Word Gets Around

Sterophonics are much better than I remember them being. The voice, the song subjects, the tunes. Very much enjoyed.

The roots of British "landfill indie" during the noughts? Since I wouldn't say that about the Manic Street Preachers albums released in the same time period -- a band sometimes aped by Stereophonics for this debut of theirs -- maybe that would be unfair from me to describe *Word Gets Around* under that light. To be clear, I don't think the Manics released absolutely stellar albums either during the second half of the nineties, as successful as they were in the British charts back then. But at least, they could display a gravitas and elegance that's crucially lacking for me in the more streamlined Britpop of *Word Gets Around*. I lived in Britain for a year, not long after this Stereophonics debut was released. I remember hearing it everywhere back then. Funny how some rock trends can retrospectively be looked upon decades later, making you wonder how some rather pedestrian stuff got to hit the charts in the first place. Heck, when it comes to Welsh bands, I just can't help noticing that the LPs released by Super Furry Animals in the late nineties were far more fun and more dynamic overall that this meat-and-potatoes record. I only knew SFA by name at the time. Yet in my eyes, that's the Welsh band I should have been hearing everywhere during the late nineties. "More Life In A Tramp's Vest" is still a cool song -- lively, bouncy and catchy. I quickly get bored when I listen to everything else, though, as "decent" as the whole thing is. The music is too linear for me, not challenging enough harmonically and tonally speaking, and -- most importantly -- rather mundane and predictable for the genre. In 1997, Radiohead, Blur or Grandaddy were completely renewing the "indie-rock" vernacular. That's how those acts left a legacy that's still looked upon with awe today, and that's what I think about when I think about the term "essential albums you must absolutely listen to". In comparison, Stereophonics just played by the numbers. Word got around for sure. But it doesn't get around anymore. 2/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums. 7/10 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: 79 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 100 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 204 (including this one) ---- Émile, tu trouveras ma dernière réponse sous le *Inside* de Bo Burnham