will Roll definitive highlights.

Not my cuppa - only heard half tbh

I enjoyed this. 3 stars

An extremely strong one-two punch to open the album with "Zero" and the iconic song "Heads Will Roll". However, it mellows out after that and doesn't maintain the electricity of the first two tracks. Still loved it though - especially the incredible album cover, which I think is one of the best ever. 4.5 rounded up

The album starts very strong with the first three tracks being great. From there at tone of the album changes to a more sad/introspective which actually is OK, but suddenly felt like a bit of a rug-pull with with where my expectations were after the first few tracks. The vocals here are really good, and while I was not sure if we were supposed to listen to them because they are on the deluxe edition I found that I liked the acoustic versions of these tracks better than the originals. Standouts Zero Heads Will Roll Soft Shock 4/5

Pretty damn great.

Enjoyed the album.

I love Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

I like it but i wouldnt listen to it probably most of it but some of it i still really like

Very solid album however not on the same level as Fever to Tell and Show Your Bones. Zero and Heads will Roll are solid singles, Hysteric is lovely.

Cariche

:)

Wat is er met deze band gebeurd tussen 2003 en 2009? Waar hun vorige album een echt gitaar album was, is dit meteen ontzettend dik op de synths! Tuurlijk ken ik Heads Will Roll, ik was een tiener toen en Project X was onze bijbel zo ongeveer. Het is wat poppyer dan het vorige album wat veel meer gitaren bevat. Hier is duidelijk gekozen voor meer synths en dat zorgt voor een fijner album, voor mijn smaak dan. Toch ga ik wel zeggen; het album luistert echt prima weg, maar de Yeah Yeah Yeahs blijven toch een beetje middelmatig voor me. Ik kan me gewoonweg niet voorstellen dat mensen hier helemaal wild van worden, het blijft een beetje voelen als een 13 in een dozijn band. De muziek is catchy, de zangeres heeft een fijne stem en af en toe is er een uitschieter naar boven, zoals het bloedmooie Skeletons. Maar vaker nog kabbelt het lekker voort en is het gewoon prima FAVO: Heads Will Roll(A-trak remix is wel dikker!) , Skeletons, Dragon Queen

Mal wieder was gutes :) Top: Heads will Roll oder Soft Schock

niezłe ale to nie to

I actually thought the last song was amazing, but the rest just felt mostly the same. The big hit has never really sat with me, so can respect the talent but just not my style.

Good! Enjoyed every song but none of them stuck out enough to save/relisten. Love a good female lead though <3

Fun album ! the remix of "Heads Will Roll" is clearly more iconic but the original is still nice. Will revisit it for sure. 8/10. Fav songs : Zero & Dragon Queen

I listen regularly to the album version of Heads Will Roll on one of my "mix tapes". I didn't enjoy the other stuff as much as I hoped that I would, but it wasn't bad - just not better than HWR.

Why is that some of the best 80's synth pop music in this list was written in 2009? Not a bad song on the album. I enjoyed Karen O's vocal style - sometimes reminded me of Berlin.

I had never heard of this group before, but I'm glad they are on this list: I like this album!

Enjoyed it. Shades of Dale Bozzio and Missing Persons.

Fav: Heads Will Roll Least Fav: Little Shadow Always nice to recognise a song you had no idea was on the album, especially if it’s a banger like Heads Will Roll is

Yeah!

Wish I could rate it a 4.8 because it's beautiful, just didn't enjoy every single song fully so I can't give it a 5 but I do believe it's higher than a 4! If not for 1 or 2 songs this would be a perfect 10, favorite songs are Soft Shock and Little Shadow

Yeah yeah yeahs bang hard. I am surprised to see this one here, even more excited because then Fever to Tell is somewhere as well. Sick.

More no no nos, amirite?

2.5/5 I just can’t get into this. She has a hypnotic voice, but I just don’t identify with the songs.

The most boring band of the 90s

I'm really not that familiar with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs besides their singles. This album is fine. Heads Will Roll is obviously a standout. And Shame and Fortune had a pretty good riff. I like Karen O.s voice. But this probably isn't something I'd return to.

Yeah!

Yeah!

Loved this album when it came out and it’s still fantastic. Even played Hysteric at my wedding.

The album cover is actually hard af. The music is ok, it's actually one of the better records from the 2000s that I got on this list.

Very enjoyable, love the band and it's unique songs. It starts strong and it maintains that momentum until the end. Great record to listen to, to get you in a good mood.

I was only kinda familiar wit Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but I really liked this album. I can't really put my finger on why. It's poppy, but not in a mainstream way. It's fun, but it's also really beautiful in some ways. Great album.

6/10

Enjoyable and fun album. Depending on one's musical interests, Karen O was probably the voice of the 2000's for some. Always energetic and vibrant, she turns in another great leading performance here, along with more tender and delicate showcases as the album goes on ("Soft Shock", "Runaway" among others). This album's sound is characterized by the ARP synthesizer too, which you immediately hear in the first track "Zero" and some of the other made-for-radio singles. Perhaps a bit top-heavy in terms of energy, this album shows some emotional depth the further it goes on. That might be considered a knock for some, but not here. Side note: the A-Trak remix of "Heads Will Roll" bangs. But I don't need to tell you that.

It was fun

kinda vibe, liked skeletons 3.5

Karen O and co. can do no wrong o7

Fantastic - the first 3 tracks are literally perfect 2000s Indie bangers

Nothing remarkable, certainly has a strong indie sound to it. A second listen opened it up more, but I think this needs a particular mood when listening....

I really love this album. It was not my first listen to it, a lot of the songs blend electronic sounds with guitars and the vocals over it are just a joy to listen to.

Bin positiv überrascht. Irgendwie hat es mich ziemlich gepackt. Macht gute Laune und ich denke, ich werde es mir nochmal anhören.

Good. Not crossed my path before.

Classic album from a great band. Great variety and nothing that felt like filler

This is pretty cool album. Everyone remembers Heads Will Roll, but there are some other bangers on there too. Dull Life is great.

There are a few albums that I've willfully consumed to death, this is one of them. I wore Blitz! out over the course of several years when it was released. Now, when I see this in my library I actively avoid it, fearing another listen would degrade the experience, the album and the band even further. This was a nice excuse to bring it into the light, blow off the dust and get into it again. That was nice. Now, let's wave goodbye. Put Blitz! back under the floor with the other albums and bands like BRMC, Built to Spill, Parquet Courts, Air, and so many others...

Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ third album starts with a blitz. “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” will get the crowd going, but it's “Skeletons” and the other slower tracks on “Its Blitz!” that make this electronic revolution of YYYs sound work. Despite changes in their sound, YYYs still maintained the mix of frenetic energy and passionate restraint that make their albums so fantastic.

Took a dancier turn from Fever to Tell and it works great for them. Still very identifiably Yeah Yeah Yeahs but with a shiny new toy.

Good shit.

This was a fun album to listen to. As soon as I heard Heads Will Roll (a track I remembered from having watched Glee a while ago) I was pretty excited to hear what else It's Blitz had to offer. I ran into some pretty great tracks with Skeletons being my favorite, as it was something different from the many catchy dance tracks on this album. While those tracks were good, they can get a bit old. Fortunately, I feel that this album was set up well to give the listener "breaks", so to speak, to enjoy some pretty, more soft tracks.

Decent, never listened before bar Off With Their Heads

1.5

Not my type.

This is sending me back to middle school. Angsty but fun, with some slow and pretty songs. A few absolute classics!

As most of my Yeah Yeah Yeahs experiences have been with Fever To Tell, this one took me a minute to adjust to. This is effectively an electro-pop album with sort of a punk-y tone, and I think it more or less works. That being said, I can't fully divorce It's Blitz! from what I was wanting from a Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, so part of me certainly wishes this had some more teeth. Despite this, what is here is catchy, groovy and focused, and I did enjoy my time with it.

Fairly good album, even though not my usual style.

They could have called this It’s Fine! and that would have also worked. I own the most recent YYYs album on vinyl and remember liking this and Fever to Tell, with ambivalence towards Mosquito — revisiting It’s Blitz!, I think it’s okay! It’s listenable but not something I’ll ache to revisit.

Faves: Heads will roll, dull life, runaway. Would I revisit this: no.

It was fine but a lot of it sounded the same and was pretty high energy/intense

Very nice! Very energizing!

For some reason, before I had heard anything, I thought this group was older, early 90's or something. I don't know why. Anyway, it's got more punk than I expected. It's not bad. I'd be curious for more, but I'm not running out to buy this.

So this is where "Heads Will Roll" comes from.

Sometimes a bit cringe but otherwise great

I really didn’t like fever to tell, but i found this to be pretty okay overall. Started out super strong

It's the Dance 'til You're Dead group

Crappy singer who is very thankful for tech, backed by very good musicians. Poor guys.

Good beginning but ultimately falls flat at the end

A great listen throughout. Pumping and upbeat, but also melancholic and sentimental. It balances these feelings wonderfully as the album progresses. Not a bad song on the entire album.

Nice Voice, great energy.

4.5. Album defined a period of my life and I'm grateful for that.

Po prostu meh.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Fever to Tell was my 56th album to review, and now, I get their second album for my 807th. This is the longest gap I’ve had between albums from the same artist, so I don’t remember much about Fever to Tell. I gave it three stars, but I haven’t listened to any of it since then. I know “Heads Will Roll” off of It’s Blitz!, but everything else on here will be new for me. However, I’m ready to rock! I really enjoyed It’s Blitz!, and I thought it was much more memorable than Fever to Tell. The overall sound of the album was great, and I loved that it was heavily synthesizer driven. The songs were really fun, and this album had a really unique rock sound to it. Further adding to that uniqueness were Karen O.’s vocals, which sounded great. There are some really great songs on It’s Blitz!: I thought “Zero,” “Heads Will Roll,” “Skeletons,” “Dull Life,” and “Hysteric” were really good. “Zero” was an excellent lead-off track, and I was instantly grabbed by its pulsing synth line. “Heads Will Roll” is fantastic too, and I love its dance worthy beat. The synth melody during the verses is haunting, and I also love the frantic synth blips during the chorus. “Skeletons” was easily the best of the slower songs on the album, and I thought it was the most beautiful song too. “Dull Life” had more of a pure rock sound that I really loved, and the guitar playing was fantastic. “Hysteric” was really beautiful too, and I liked its ethereal atmosphere. The thing that I liked most about this album was that it used a wide variety of synthesizer sounds, but the album still sounded really cohesive. My only complaint against It’s Blitz! Is that some songs were a bit boring. Still, this was a really good album, and it’s something I’d come back to.

Sikkert mer banebrytende da det kom enn det låt for meg, men fine låter.

Of it's time

7.5/10. I just realized that the album cover features an egg, and not a bottle. :)

Yep 👍 like it

Chick music. "Heads will roll" dance song

A-Trak does Heads Will Roll better tbh. by a lot. this is a worthwhile album though. very emblematic of its era in a way that makes it a good distillation of the late 2000s indie scene; where rock music turned electronic and the internet really sunk its claws into the culture. a more engaging and interesting album than Fever To Tell, i can tell you that much, even if it does lose me as it winds down deserves to be one of the 1001? i would say yeah (yeah yeahs)

Just an awesome dynamic rock band I wish I knew sooner....great album.

👎🏻

Not my thing at all. Too noisy lol

Very strong singles, the rest of the album is quite good. 3.5

One of my favorite bands, just excellent rock.

Girls rock

It's hard to stand the mix and how loud it is. Probably wrong day for such an album. Lot's of energy though. Wish I had less of my own rage to appreciate it, but I don't

Loved this so much, have never listened before but will be on heavy rotation now

Cool record, Karen O’s vocals are spectacular and the music behind it is shifting and interesting

meh

2000's alternative is a category that I usually go into expecting the worst. Not a fan of a lot of other beloved bands from that era and was expecting this album to be a chore to get through. This is an album that if I listened to another 4 times may go down to a 3 star but they get extra credit for exceeding my expectations for the genre and in a rare move for me I listened to the album a second time immediately after I finished it.

I'm not sure how I did not know this album existed when it came out because it's right up my alley.

I have heard of this band but never heard it. Had no idea they even had a female singer. I guess it's OK but it seemed like all the songs were trying to be big grandiose anthems without actually accomplishing that.

I like their style

This album stomps. After listening through once it started to dawn on me just how influential this album has been on music as a whole and, by inheritance, my taste and moving experience. I'm not a very learned critic so I'm not at all eloquent when it comes to articulating what it is that makes music "good" or "bad". But, what I can say for sure is that it's this kind of music that serves and has served the masses beyond the here and now.

Het was gewoon echt niet boeiend genoeg, nog eerder 2 dan 4

A good album, very much a product of its time. A bit rocky to start - the songs don't necessarily go well for the first five, but balances out very nicely at the end. The acoustic versions round out the album nicely.

Had never heard the classic in it's original form before amd it's goood. Surprisingly I liked most of the album and think it's really solid. Love the attitude you can feel through Karen O.

Did not know the whole album. Its great!

Perfect disposable NYC lifestyle rock, the kind that the Strokes aren't really good enough to do and LCD Soundsystem are too good to do. I feel cooler when it's on and don't even notice when it leaves.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' third album announces itself with a powerful trio of songs, starting with the infectious disco of "Zero," continuing with the driving rock of 'Heads Will Roll" and concluding with four-on-the-floor synths ("Soft Shock"). “Dull Life” displays the dynamics this band were by now becoming known for, building from a slow, moody intro to a galloping rock rhythm. "Hysteric" is a gorgeous meditation on love. Four and a 1/2 stars. Overall, It's Blitz trades some of the band's guitar-forward rough edges for nuance, more sophisticated production (in part from Dave Sitek of TV On the Radio, who I really hope are on this list), softer and more electronic textures, and space in the songs, which are often about love. It’s the sound of a band growing.

Just here to say how much I appreciate alex-v-cook’s reviews. "Perfect disposable NYC lifestyle rock"! What a choice phrase! So many terrific concise descriptions that Alex delivers. A+ reviewer (C+ album).

I've never played this record, even though I've heard its hit a billion times—and even like it. It's fun stuff! A cool 3.5 that I'm arbitrarily choosing to round down.

This was fine, and Heads will Roll is a great single, but I don't see it as Important or Canon.

It's alright. A fine pop/dance/disco thing. It's fine. No real idea why this is on the list, though. Feels more like a "we need to update this list...toss in a few albums from the last couple of decades at random to make it look like this is something we keep updated." I'm happy I gave this a listen. Will I ever need to give it a listen again? No.

Was fine. Not bad but I was bored

The opening track is one of my favorite songs by any artist from the 2000s. THAT BEING SAID... Back when the Strokes-era NYC scene was exploding, these guys were critical darlings and I didn't really get it. I thought they were fine, but didn't see what all the fuss was about. I figured there must be something about seeing them live. I had the opportunity to do that at one of the Bonnaroos I went to and... I guess I sort of got it? Karen O definitely had stage presence. And she is certainly attractive but I never understood the whole "sex goddess" image the music press seemed to bestow on her. Oh well, I like these guys OK and this was pretty a good album. I just never understood what the big deal was. I guess like a lot of the albums in this project, you had to be there. ("There" being NYC at that particular time, not just being alive in 2003-2009.) P.S. - I listened to the "Deluxe Edition" on Apple Music and it included 4 extra acoustic version tracks and I liked those better than what ended up on the album. Good songs that I liked more without all the synthesizer crap.

"Heads Will Roll" is something that is played in a lot of movies/shows. Didn't know it was from them. The rest of the album is quite nice. I like the acoustic versions.

The Millennial Pixies. More important to the generation that followed than the majority of the generation who was the initial target audience, despite huge critical acclaim and hipster support. It’s Blitz! is a good indie rock, Pitchfork-core, hipster party record. I know, because I was basically at those parties at the tale-end of that era. It also has held up a lot better than a lot of those records, and the first two singles are really good. But I also think it’s surprisingly thin and introverted, which feels antithetical to what the kids today (and me, at the time) envision when they think of ✨indie sleaze✨ hipster parties. When I think of “Heads Will Roll,” I think of the remix; I would never think to put the original version on a playlist, even a throwback party playlist for Retired Hipster Girls in Their 30s™️, because the original, while party-esque, is still really, really lowkey. And that’s the weird thing about It’s Blitz! You think it’s a high-energy album, but really, it’s quite reserved and requires your full attention to appreciate. That wouldn’t really be an issue if the album itself was pushing back against expectations, but actually, this really feels like a sincere attempt at ✨energy✨. So as a result, it inherently falls short of its goal, even if it’s still pretty good for what it is, and the worst moments are the least energetic [ e.g. “Skeletons” and “Runaway”]. But again, Yeah Yeah Yeahs were always a band I really liked but never loved, and that’s about how I feel about this record. But maybe I wasn’t as much of a hipster as I thought I was when I was 19, and maybe the Gen Z girlies just appreciate this more than me.

Excellent. Nostalgia.

From the first to the last track the sound had a nostalgic ring to it. It reminds me of an 80's movie intro of some high school coming off age music. It was very calming. Even my 14 year old daughter knows about this group.

Perfect.

Excellent album love it!!

Another great album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs! I really enjoyed this one I had only heard a couple of songs from this album but I really thought it was a good one from the early 2010s indie rock or alt rock scene!

Great synths

Sounds a lot more modern than I expected, guess things go in cycles. Starts strong and feels fun and poppy but then peters out a little

Once again there are parts I can appreciate but just not for me. 1

Had not previously registered the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Although once started listening I recognised the singles - in particular Heads will Roll - which still gets a decent amount of airtime. Really enjoyed the album - garage with retro synth and cool vocals. Will definitely listen again - a good album to drive to. Will now check out the other yeah yeah yeah album on the list.

It’s Blitz I’ve not listened to this album before. The first four tracks are excellent, Zero and Heads Will Roll are fantastic disco-garage-indie-punk bangers, Soft Shock has a synthy Maps vibe and Skeletons is a superbly catchy bit of atmosphere and mood. I love the synthesiser addition to their sound and the general idea of adding some dancefloor to their garage style. It does dip a little after that stellar start, but it's always listenable and there are some great tracks - I like the back half of Shame and Fortune, the riff/hook is great and the synthy spacey funkiness of Dragon Queen is excellent, and Faces is great as well. It’s a very enjoyable dancey, indie-garage album, elevated by the synthiness, some great melodies and Karen O’s charismatic voice and presence, tipping it into a 4. 🥚🥚🥚🥚 Playlist submission: Skeletons

Garage-punk guitars are replaced with glossy synths, and new wave and disco beats; but the essence of Yeah Yeah Yeahs remains unaltered. Karen O's immaculate vocal remains the standout feature; now out of its usual context, it's no longer a rock screech, but the soar of an electro-dance diva. Her vocal travels everywhere with proficiency; and yet remains aloof in the coolest way possible. The opening three tracks are true heavyweights from their whole catalogue.

This album feels a lot more dance and electronica driven than the other album on the list. The couple top singles are frequently featured in dance mixes, this one isn’t for me.

Solid, dance pop with personality. Will revisit.

I really liked this. It wasn't what I expected and there were quite a few really great songs

Why this group again?

2nd half besides the last song is good. The rest is whatever.

Begint fijn! Vrouwelijke zangeres.

Overall: 7/10 I mostly knew Yeah Yeah Yeahs from the songs Maps and Heads Will Roll (which is on this album) and Karen O's work on the Her soundtrack. I like the sound of this album, it has a very disco inspired feel while retaining a punk sound that I'm sure fans of their early work would appreciate. Almost every song makes me want to dance. Fav Song: Dull Life Least Fav Song: Skeletons

love this album, it's amazing

Tons of hooks and a great full-sounding production from the start. Stabbing synths and driving bass on Zero sets the stage. Heads Will Roll is the big anthem with catchy vocal melodies and crunchy guitars, but I liked Soft Shock more, overlapping synth riffs building throughout. Everything sounds retro because of the keys and vocals but with a modern flair to it. Good if you like your indie rock with a heavy dose of synth pop. Skeletons is a different kind of sound, opting for big soundscapes and drums. From here we mostly alternate between quicker and slower songs. Runaway is more in the vein of Skeletons, epic and cinematic, and Dragon Queen is excellent with a 70s sound and another big bassline. Little Shadow is a dreamy closer. I'm left contented, but conflicted on the rating. Sticking with ****, but on a good day this could go higher.

Good fun.

Fun indie-pop from the late naughties. Better than most of the other stuff that was coming out around that time, but not exciting musically.

pop classic (heads will roll) not really my kind of misic but their acoustics are nice

Electronic sounds in music is really, really not my jam. Heads Will Roll is really damn good tho.

No songs hooked me

Really love the blend of rock with a dance kind of vibe. A bit too electronic in sound.

This album took two listens for me to rate. I felt another 3 at first but giving it more attention there's a fair amount going on here. If you were the ideal age this could be a hugely influential album. It's cool, has a lot of fun, and it easy to turn up loud. Glad to have heard it.

Album cover not so much. This is catching my attention. I like the build of the song Skeletons. Nice closing track. Some good compositions, and interesting bits throughout. Overall nothing really blew me away, but pretty good album.

Great record. I think maybe better than Fever to Tell? Have to go back to that, but I gave that a 4 as well. Heads Will Roll and Dull Life being the standouts. If I had a nickel for every great piano driven song called Runaway (Kanye's and now YYY's), I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but its weird it's happened twice. I will complain a little, as great as both YYYs albums are, I don't think the list needs two records from them. Be tough to pick which to keep though.

Coming into this I only knew Heads Will Roll, which is a pretty fun song! I honestly thought this would be a mediocre pop album, and that would have been fine. Instead I was pleasantly surprised after the slow (to me) start to hear a lot of different musical styles influencing this album. During the first song I was thinking this girl would be good in a riotgrrl band, then I was super excited to hear the kind of grungy Dull Life! I also really dig Dragon Queen. I can hear the talent here for sure. That said, mostly kind of okay songs.

Not my style

Pretty good vocals/melodies

Dance till ur dead bro i remember that song. It was good. Just good I think

3/5

I have actually never listened to any YYY albums straight through so this was fun. Some lulls for me but the more popularized songs are awesome.

It's almost unfair including this in the mix. This is my era of indie. I do think the album sags a little in the middle, but it's got some insane highs.

What this has done is remind me how much I love this album and I don't listen to it enough! After two very punky albums this is the perfect balance of punky and melodic. Some absolute bangers. - side note find the footage of Skeletons performed at T in the Park with the bag pipers. Brilliant.

Heads will roll is awesome, others just ok, not bad Not going to listen again

was not cohesive or melodic enough for me to want to listen to it again. 1.5

This is why I use this thing, to find new music I enjoy, this album has some fun stuff, but some songs felt very repetitive

I like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Good listen no songs stood out, probably will not save tho. 6/10

Boring. Lacks energy, and I don't like the hit song from the album. Ironically, the best song was "Dull Life", which was energetic & souded like Yeah Yeah Yeahs first EP.

This album kicks ass. I seriously need to listen to more music by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, because prior to listening to this my only exposure to them was Maps and the dance remix of Heads Will Rolls (which I didn't know was them). This album covers a lot of bases, and it all sounds great.

Wow — an indie rock album I really like, didn’t think I’d see the day. To be fair, this is much more polished than most indie out there. Soft Shock and Runaway were the early standouts for me. The mix of synth energy, Karen O’s emotional vocals, and the bold glam edge gave this a ton of replay value. This felt cohesive and dynamic start to finish. A pleasant surprise.

This album was goated. It gives us classics, awesome party vibes and more. I really like the acoustic songs. 3/5

Dreamy and strong. Unique and edgy. Some cool vocals and instrumentals.

Don’t have much to write, I really loved this all the way through. Not my first exposure to the YYYs but I’m not hugely familiar.. but this fit my vibe, certainly for today

This album is fantastic. About the third listen and I started to get it. Especially the acoustic songs at the end. Solid.

7. Prima. Sommige liedjes zijn wel leuk, maar andere een beetje saai. Niks komt in de buurt van hoe goed Heads will roll is.

fun punk album that's pretty different than what I normally listen to. - soft rock - skeletons - runaway - hysteric - little shadow

Love the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and this album has a bunch of great songs. Not quite as amazing as Fever to Tell, but still one of my very favorites.