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The Decline of British Sea Power is the debut studio album by English indie rock band Sea Power, then known as "British Sea Power", released on 2 June 2003. "The Lonely", "Carrion" and "Remember Me" were all released as singles from the album, as well as older recordings of "Fear of Drowning" and "Remember Me", which differ from the versions on this album. The quotation on the album art is paraphrased from the final line of the American novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder.
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Feb 22 2026
Author
The name changing stunt irritated me at the time and the fact the music is pretty bland 'Student-Union-on-a-Friday-night-rock' helps me to direct the score.
Bland and uninteresting.
Feb 11 2026
Author
This is a powerful indie rock album. It starts rather noisy, but after a few songs it quiets a bit down. Overall it delivers a lot of great compositions and original ideas. Too bad the production and vocal quality (in capacity and mixing) is not that great.
Feb 13 2026
Author
This has a cool name and a cool first track and then starts to do the try and sound like Springsteen thing a lot and you know how I feel about that
Feb 20 2026
Author
Was not a fan of this garble of noises that drowns out the incomprehensible lyrics. Not for me
Feb 23 2026
Author
Hipster Brit pop. not my cup.
Feb 09 2026
Author
Raw indierock. Liked it a lot
Feb 14 2026
Author
10/10 had no idea what this was going in, and I’m pleasantly surprised with how great this was!
Feb 09 2026
Author
Very good album
4
Feb 10 2026
Author
I enjoyed this quite a bit. 4 stars.
Feb 10 2026
Author
I started off so-so with this as it started off noisier than I like, but I don’t know if my ear adapted, the music changed or what for sure but The Lonely really started to appeal and from then on I liked this a lot more.
Feb 13 2026
Author
Such an underrated band and album, great indie post punk record already part of my frequent rotation.
Feb 14 2026
Author
Rating: 7/10
Best songs: Apologies to insect life, A wooden horse
Feb 26 2026
Author
I, like many others, were first exposed to British Sea Power from their fantastic work on the Disco Elysium soundtrack. They provided the perfect ambient atmosphere for a down-and-out eccentric detective who desperately needed to get a body out of a tree. This is something completely different.
The Decline of British Sea Power (great name for a debut album btw) are concentrated bursts of indie rock noise, commanding attention with high-energy riffs and somewhat pop-oriented songwriting. This carried on until the meditative 13-minute track Lately, where British Sea Power builds something that I can only describe as a monument to sound. It's a great big track and should've ended the album.
Lots of fun to be had with this one! Not as clever or endearing as some of their rock contemporaries like Bloc Party or the Strokes, but still a nice listen.
CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: Probably not. They come close to breaking through but I feel this album stands in the shadow of it's similar rock peers.
Feb 09 2026
Author
Reflexively coiled at the word British, but this LP surprised me in the front half – the frenetic, post-punk energy stands out even among this band’s peers, and I found the guitar line from ‘Remember’ stuck in my head all day in a good way. The back of the LP unfortunately gives in to typical Brit rock tropes and banal ballads, but there’s so much energy front-loaded here that overall this cease able to coast to an enjoyable listen for me.
Feb 09 2026
Author
English navy strong
Feb 10 2026
Author
I felt fine about this It's in a pretty well-worn wheelhouse of alternative rock on the harder end of the spectrum. Mostly couldn't get any lyrics: the vocal delivery was a weak point.
Feb 16 2026
Author
Indie rock, post-punk revival. Ni fu ni fa.
Feb 21 2026
Author
Pretty standard fare. Nothing really unique at this point and isn't do anything that others aren't doing.
My personal rating: 3/5
My rating relative to the list: 3/5
Should this have been included on the original list? No.
Feb 22 2026
Author
I was hoping for something different to what I got. At least it wasn’t the penguin orchestra.
Mar 01 2026
Author
The Decline of British Sea Power is just really dull isn't it? A fine example of the blandest indie crap some Uni bands turned out in the early 00s. 2/5 because it's so inoffensively beige I can't even say it's crap.
Feb 28 2026
Author
In decline