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lucifer_sam · 10-06-2008, 08:16 PM

Get the fuck out.

10. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (2002)

"What?"

Yes. In 2002, this album was shoved up the ass-crack of everyone and their mother...because they sounded vaguely like Joy Division. It was heralded as the leading album for the post-punk revival (which lasted about two months, btw) and was praised across the board. Pitchfork spearheaded this anal-bumfuckery, calling it the best album of 2002 [and if you remember 2002, that's quite a bold call (think: Yoshimi, Songs for the Deaf, Phrenology, etc)] and created such a shitstorm of attention for this admittedly mediocre band that they had difficulty booking gigs large enough to accomodate their metastatic cancer of a fanbase. And then it went from bad to worse to just plain stupid.

The album itself isn't bad; there are some interesting songs like "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down," and overall it wasn't a terrible accomplishment. But it wasn't that good. Turn On the Bright Lights just comes across as a bad ripoff of the Bunnymen, and with less personality than a deflated cheeseburger. The band itself is even less interesting; Paul Banks' singing makes me pine for Robert Smith and the rest of the band looks like they're just trying to piss me off:

And then it just gets stupid. While Interpol was far from the worst thing that Pitchfork released upon the world, they certainly couldn't manage to hold that "good record" streak for very long. Subsequent albums Antics and Our Love to Admire garnered less and less critical attention. Maybe Pitchfork got sick of 'em, maybe Interpol changed their sound (who am I kidding?), but soon those kids that loved 'em so much just a few years ago were the first to cast the stones. In forums, in reviews, just about everywhere, people said the same thing: "[Interpol's latest album] wasn't as good as Turn On the Bright Lights." People just grew disenchanted with Interpol.

Bullshit. Six years after TOTBL was released, I still hear the same goddamn people tell me how good it was. It doesn't matter to these people how good their latest record is, nothing will ever come close to the perfection that was Turn On the Bright Lights. Interpol could come up with a fucking Dark Side of the Moon and it still won't approach how good TOTBL was. Right?

And just so it doesn't sound like I'm beating a dead horse, this will be my only rant against an album of this wave/genre. So I'm not gonna try to explain why these albums suck. Go figure it out yourself.

Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Silent Alarm
The Back Room
Is This It
Up The Bracket

The author enjoys his Interpol now and again!

10-06-2008, 08:16 PM	#14 (permalink)
lucifer_sam Unrepentant Ass-Mod Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3,921	Get the fuck out. 10. Interpol - Turn On The Bright Lights (2002) "What?" Yes. In 2002, this album was shoved up the ass-crack of everyone and their mother...because they sounded vaguely like Joy Division. It was heralded as the leading album for the post-punk revival (which lasted about two months, btw) and was praised across the board. Pitchfork spearheaded this anal-bumfuckery, calling it the best album of 2002 [and if you remember 2002, that's quite a bold call (think: Yoshimi, Songs for the Deaf, Phrenology, etc)] and created such a shitstorm of attention for this admittedly mediocre band that they had difficulty booking gigs large enough to accomodate their metastatic cancer of a fanbase. And then it went from bad to worse to just plain stupid. The album itself isn't bad; there are some interesting songs like "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down," and overall it wasn't a terrible accomplishment. But it wasn't that good. Turn On the Bright Lights just comes across as a bad ripoff of the Bunnymen, and with less personality than a deflated cheeseburger. The band itself is even less interesting; Paul Banks' singing makes me pine for Robert Smith and the rest of the band looks like they're just trying to piss me off: And then it just gets stupid. While Interpol was far from the worst thing that Pitchfork released upon the world, they certainly couldn't manage to hold that "good record" streak for very long. Subsequent albums Antics and Our Love to Admire garnered less and less critical attention. Maybe Pitchfork got sick of 'em, maybe Interpol changed their sound (who am I kidding?), but soon those kids that loved 'em so much just a few years ago were the first to cast the stones. In forums, in reviews, just about everywhere, people said the same thing: "[Interpol's latest album] wasn't as good as Turn On the Bright Lights." People just grew disenchanted with Interpol. Bullshit. Six years after TOTBL was released, I still hear the same goddamn people tell me how good it was. It doesn't matter to these people how good their latest record is, nothing will ever come close to the perfection that was Turn On the Bright Lights. Interpol could come up with a fucking Dark Side of the Moon and it still won't approach how good TOTBL was. Right? And just so it doesn't sound like I'm beating a dead horse, this will be my only rant against an album of this wave/genre. So I'm not gonna try to explain why these albums suck. Go figure it out yourself. Good News For People Who Love Bad News Silent Alarm The Back Room Is This It Up The Bracket The author enjoys his Interpol now and again! __________________ first.am