This album has been submitted by a user and is not included in any edition of the book.
I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One is the eighth studio album by the American indie rock band Yo La Tengo, released on April 22, 1997, by Matador Records. It was produced by Roger Moutenot and recorded at House of David in Nashville, Tennessee. The album expands the guitar-based pop of its predecessor Electr-O-Pura to encompass a variety of other music genres, including bossa nova, krautrock, and electronic music. Most of the songs on the album deal with melancholy emotions and range from short and fragile ballads to long and open-ended dissonance. Upon release, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One reached number 19 on the Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart, becoming the first Yo La Tengo album to enter the charts. Three songs from the album, "Autumn Sweater", "Sugarcube", and the cover "Little Honda", were released as singles. The album received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised the band's ability to successfully expand the boundaries of nearly any pop style. The album is widely regarded as the band's best work and is frequently included on several publications' best album lists. In 2020, Rolling Stone included it on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time as no. 423.
I'm glad someone decided to grant this album it's rightful place on the user list. The band's best work and one of the best albums of the 1990's. The music varies between rock, pop, noise going fast and slow. The Neil Young like, slightly off key, vocals of Ira Kaplan are a delight.
This was a long listen, but I really enjoyed it. There were a few tracks that wore out their welcome a bit, but there were plenty of delights like Center of Gravity or the surprising cover of Little Honda that more than made up for the album’s nadir.
Strangely enough, a band that I've apparently left sitting on my to-listen pile for way too long. It’s eclectic in the best way. The music roughly straddles the line between noise rock and dream pop, with influences from Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth evident, but there are also hints of shoegaze and mellow sixties pop. The first few tracks carry a subtle weight, with darker undertones both musically and emotionally. But around “Shadows,” the album shifts: it loosens up a bit. Songs like “Damage” and “Autumn Sweater” immediately stood out, and then there were songs like “Green Arrow” with a mood like sitting on a wide Queenslander porch with friends and beers as the sun goes down. “The Lie and How We Told It” carries that same quiet resonance. “Little Honda” reimagined through a Velvet Underground lens is more fun than it has any right to be, and the feedback solo in “We’re an American Band” is gloriously chaotic. It’s a generous album, balancing fuzzy distortion with delicate stillness. And that balance might be the real genius of it. Apparently it captures both Yo La Tengo’s noisier early edge and the mellow, atmospheric direction they’d lean into later. This one's going into rotation. And I'm really keen to explore the rest of their catalogue.
Wow, I hadn’t realised that there was no YLT on the original list. Another poignant user pick, and a great record to represent the group. Actually shocking that it was not included in the list - monumental record.
I liked this quite a bit, will listen again. 4 stars.
Took me way too long to get into this band, an outfit that I'd written off as another indie singer-songwriter outfit of the aughts on early listens. Joke's on me, especially with this LP – there's a sense of warmth across all of YLT's discography, but this album especially hums with a humanity that makes every track feel like the sonic equivalent of a warm hug. The production is just lo-fi enough to add the human touch, but clean enough that the bandwidth between the softer tracks and giant walls of noise register equally. A wide breadth of songwriting on this one too, with plenty of dynamic contrast and variety to make the album's runtime feel nearly justified. Just a great album at the end of the day, and a shocking oversight of the original 1001 to omit
Yo La is fun
There's so much to enjoy on this album. Thoughtfully crafted and musically creative in really surprising ways. Melodic, dreamy and strategically noisy, with a bit of whimsy. Fave Songs: Green Arrow, One PM Again, The Lie and How We Told It, Stockholm Syndrome, Autumn Sweater, Spec Bebop
This is one that if you had asked me I would have said was on the main list. Definitely an oversight from that list. Love the variety of what you get out of this record. It never gets to the level of worship for me that I think it might for others. Still a great record.
Not including Yo La Tengo is another obvious miss from the editors. There are way too many bands with a handful of albums on the original list, which means that stuff like this is overlooked - it becomes very apparent due to the user list… And I’m only 9 albums in. A few of Yo La Tengo’s albums could’ve fitted in; including this one. Great variations between lovely, short ballads and longer, more intricate compositions. Great band, great record.
Should certainly take the place of one of the many outdated british artists that fill up so much of th 90s-00s. Great band that balances avant-garde with melodic songwriting
I’ve heard of this band before but never gave them a thorough listen until now and that was definitely a disservice on my part. This album was an hour of indie rock that felt like I was looking through a kaleidoscope of sound. The songs varied enough that kept the album interesting but vocally it was pretty consistent. I would revisit this. A solid indie rock album. 7.5/10
Rocky stereolab
Really chill
A fun variety of tunes. Autumn Sweater is my favorite easily. A band I clearly need to dive more into!
Not heard of these and enjoyed this as headphone music while working 3.6
4.5
Three vocalists means more variety than some albums; sounds like they are having a blast recording it; very much a jam band
Can't recall if this band has made the list before. Certainly they are are profoundly foundational players in this genre of indie rock, carving out something less heavy and post-punk than similar contemporaries like Dinosaur Jr. I always liked them.and I liked this. I'm not sure its anything remarkable and a lot of it is rendered intelligible by typical muted vocals, but I'd happily listen to more any day.
Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Green arrow
Maybe if I was stoned? Maybe? The vocal harmonies are ever so slightly off and it got to me after a while. 3/5.
It's like a shoe gaze jam band
Very melancholic
A bit of a mix. At times very 90s indie, others quite Simon and Garfunkel. The album cover does not convey the contents.
As is often the case for albums I've seen described as "The White Album of ____", this is an endearing, but overlong mess. Half very cool, half excruciatingly boring. Three outta five.
I can see the appeal of this but it didn't stick with me
Enjoyed this album, but just a bit of the long side I thought became a bit of a drag and seemed disjointed in parts. Glad I listened though.
They have a much better album
Groaned when I saw the producer
Not that bad
Indie rock, indie pop, noise pop. Rollo. Un 2.
The last song was a nice one from the soundtrack album to the Gilmore Girls, but I found a lot of this tedious.