quote:

Originally posted by anbc:
After digesting every song on the album, I realized that my favourite songs were all written by Tunde, while my least favourite (although I do enjoy all of them a lot) were the Kyp-written tracks. Anyone here share these thoughts?

More importantly, I dislike any track that Dave Sitek had a hand in writing. I do think Tunde is the better songwriter of the two, though. I liked his RTCM tracks better too.

Damnit I hate how awkwardly this album opens. Just like RTCM, the sequencing on this album really sucks. That said the songs are good, and overall this is the highest quality album they've made thus far. And they still have more potential lurking under the surface, I feel...That's all.

I really don't have an problem with the sequencing... I'd be interested to hear some alternative sequences that people can come up with though... or specifically what the problems (with both albums) are.

The second half of the album is definitely better than the first half... but that just makes me want to listen to it non-stop.

I could be wrong (because I haven't got my vinyl version in the mail yet), but it seems like the sequencing is made for vinyl. the way "Family Tree" sort of splits up the album... just a theory.

Additionally, has anyone seen the video for "Dancing Choose"? It's my least favorite song on the album, but the video made me appreciate it much more. Lets just say it's nice having some film students in a band.

I'm surprised at the amount of dislike towards "Dancing Choose." I think it's a great song, among the top 5 best on the album.

I haven't checked out the video yet, but I'll do that now.

"Dancing Choose" isn't the worst (or least favorite) to me ,that's easily "Red Dress". I'd rank them like this:

Family Tree
Stork and Owl
Love Dog
Halfway Home
Golden Age
Shout Me Out
Lover's Day
DLZ
Crying
Dancing Choose
Red Dress

As for the sequencing, its fine to me. I don't get people thinking the sequencing brings it down, same goes for Cookie Mountain which was sequenced fine in my opinion. When the majority of the songs on the album are great, its hard to mess it up if you ask me.

quote:

Originally posted by anbc:
I'm surprised at the amount of dislike towards "Dancing Choose." I think it's a great song, among the top 5 best on the album.

I haven't checked out the video yet, but I'll do that now.

I think my problem with it is the first twenty seconds... it sounds like a bad Bloc Party song. The rest of the song is fine though... and actually pretty good compared to most artists. If there's only twenty seconds of an album I don't like, I'd say that's a pretty good album.

I think my favorite songs on the disc (at this point) would be Love Dog, Shout Me Out, and Family Tree.

quote:

Originally posted by His Dudeness:
I think my problem with it is the first twenty seconds... it sounds like a bad Bloc Party song.

I agree it picks up, especially when the horns start coming in. The chorus is solid as well. To me, its the shout/sung vocal phrasing thats a tad annoying.

I think the sequencing is great, and I love "Dancing Choose." One of the best choruses on the album. "Stork and Owl," which gets a lot of love here, is the only song that hasn't really clicked for me. My favorite songs seem to change daily, which is a sign of a great album, but for now it would go something like this (best to worst):

DLZ (This is beginning to feel like the long-winded blues of the never! ...awesome)
Shout Me Out
Golden Age
Love Dog
Family Tree
Dancing Choose
Halfway Home
Red Dress
Cryin'
Lover's Day
Stork And Owl

quote:

Originally posted by bonzob:
"Stork and Owl," which gets a lot of love here, is the only song that hasn't really clicked for me.

"Stork and owl" has an absolutely beautiful chorus... Tunde Adebimpethe really shows his range and the strings in the background add a fantastic nuance. As an additional note, the vocals on this track at times remind me (even if only vaguely) of Bowie... which I suppose is somewhat fitting since he appeared on RTCM's Providence (my personal favorite from that album).

I guess I'll rank the songs too...
AMAZING
Love Dog
GREAT
Dancing Choose
Golden Age
Halfway Home
Stork and Owl
SOLID
DLZ
Shout Me Out
Family Tree
Cryin'
Red Dress
AVERAGE
Lover's Day

TV on the Radio is one of those bands that receive a lot of freedom and flexibility from their label. Credit Geffen because although they are a major label, they didn't constrict the band to make a very accessible, poppy album; then again, as great as this is, isn't it just a catchy pop album?

As for sequencing, I think they hit out of the park. Listing the songs in what order you wished is not applicable because the band clearly sequenced them in a way that they would seamlessly appear on the vinyl version. The first side has a great flow and it ends with the gorgeous, "Family Tree." The next side also follows in an impeccable order and closes with an equally brilliant closer in "Lover's Day." So I believe that in that sense, it all makes sense.

Lastly, being a large detractor of their last album, Dear Science, is the grand progression I had hoped for. I've followed these guys ever since nobody cared for them and they have delivered a gem. These are talented, very good musicians that have honed in their strengths to deliver a knockout. They have the perfect balance of noise and their instrumentation is superb.

I knew you'd like it, Frags.

This is probably gonna do well in the end of year poll. Just throwing it out there.

Alright, Hophead and His Dudeness, I gave Stork and Owl a few listens on headphones, and damn, I don't know what wasn't connecting with me before, because it's great. It just jumped from my least favorite on the album to top three, easily. I definitely hear Bowie. It also sounds a bit like Province, the Cookie Mountain track Bowie sung on. Man, this is an amazing album.

"Stork and Owl" reminds me a lot of "Lullaby" by The Cure.

quote:

Originally posted by bonzob:
Alright, Hophead and His Dudeness, I gave Stork and Owl a few listens on headphones, and damn, I don't know what wasn't connecting with me before, because it's great. It just jumped from my least favorite on the album to top three, easily. I definitely hear Bowie. It also sounds a bit like Province, the Cookie Mountain track Bowie sung on. Man, this is an amazing album.

Glad to hear it... for TV on the Radio, sometimes headphones are all it takes. I'm still noticing nuances on RTCM I hadn't noticed (or remembered). In many ways, you can take something different away from the music each time you listen to it.

I think the thing that continues to amaze me about this album is that my favorite songs are changing constantly. nearly every song has been my favorite at some point... daily, hourly, each time I listen to it I tend to have a different favorite song... or moment. I think that's a critical characteristic of an amazing album.

Yeah, this is a tremendous beast of an album. I must've played my vinyl copy of it so many times already; it's masterful. Side note: my copy came with a nice sticker of the band's name on it and I was able to take it off and put it on this white board I have—it looks nice. I am not sure if the CD version comes with this.

From the first time I heard "Stork & Owl" I assumed it was David Bowie lending his helping hand again. Not only do the vocals recall his stunning voice but the song's music reminds me of his greater ballads. That song really forced me to start doubting my own doubts about the band because of its impeccable musicianship. After a trio of terrific songs, you have this lush and varied ballad, all I could think was, "Wow, this is good." It's easily one of Malone's finest songs.

To tread some ground backwards, aside from Fever to Tell, this has to be one of Sitek's better, if not his best, jobs as a producer. The band has always embraced the noisiness of their music but I feel that it’s fantastically captured and conveyed on Dear Science,. Not only does it work well within their sonic scheme but even as someone who isn't a big fan of noise, to me at least, it makes perfect sense.

Finally, that "," that has been profusely discussed is also great; the liner notes are a thing of beauty. Again, I don't know how the CD version is but my vinyl copy opens up into a gatefold and the lyrics read like a letter, you know, to science. They are separated by small animals—oh geez, it's just great.

As a fan of music and a fan of this band a long, long, long time ago, it's exceptionally significant for me to like this album so much. You have no idea how frustrated I was with their last album (well, maybe a few of you know) but this one is excellent.

Sorry, that was long.

A very strong contender for album of the year at this stage, in admittedly for me a fairly poor year. Nonetheless its a very good album, i do think it starts a bit slowly though. Their best album? quite probably, although i agree with the earlier comments that there is more to come from them.

I have been listening to this album non stop since I bought it two weeks ago and I am still trying to understand it. Initially a few of the tracks didn't meet my expectations on repeat listenings as they didn't explode at the end in a climax. Especially the slower songs, which seem to set up this tension but didn't release it in a way I was expecting. And compared to the last three songs which blow me away everytime, which I think are a full realisation of their potential as a band just like wolf like me.

In tracks like crying, red dress and love dog I have had to find a point where the tension is released, that is to say where the track developes into something rather than just adding a bridge, even if it isn't that obvious. Even it is just an extra noise, I need to know at the start of the track that it is going somewhere. Now this may sound like I'm compromising myself as a listener but I hope that over time these tracks will find their place much like optimistic, in limbo and morning bell did on Kid A.

I realise that this has in fact been tv on the radio's formula. However on their previous album the soundscapes were so immense that song structure didn't enter the equation, kind of like sigur ros. But here they have pushed the noise to the background and focused more on the beats and the hooks.

Really, it is such a fascinating listen as there is so much going on, and as many critics have mentioned they set their heights so high and their ambitions broad. I still think they can improve further and definitely have the potential to make a pitchfork 10.0 album.

I like TV On The Radio, don't get me wrong. But I really don't feel like this album is consistent enough, or strong enough to be heralded as Album of the Year.

The big hit forerunners "Golden Age" and "Dancing Choose" are just not very good. And some times the album just gets embarrassing, "Lover's Day". "Lover's Day" reminds me of "Sex Bomb".

It's a good album, but I don't think it's something I will be listening to from start to finish for years to come.

For all of the insane praise this album is getting, I'm again perplexed by the fact that Subtle's ExitingARM is all but ignored this year. They have a lot of similarities. And in my opinion, Subtle have a lot more complexity and variation to their songs, although less immediacy.

Oh well. Enjoy the music.