The Guardian has quite an interesting article about “classic” albums that do not warrant the hype (via DJ Martian). I wonder if that has one eye on the 10th anniversary of the release of OK Computer?
One interesting album on the list is Dark Side of the Moon, as nominated by Cornershop’s Tjinder Singh. I was just thinking recently about how Dark Side of the Moon is probably not Pink Floyd’s best album. Then someone brought it up in a conversation I had. Now this!
But the one that really made me happy was the inclusion of Is This It by The Strokes. Ian Williams of Battles wrote a paragraph about its mediocrity. Everything he says is spot-on.
I recently wrote about how I loathe indie music. I noted that the turning-point came when I was about 15 or 16 in 2001 — the year that Is This It was released. Never was an album title so apt.
There was so much hype surrounding The Strokes, it seemed impossible to believe that they would be anything but good. But when a friend made a CD-R of the album for me, I hated it so much that I returned it!
Is This It was so bad that it actually gave me a headache. It was so unbelievably conservative, derivative and certainly anything but “alternative”. The sheer monotony of the entire album made me depressed.
While I am often willing to give an album more than one chance on the basis that repeated listens can reveal hidden treats, I have refused to listen to Is This It a second time. It was obvious that this album had absolutely nothing to offer. And I didn’t want to risk getting a migraine.
As if to top it off, Is This It — if memory serves — lasts barely more than half an hour. This makes it an absolute fucking rip-off if you buy it at a normal album price. I expect an EP to be that long. Half an hour is roughly the length of a single that is released in the pretty much ubiquitous CD1 + CD2 format.
In short, Is This It lacked breath, depth and length. The personification of one-dimensional music. The prospect that The Strokes were the future of guitar-based music absolutely horrified me. So I turned my back on it all.
At the same time I discovered bands like Broadcast and Tortoise. I spent many evenings that year exploring the Warp Records website, avidly listening to the audio clips of their releases. A door had been opened to an amazing world where exciting and innovative music was being made.
Six years on, I am still listening to exciting and innovative music released on Warp — in the shape of Battles.
For an alternative view on The Guardian article, here is Richard Havers.
Adam
17 June 2007 22:38
#1
I’d have to say the length of ‘Is This It’ is the only thing going for it. I can think of very few albums that have ever justified running beyond the 40 minute mark…
Rhys
18 June 2007 10:18
#2
I couldn’t agree more. Is this it is just trying to be cool: “ooh look at us! We recorded an album where all the songs sound the same, and put a vagina on the cover! We’re so cool, we spell it ‘kewl’.”
Vile.
The thing that annoys me about “Indie” music is amongst my mates, not a week goes by when I get asked “Have you heard the new album by The ______?”
I find it all rather dull, and I refuse to not like somebody because it’s cool or uncool not to. I love the new song by Pink, for example.
Vicky
19 June 2007 06:22
#3
It’s a bit of a lazy subject, that there Guardian article – and reminds me why I stopped reading the NME et al; I’d rather spend my time reading people’s recommendations rather than what they think is rubbish.
Having said that, I did read this post… and I have to disagree with you about the Strokes album. It was a welcome remedy in a then-Coldplay-infected world!
Jordan
17 July 2007 16:19
#4
I like how they tapped the singer from Franz Ferdinand to write a paragraph about overrated albums. His group has generated two in the past 4 years. I don’t think the albums are as revered as any on the list, but anyway, it’s sort of like the pot calling the tea kettle and all that business.
Good stuff, I love BATTLES. Just saw them at Pitchfork here in Chicago. Tried to catch them when I was in London in March, but had to leave too early.