While I have nothing against dreamy trip-hop — and I would be fine with any of these individual songs in the right spot on a playlist — this kind of droning, simple, unadorned, repetitive album does nothing for me.
Seeing today’s album and cover art, my first thought was “Oh, that’s that band on the SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD soundtrack.” After some rumination on the cinema of Edgar Wright, I realized it was the US movie HIGH FIDELITY where I’d first heard of The Beta Band.
I assumed the band was a fictional creation. When I did get around to listening to them — probably THE THREE E.P.’S — all I recall is that I was unimpressed. “Maybe it was the best option [director Stephen] Frears had,” I thought at the time. “Definitely doesn’t strike me as a band Nick Hornby would use in this story.”
So, what does a listen to their third album in 2026 reveal?
The prog-rock vibe, vocals and harmonies on “Space” and “Lion Thief” bring to mind 1960s Pink Floyd. If not for the crisp production, this might be a lost soundtrack to an unfinished Antonioni film.
There’s a lot to like about the music, especially the variety, and “Liquid Bird” is my favorite track.
But I can’t get past the banal and uninspired lyrics throughout. Repeating lines like “She’s so wonderful”, “I love your way”, “I love you to pieces” and “I’m so glad you found me” four, eight, sixteen, 24 times is far from poetry.
Sure, HEROES TO ZEROS’s musical atmosphere can be interesting at times, but a confessional line from “Space Beatle” sums it up: “What I’m saying has no meaning.”
The only Neil Young albums I’ve ever listened to are THIS NOTE’S FOR YOU (1988) and FREEDOM (1989) and I don’t currently own any Neil Young albums or CDs.
Asa a person, I love the guy. A stand-up dude and rock icon, he was flipping the bird at corporate bullshit in the 1980s when few did; Neil Young is the antithesis of “sellout.” But, for the most part, none of his song ever made me want to listen to any of his 1960s or 1970s work. Twangy, countrified rock just isn’t my bag.
So, it’s 2026 and I’m listening to Neil Young’s second album with an open mind…
On first listen, it’s all unexpectedly tolerable and track 4 (“Down By The River”) and 6 (“Running Dry (Requiem for the Rockets)”) stand out as favorites. I’d probably give the album 3 out of 5.
By the second, the entire thing is really, surprisingly, growing on me. The honesty and raw, live real-ness of it all is coalescing into a jangly whole. The last track “Cowgirl in the Sand” is a standout gem this time; it would fit right in on The Beatles WHITE ALBUM. Now the album’s at least a personal 4 out of 5.
It’s not the type of music I would ever think to turn to on my own, but I’m grateful I found this album here, fixing a hole in my 1960s/70s rock listening.
Really don’t like Joan Baez’s voice, or that vibrato thing she does.
The Animals’ “House of the Rising Sun” is a traditional? Did not know that!
This genre just does nothing for me.
Somehow far, far worse than I could ever imagine.
Never heard of this artist before today. Pleasant enough, a good listen.
Way heavier and harder than I remember. While I could like a single Alice In Chains song hearing it on a soundtrack or 97X back in the day, an entire album of this kinda hard rock is not for me. Not my genre.
What a pleasant surprise: Behind the pleasant but played-to-death US hit single “There She Goes” was this UK gem produced by my favorite producer, Steve Lillywhite.
The astonishingly great debut album from one of my favorite artists still sparkles. Every track is a gem.
