Bloc Party

What happened to my favorite rock band from the U.K.? I still to this day choose Silent Alarm as my running music. Weekend in the City had some redeeming qualities. Growth, blah, blah, blah. If you're going to move in to a new direction at least be good at it. Intimacy is just "OK" in my opinion.
Electronic music is huge in England, and obviously eBloc Party has been greatly influenced by it. But they're just not that good at it. Please go back to what you know, what you do well.

First song I ever heard from Bloc Party was "The Prayer" and I've been hooked ever since. My fiance just bought me this CD and I'm impressed with every track except for "Ares", which sounds disjointed compared to the other melodic tracks. It may grow on me, though.

Favorite song has to be "One Month Off" though "Better Than Heaven" is a close second. I highly recommend this album, new comers and steady fans alike!

Bloc Party has never been a band to stick with a single genre. This was shown on their debut album, 'Silent Alarm' and furthered itself on their greatly-under-appreciated 'Weekend in the City'. With their newest release, 'Intimacy', Bloc Party has once again reinvented themselves and shattered any preconceptions that one might have about the English group.

Upon exploring 'Intimacy' the album abruptly explodes in your face with the electronic/dance rebellion-screaming 'Ares' and delivers an immediate response with the first single from the album, 'Mercury'. Every track on this album will make you want to sing along, dance, and move to every beat. Although some may be adverse to the use of electronic/rock sounding rhythms, Bloc Party uses these techniques perfectly and takes full advantage of the energy they can create.

It must be said though, the standout song (believe it or not) is the slowest song they offer up this turn. The minimalistic approach used in the song 'Signs' will leave you in awe while the lyrics could bring one to tears. From an album this loud, something this quiet and simple shows the band can perform beautifully no matter the pacing.

The only mark against the album is that it does move at such a fast pace that some of the songs tend to sound alike (this is thanks to the use of the electronic style ever-present on this album.)

All in all, this album is a must have. It's an exciting and intimate look into singer/songwriter Kele Okereke's intimate life while keeping the songs uplifting and fun. While there are one or two songs that fall short, they fall because the rest of the album is so well done. Easily a contender for 2008 Album of the Year.

(4.5 out of 5)

This album showcases the obvious transformation that Bloc Party has been going through since they released the remix of Silent Alarm. You heard the band getting a bit more electronic on "Weekend" and with "Intimacy" they continue on that path. This album is what it would sound like if Bloc Party and the Chemical Bros. got together to make a record. The sounds are well layered and it plays very well as an album.

Still...I miss the Bloc Party of the Silent Alarm days. Bloc Party is THE band that got me back into listening to rock and roll (I'd been bogged down in underground hip hop for a while) and I miss those days. There are a few guitar rockers here but things generally lean more toward electronic. Good, but different from the old days.

All in all a good album and definitely worth the money!

A Weekend in the City was an absolute masterpiece, one of my favorite albums that year. This album, although pretty good, is not even in the same league. I feel like Bloc Party is going to way of Radiohead and forcing too many experimental sounds in their music now, instead of continuing on the amazing path set fourth with their previous album.

I have already owned this cd for quite some time. It was bought as a birthday gift. LOVE this albumn - everyone should own it!!!

...that is basically great all the way through. The only misstep is the last song "Compliments", which I just found really lame. Other than that, though, every one of these songs is great. As is with most terrific bands, it's difficult to describe their sound, but to me, it's like (not entirely, but this is the best I could do) Radiohead playing with Gang of Four, mixed in with their own elements.
The songs are well-written, with the sort of angular funk you come to expect from bands of this ilk used to great effect. Kele Okereke's (if that's not how it's spelled, sorry) yelpy but melodic voice drives the melodies along, with drummer Matt Tong propelling the groove forward (without him, I think, the band would be less exciting). "Like Eating Glass", "Helicopter", "Positive Tension", "Banquet", and "She's Hearing Voices" are the best tracks, in my opinion, so if you don't feel like getting the whole album ('tard), PLEEZ, I BEG OF YOU, at least get those.
Overall, tied for my favorite album I've bought this year, along with Built to Spill's "Perfect From Now On".

A perfect mix of post-punk, alt rock, and dance. What really stands out about the album is that there is quite a variety in sounds and textures throughout (much like a Radiohead album). From the anthems Like Eating Glass and Banquet, to the more ambient rock tracks Blue Light and So Here We are, to a electro dance track She's Hearing Voices, the straight experimental rock tracks Price of Gas and Plans, to the rock tracks Helicopter and Little Thoughts, and the perfectly haunting finale Compliments. Kele's vocals and philosophically relevant lyrics, along with the precise drumming, cool bass and that awesome Fender Telecaster sound create a wonderful amalgamation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

The best cd I have bought in a really long time. I loved it.. I liked every song on this cd. All my friends liked it to.

Bloc Party have been riding the wave of critical acclaim and comes with no surprise. Their debut album is one of those works whose style seems so easy to classify, but upon further investigation, lacks any simple categorization. Put simply, this album is bloody brilliant. Instead of constructing another cliche rock album with standard hooks, Bloc Party opt for complex rhythmic constructions and unconventional song structures. The result is a fresh spark of originality in a genre that, at least from current radio output, seemed destined towards banality. Whether he is yelping in frustration or crooning a ballad, Kele's voice supplements the tight orchestration from the other band members (with a fantastic Matt Tong on drums). "Like Eating Glass" is a perfect opener for the album, combining the sense of urgency and trend in a way that is hard to describe, but easy to appreciate. "Helicopter", "Banquet", "Positive Tension", and "She's Hearing Voices" are tracks that mesh jagged, angular riffs with the disillusioned frustrations of Kele. And on the other end of the spectrum, "Blue Light" and "This Modern Love" are lovely, soft ballads. The incredibly gorgeous "So Here We Are" does away with conventional song structure, opting for a beautifully crafted crescendo. The result is one of the most heartfelt songs I have heard in ages. When the final cascades of chords arrive, with Kele singing "Hold on, I've figured it out!", the result is simply ecstatic. Finally, "Compliments" closes out the album with a state of meditative suspension. Bloc Party is the first band in a long time has delivered an album of solid aesthetic merit. In the song "Pioneers", Kele sings "We will not be the last, we will not be last." I hope that he keeps this promise.

This album is solid from front to back. They strike a great balance between hard, mellow, and rock. Many of the songs are very catchy and easy to listen too. Is it their best album, maybe not but it is still a wonderful album. I look forward to following this bang as they grow because they have some real talent.

Now, I loved Silent Alarm as much as anybody else. Bloc Party became one of my very favorite new bands after listening to that album. The sparse, spiky guitars, persistent drumming, and melodic vocals made for a brilliant album that hearkened back to the punk and post-punk movements of the 70s and 80s. A Weekend In The City, Bloc Party's follow-up, is a very different animal altogether. The guitar sound is roughly the same, but the vocals have a softer, almost blurry quality to them, the drums might as well have been drum machines (but they are still amazing), and the song content is darker and more melancholy. If Silent Alarm was the Saturday night out on the city, A Weekend In The City is the hang over of the Sunday morning...blurry, atmospheric, abashed, and slightly angry. And it works very well.

"Song For Clay" starts out the album with a simple vocal and guitar melody that turns into pounding drums and clashing guitars, but it's not quite as explosive as the rockers on Silent Alarm, it still sounds vulnerable. "Hunting For Witches" is a description of how the media has used "fear to keep us all in place", employing electronic-sounding guitars to fill as a symbol of modern paranoia, truly a standout track. "Waiting For the 7.18" is one of my personal favorites, with a somber melody dissolving into blissful noise pop behind the refrain "Let's drive to Brighton on the weekend." "The Prayer" is a slightly weird track, with synth and drums backing the harsh, abrasive verse, and a sweet little guitar melody serving as the backdrop for a chorus that contrasts well with the verse. "Uniform" is a song about the conformity of teens, with soft guitar becoming a riveting guitar solo. "On" provides a drug ballad, with gorgeous, melancholic lyrics such as "Drunken 'I love you's at the top of the world...and when it runs out, we buy more, a flatness so bleak, I've been bitten by a vampire". "Where Is Home?" is similar to "Prayer" in song structure, and is one of the weaker tracks on the LP. It is quite possibly the angriest song on A Weekend In The City, but instead of angsty lyrics, it is a resigned anger about racial injustice. "Kreuzberg" is an underrated song detailing the love the narrator wishes he could find after so many one-night stands. It is a perfect example of the vulnerability that wasn't present on their previous effort. "I Still Remember" is a radio-friendly single concerning an attraction between two schoolboys. "Sunday" is a very atmospheric song that lifts off the ground on its fragile melody. "SRXT" is a perfect closer to the album, a sad ballad about suicide.

One thing I mentioned a lot in the review was the word "melody", and it is appropriate, as the melody is pushed to the forefront more so than in Silent Alarm. Kele Okereke's lyrics serve perfectly to describe a vulnerable, confused young man in the middle of a city with nowhere to turn, surrounded by hypocrisy, corruption, and depression. It's a much darker album, lyrically, but it's a beautiful darkness, with the lyrics serving as a perfect counterpoint to the musicality of the album. There have been a lot of negative reviews for this album, but personally, I feel it is just as strong as Silent Alarm, but it needs a lot more time to grow on you. But what really makes it so appealing is that Bloc Party did not give us more of the same, but took their music in a new and beautiful direction. I can't wait to hear what comes next.

It is difficult to put into words how unbelievably disappointing this album is. Listening to AWiTC directly after 'Silent Alarm' just leaves one baffled - is this even the same band? Where are the driving drumbeats? The pounding bass line? The intricate guitar parts? Is this Kele Okereke's solo album?

Every song on this album starts the same way: in silence, with a slow instrumental ramp up or sampler loop, and then Kele starts whining. And whining. And whining. And the lyrics are so trite and ridiculous. Take this sample from 'Uniform', perhaps the most irritating song ever recorded:

"Because we are so handsome and we are so bored
So entertain us, tell me a joke
Make it long, make it last forever
Make it cruel just make me laugh
We can't be hurt"

Or this gem from 'Waiting for the 7.18':

"Grinding your teeth in the middle of the night
With the sadness of those molars
Spend all your spare time trying to escape
With crosswords and sudoku"

What does that even mean? It doesn't rhyme. It doesn't have good meter. It isn't sung with force or power. It's like he threw a bunch of words in a hat and then sang each one as he pulled it out, whining nasally over a lackluster backing track.

Most people who know anything about Bloc Party undoubtedly know that 'Silent Alarm' contained a lot of old songs. So maybe that explains this seemingly radical change in sound for the band - they got famous on five-year-old songs and this is their new sound. Well, their new sound is awful. It's the most pretentious wanna-be-Radiohead junk I've had the misfortune to encounter.

There are no standout tracks on this album, zero actual rock songs, no dance numbers. Remember those pounding, intricate drum tracks on 'Silent Alarm'? Well Matt Tong might as well have been replaced with a half-broken drum machine for his miniscule presence on this album.

Somebody tell Kele Okereke that he's not Thom Yorke. We don't need two Radioheads, one has enough pretentiousness for ten. Kele took the 'party' out of Bloc Party. And that's a sad, sad thing. Don't buy this album as it will only depress you. Just spin 'Silent Alarm' for the thousandth time and hope they do better on the next one.

Bloc Party have created another epic here with "A Weekend in the City" If anything it is more solid than the first album. I would highly recommend this album to anyone wanting to get into a new type of music as you really should not be disappointed.

A Weekend in the City, Bloc Party's 2nd album, is one of my top 2 albums of 2007. While this album is less explosive in the rock and loud instrumental as Silent Alarm, that gap is filled by melodic guitar work and entrancing British vocals by Kele. The album is very intimate in expressing the growing social problems between people on many levels, such as love, social behaviors, societal norms, and common ignorance or misconceptions. The band is still heavy in effects, which is wonderful. One of Bloc Party's footprints in music is their intense and consistent use of guitar effects, along with Kele's accent.

It is different than Silent Alarm, but I would say that the band has "evolved" for the better. Please check out this album!

ALSO! There is a set of B-Sides titled "Another Weekend in the City" and has some FANTASTIC songs that you must hear. One B-Side comes along with each single from the original A Weekend in the City. So to have the entire set of B-sides, you need all the singles of A Weekend in the City.

If you are fan of bloc party you will like this CD. New fans should buy the orginal un-remixed version

Certainly the title of this review is an exaggeration, as Silent Alarm is a very good but not groundbreaking album. But it best describes the concept behind this strange remix album: take something that's already good, run it through the industrial mill, and re-release it.

Perhaps I'm in a uniquely disadvantaged position to review this album because I generally find remixes pointless, and I'm not a big fan of electronica. But this entire album sounds exactly like someone put 'Silent Alarm' on one turntable; a generic, bargain-basement electronica album on the second; cut the mixer to the middle; then went out for a bite to eat.

The mixes aren't clever, and really don't add anything new to the songs. The only reason I could see for anybody to like this album would be if they simply prefer electronic music to real music (as in music actually performed by a human being) as the electronica generally just drowns out the original. Let me save you ten bucks: next time you listen to 'Silent Alarm', just start going 'boom tap! boom tap! boom tap!' in your best Rahzel impersonation, and voila! You've just 'remixed' Bloc Party.

I thought Silent Alarm was a great cd when it first came out, and this Remixes album adds a whole new dimension on those favorite songs. I also love the addition of Tulips (Minotaur Shock Remix), which follows the Compliments remix. Great overall.

The disc itself is great but I was really hoping to get 'Always New Depths', as it is listed in Disc 2 of the Track Listing above. Much to my displeasure, ONLY THE MAIN DISC was included in my CD case.

It is listed one (1) disc in the Product Description (they sent what was promised), but then two (2) discs are listed in the Track Listing, so DON'T BE FOOLED. The fine print says the bonus disc is included for the first 15,000 sold. D'oh.

Am I the only one who even knows about the song 'Always New Depths?'

Seriously.


Music is all a matter of opinion, and in my opinion, its most certainly their best song.

Have a listen.

This 6 song EP is a combination of Bloc party's first two singles that were orinally only released in the UK. Two of these songs 'Banquet' and 'She's Hearing Voices' were re-recorded for their amazing first album "Silent Alarm". The last track is just a remix - 'Banquet Phones Disco Mix'. So this really only leaves 3 tracks to this EP.

'Staying Fat' features some good driving, angular guitar work and while not AS good, is a good example of things to come on Silent Alarm. Of the 3, this is my favorite track.
'The Marshals Are Dead' is in my opinion a kinda weak song. It's disjointed and doesn't really have a good flow or hook. My least favorite of ALL Bloc Party songs.
'The Answer' is a good song with a driving beat and a fast indie or punk style to it.

This EP isn't that great compared to what these guys would later produce, but is a good example of were they started. The stand out track is obviously 'Banquet', which of course brought the attention of the masses to this awesome up and coming band. This isn't a Must Have, except for complete-ists, and diehard fans will like seeing this bands beginings in songs like 'Staying Fat' and 'The Answer'.

Anyone who knows music knows that Bloc Party have taken over the world. They went from a small East London "art-rock" band to the voices of a generation ala` Gang of Four or Nirvana. This EP was the first taste that we got from them from across the pond, and was the first time they officially announced how incredible they are. Their mega-hit "Banquet" is backed with some amazing B-Sides- I think "The Marshalls are Dead" could actually be one of their greatest.

If you don't know Bloc Party, buy this. This band could be your life- it is for every disaffected teen in the Anglosphere, at least.

I was waiting for the complete record to be released earlier this summer and this was the only record that I was able to buy to satisfy my Bloc Party cravings. It is still worth having as the "Marshalls" is somewhat unlike the rest of their work.

Bloc Party make competent genre music which never really transcends its reference points: Gang of Four, Wire, blah (all listed below). How many times you can hear the aforementioned bands reinterpreted, I don't know. Quite a few, I guess. Yawn.

Bloc Party's Debut will be released on march 22nd of 2005 and promises to be the best thing britain has ever heard. This is just as good and a VERY SWEET preview.

"Tulips" is a non-album single from Bloc Party. If you're a fan of this band, you have no excuse not to own this, as it is possibly their finest song to date. I gave it 4 stars because its only B-side is a lackluster remix of the A-side.

Pony Up! is a katastro-awesome band. You should definitely get this. But the picture seems to be of a Bloc Party album....and that's weird.