Control

To whoever posted this album: I appreciate seeing this on here greatly. It was on my shortlist for my submission as well. Truly one of the best records ever, and certainly the best of its genre. The best show I ever saw in my life was David at the Horseshoe in Toronto in 2006.

I love concept albums! This had a very early Death Cab for Cutie sound (musically, not vocals), which I dig. Makes sense since he has connections to the Seattle indie band scene. These lyrics hit HARD in the opening song: "But for now, I need you But it was only in my head Because no one ever says What they really mean to say When there's so much at stake So I told her I loved her And she told me she loved me And I mostly believed her And she mostly believed me" Oof, man. That hits hard.

That Seattle grunge sound is never far away. The rawness and darkness of this album is very intriguing. 'Magazine' and 'Second Best' are amazing, strong songs. Nice discovery!

I couldn't get past the consistent downbeat tone of gloom. It needed some variety to move the down around. I could see myself being into it in some moods - but I wasn't in that mood yesterday.

Eh, drawn out indie. Don't hate it but I don't really like it. 2/5

3. Indi rock

Pretty good. Songs are good but I don't love his voice, it has sort of a flat quality to it, reminiscent of Evan Dando. 3 stars.

I've been somewhat willfully ignorant of this band ever since they seemed like another bland singer-songwriter addition to Polyvinyl Records' stellar lineup of artists. Joke's on me then – this was a super-surprising LP with some interesting songwriter takes on post-punk. While not wholly memorable, this album gave me some novel takes on the standard post-punk angular guitars meeting some softer, more abstruse vocals. I need to take a re-listen to collect some of my standout faves, but overall I was happy someone added this so I could stop being a contrarian and give this band a listen.

9/10. I thought this was really neat.

I was a little skeptical of this album if I am being honest. There is plenty of thoughtful 2000s indie type stuff on here. But honestly, the concept and execution is deserving of a spot.

I quite liked this! Cool themes, good depressive backing, and I'm always a sucker for a concept album. Thanks for introducing me to something I wouldn't have likely found otherwise!

kept thinking i was listening to the guy from coldplay.

I get why this album was chosen, but it hasn’t clicked with me, yet. I will need a couple of more listens. However: Good album!

J'ai aimé plus ca que je pensais meme si le genre était rock emo, j'ai trouvé ca bon et passer un bon moment pendant les 30 minutes. 3.85

Whatever narrative and language live within Control, the album is utterly effective in its sadness. It's all a bit too real over 21st century America, inside indie. Which is a tricky container to define, however easy it is to sense. Geography can have a paradoxical bigness-smallness, and Control does, too, and the right way for a concept album. That is, the runtime does not bloat.

Looks like I missed this one at the time. And it is pretty good actually. Thanks for sharing

I believe I HAVE seen David Bazan live. Just him acoustic for the most part. Seems like he definitely has a cult of personality around him among folks. I think the folks who listened to Sufjan and Pedro the Lion were overlapping. Definitely had college roommates way into Pedro the Lion. I think he's okay. Just never got into it a ton. Not bad at all though.

Very Pearl Jam-adjacent. Not bad!

Nothing stood out for me here but could be the listening environment of work

Interesting record.

This had quite some elements that a like. Could have been a bit more outspoken as the second half of the album not as exciting as the first. But all-in-all an enjoyable listen.

This had a cool indie vibe with a lot of songs to enjoy! Kudos

This was aight, I get Pearl Jam vibes from the lead vocalist

I didn’t really like this. The album cover feels like a ripoff of The Downward Spiral and the vocals come across as extremely uninvested, even downright bored. 3/10

Sadcore death fantasy.

This album is caught between the pull of the Seattle grunge and later indie rock scenes. It navigates this with a sense of respect for the grunge past but with a clear vision of what's to come. Lyrically, this album is very striking in its portrayal of love lost, betrayal, and eventual retribution. It also has a political and anti-consumerist mindset that can be heard throughout.

Oof!! Yes I can hear the Seattle sound and yes this is grungy but..... That sound is just a vehicle for the message. And what a message. Extremely well written and insightful and I find it really hard to digest maybe because it hits home to me. This is not a pleasant album but it is an important one.

I didn’t know what to expect going in, but Control completely grabbed me. It’s dark and sad, yet not hopeless. The music feels to envelop the message: slow, heavy, and deliberate, with that fuzzy 90s sound that lands somewhere between Death Cab for Cutie and Pearl Jam. The first four songs are just superb. They capture the heart of the record, guilt and small tragedies, told through distortion and restraint. The grungy guitars and minimal drumming bring a sort of hypnotic buzz while David Bazan’s lyrics cut deep. His voice sounds tired but it fits the stories on this album well. It’s sad, but not empty. I feel it's about facing failure, not surrendering to it. Even if he has to tell his partner their infidelity was 'just so unoriginal' in a song like Rehearsal. A beautiful, heavy record that earns every word it says.

A miserablist gungey indie concept album album about a relationship going wrong. Objectively quite good but didn't really grab me. Rating: 3 Playlist track: Penetration Date listened: 18/07/24

what an album! excellent

A friend told me I should listen to Pedro the Lion sometime around when this was released but I never did. I feel like a terrible Seattleite! But most importantly I have been missing out on an exceptional album! The music is downbeat perfectly suiting the mood, but it’s the lyrics and the devastating story told on this album that really hooked me. An exploration of love, lust, anger and revenge the songs lay out a tragic story. The first time through I just had a small idea of what it was all about, but I immediately listened a second and third time and the details only increased my love for this album. The opening track Options is such a realistic feeling of love - and doubt. Such an interesting sentiment. Rapture is such a clever description of cheating - “Gideon is in the drawer” letting us know we are in a motel. Complicated feelings abound… “just ten more minutes.” Wow. Then Penetration mixes metaphors or sex and getting fired from a job in a very interesting way. “Cause if it isn’t making dollars then it isn’t making sense… if you aren’t moving units then you’re not worth the expense… if it isn’t penetration then it isn’t worth a kiss.” Another standout was Priests and Paramedics… the lyrics exploring each’s encounters with death and the different ways each must approach and ultimately reacts to it. Haunting. Really I could list great things about every song on here… this album really connected with me. This is the third user-submitted album and so far y’all are batting 1000. This could easily displace dozens of albums that are on the official list. Terrific!

Okay, wow! As a lyrics first listener this is a very rich nugget of discovery for me! There is so much intensity, so much cynicism, and raw vulnerability here to unpack. And paired with this 90's alt rock/post-grunge reminiscent music, it's a total slam dunk for me. I can't believe I've never heard of this band before, but I'm impressed. It's like an even more maudlin Counting Crows, if that's possible? There's real poetry and beauty here, but also darkness and pain. What a cathartic listen this is! I needed to hear it, today of all days too. Wow. Blown away. Love this. Thank you to the person who submitted it!

Clearly not made by a lion

Brooding but good. Something I can get into from time to time. Favorites: Indian Summer, Options 4/5

Interesting the back story of this album. Reminds me of a few different artists (Jack Johnson specifically). Waffling between 3/4.

What a great lyricist this guy is. I really enjoyed living inside the world created in this album. Definitely an artist to explore further. Thanks!

Is this the guys from the doves? The vocals sound very similar but the music is more rock centered overall. I ended up liking it quite a bit particularly magazine and second best.

April 7, 2025 HL: “Rapture”, “Penetration”, “Indian Summer”, “Rehearsal” Today’s AOTD is from David Bazan, of Seattle! I had misgivings about the opener “Options”, thinking I was about to go down a muddy road towards beige, 2000s post-grunge. Then the ironically upbeat “Rapture” immediately shatters that expectation. What could have been a simple morality play about the sin of infidelity is complicated by the dejected final couple of tracks- seeming neither sympathetic nor damning to the “protagonist”. Though it’s not an easy listen, it is a pretty impressive concept album from a time and genre (90s/00s slowcore) I haven’t been particularly interested in. 4* for now

A loose concept album, the main theme seemingly being that the world sucks, and people suck, and the guy singing sucks, and you probably suck too. Not as depressing as that sounds, but far from uplifting! Could have scored anything (except 1 🌟) depending on how I felt when I listened, but I came round to basically agreeing with him about how sucky *all of this* is!

Other albums from Pedro The Lion I've browsed through seemed less interesting than this one. There are a couple of relatively underwhelming cuts in the middle, and David Bazan's voice is an acquired taste at times, but the first three songs are very solid and quite emotionally intense, and so is highlight "Second Best" on side 2. Don't have a lot of time to explore further today -- including the lyrical and narrative elements tied the "concept album" parts -- yet I have a good feeling about this one. Including it in my "high rated list" to get a chance to come back to it later. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 4 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 3.5) Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 14 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 25 (including this one) Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 44 ---- Émile ! J'ai répondu à ton message. Regarde cinq reviews au dessus !

Good indie rock/slowcore stuff. Something I’ll return to in the future.

Indie rock, emo; yo añado grunge, garage. Chulo.

Catchy and emotional alt-rock that maybe sounds a little dated but stands out from a homogenous early ‘00s scene with its slice-of-life realness. It’s a concept album about heartbreak and the scourge of capitalism that manages to not quite tip over into melodrama and instead is punchy and sometimes insightful - like if Ben Gibbard fronted a post-grunge band rather than reinventing emo and indietronica. Pretty great stuff from a band I’d never heard of

Pedro The Lion is sometimes categorized as "slowcore," and "Control" begins and ends with two tracks that seem to fit the bill. Those are my least favorite songs on the album. But I've always really dug "Rapture," and its emblematic of a strain of emo that I like better than a lot of the loud and whiny stuff.

A beautifully cynical look at American life or just the world in general. I like the lyrics, instrumentation, production, and songwriting. I wish there was more range, though the album never became dull. If you can really listen in on what they’re saying, it makes the album a lot more enjoyable. 4/5

Not bad 4 A bit samey 3

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Priests and paramedics

Fine Indie rick, a little uninspiring 2.9

Great grungy-indie sound with a perfectly executed concept, if frequently dragging in pace. The lyrics read like bad poetry to me. A really good listen though; I would not have minded seeing this on the official list. Thanks for suggesting it. Fave Songs: Options, Magazine, Rehearsal, Second Best

This was a little morose and monotonous for me. I mean, it was supposed to be, so there you go.

Well that sure was a depressing album but that was kind of the point right. Not everything can be sunshine’s and this album did a good job of showing the darker side of people and the decisions they make. A bit of a drag at times but overall not too bad the grunge indie sound is solid and obviously very Seattle. A good deeper concept album for the darker days. 6.6/10

Interesting concept behind the lyrics but otherwise falls pretty flat to me.

This is an example of cut over from the last century. So many albums have come after it that it sounds banal at this point but was not at the time.

I really like the tone and the lead singer's voice. This genre is kind of a perfect fit for me, however the album underwhelms a bit. Options and Rapture are promising, but most of the rest meanders around until Second Best, which is the standout track for me. I actually like the subsequent album, Achilles Heel, better.

Nice

Enjoyed this grunge concept album, only thing stopping me from adding this to my frequent rotation is the vocals get a bit wearing.

This is a nice Indie Rock album. Smart lyrics and nice grunge sound. I must admit I like contemporaries like Death Cab for Cutie and The Weakerthans better. Their lyrics are smarter, melodies better and the voice of David Bazan gets a bit boring after a while. But I learned something: "If it isn't penetration. Then it isn't worth the kiss". I wonder if that is a good advice though...

Quite nice

Every second, this album throws a coin to decide whether it wants to be indie rock like Interpol, or hard rock like Pearl Jam. Would this count as Emo? No idea. Anyways, interesting record, thanks for sharing. Kinda depressing, but I was sort of in a mood for that. I don't think I'd ever listen to this over the aforementioned Interpol though.

Another indie rock type record that should be right up my alley, yet it's fine. It isn't mind blowing or anything. It exists perfectly fine and that's about it. My personal rating: 3/5 My rating relative to the list: 3.5/5 Should this have been included on the original list? No.

Never heard this before, but it was good. I'll listen to it again in the future.

Unfamiliar pick but this is kind of my jam. Does remind me of Death Cab For Cutie at points.

Never heard of this. Quite good. Will explore more.

This reminds me of local h. I have to say that I am partial to this because out of every single album on this list, this one was put out by a record label from my hometown. And that's pretty cool. Go Jade Tree.

Ambitious but so grim. A good share, I'm glad to have heard it. But oof probably won't be back.

It was fine.

I liked this album at first, but it started to feel a little samey after a while. I don't love the dude's voice (or the lyrics, or something about the singing, idk), but I think the music is good overall. It's not bad, but I wasn't that far into the album before I was ready for it to be done 3/5

Interesting but slightly deary US indie. I wasn't really in the mood tbh.

I’d forgotten this band, which I’d liked in the early 2000s. Their lead vocalist’s style is too dirge-like and strained to not be accompanied by shoegaze studio affects.

I’m really confused by all the comparisons to Pearl Jam I’m seeing here, but I pretty much stopped listening to Pearl Jam after Vitalogy, so maybe I have a different understanding of their catalog than others. Not sure if that’s a “me problem” or if others just don’t have the same frame reference for a record like this. It really doesn’t sound like Pearl Jam to me - like, at all - but it also doesn’t sound like The Promise Ring, either, which is what I kind of figured Pedro The Lion sounded like, because, well…Jade Tree records. Musically, this is definitely more indie than emo, I think, even if lyrically, it’s right in that vein. Kind of a Low vibe, if I’m being honest, but not quite as interesting to me. Or maybe kind of like a Robert Pollard solo album, but without the hooks. I don’t know…it was good, but not great. 3 stars, right down the middle.

Even more whiney nasally American crap!

Ok

Indie rock with lethargic indie singing. Not very inspiring.

Dreary

Indie rock, emo. Indie rollo. Un 2.

It had hints of something but I couldn’t figure out what. I did like the idea of it being a concept album.

I like the sound of it, but it didn't sustain a whole album. Could have done with more variety.

Nondescript yet annoying. Best way to describe it.

Not as good as I hoped after looking at the project of the suggester.

This may be good, but it is so far from my vibe that I simply can't appreciate it. Morose.

Indie rock, emo. Indie rollo. Un 2.

Control sounds entirely of its era, a bit late grungey, a bit indie, a bit hard rock with loads of distortion, it all works okay but doesn't really land with me. High 2/Low 3 if I listened a second time, I just don't have reason to, it's really average.

I found this very drab and slow and not interesting.

More miserable post grunge. This one feels at least 10 years late to the “party”.

what kind of white nonsense is this? I'd enjoy this better if it didn't sound like it was slowed down to 65% speed.

Indie grunge. Two genres that I guess aren't very far apart, but probaly should be. This album is very good at evoking sadness, but that is about it. I want to give it an extra star for the emotional hit. But I really don't like it, so 2 it is.

Evocative and raw but god I didn’t need this today.

The was just whiny music that I didn't need to hear. It was bad. I suffered through it. It is not the worst album but I will round down

wow, that was the beigest, blandest soup of an album.

Zzzzzzzz