Radiohead have changed the way music will be put out forever. Bands are afraid that their work will be put out months ahead of time, causing people to not purchase it, and put the album down way before it deserves attention. Bloc Party joined Radiohead & The Raconteurs with a new album announcement days before its release. They surprised the world with ‘Intimacy’ their 3rd album to date.
‘Silent Alarm’ was one of the best albums of 2005, and may be one of the 21st century’s best. It was fast paced rock that had its fair share of delicate moments that blended perfectly. Their follow up ‘A Weekend In The City’ was a bit slower, and took things in a different direction. Critics and fans turned their back on the band. They didn’t like new single Flux either, claiming it wasn’t true Bloc Party. However I feel that AWITC was better than people gave it credit for, there is a lot of depth in those songs. You gotta let it sink in. Flux is a good fun dance song, hence the release as a separate single. I would have been more frustrated with them if they released another Silent Alarm.
So here we are with album #3 and no expectations at all. We got a preview of it with ‘Mercury’ and ‘Trojan Horse’ ahead of hand. ‘Mercury’ will be one of the most polarizing tracks of 2008. The song has so many cool things going for it, I don’t see the hate. It really is a cool song. Then Trojan Horse has a kick of distortion that reminds us of the great moments ‘Silent Alarm’ brought us. They get back to their angular rock ways on the stomper ‘Halo’ that is just a pure bolt of energy. Truly a great, great track. Another gem is the song ‘One Month Off’ that is sure to be a fan favorite. The great thing about the album is the meshing of producers of both albums. This allows the band to bring the best of both worlds. Songs like ‘Biko’ and ‘Zepherus‘ use vocals and depth to remind us of the sincere softer songs we loved from AWITC (I Still Remember). They know what they do best and they put it all together to form another great addition to their already astounding catalog. They add pianos, distortion effects and all other cool things that give them a redefined sound, while still keeping their trademark sound alive and well.
Bloc Party are a force to be reckoned with. People give them shit for AWITC but soon they will come to realize that the album is 10x better than they originally thought. This album is a perfect blend of angular/soft rock that shows why we once chanted “God Bless Bloc Party.” They are progressing with every album and it truly works.
Listen to these songs now:
1. Halo
2. One Month Off
3. Ion Square
4. Mercury
Buy the album digitally, and get the album in stores october 27th!
stream the remix of mercury below (via pretty much amazing):
Bloc Party – Mercury (CSS Remix) (MP3)
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