Customer Reviews

Silent Alarm

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Bloc Party's debut album Silent Alarm is without a doubt a masterpiece. One of the best new bands to emerge from the UK alternative rock scene, post-punk Bloc Party create a stream of eloquent songs so good I swear they all seem to be potential singles. Even the "slower" songs are full of energy.

Bloc Party's strength lies in creating fast, funky rhythms with a punk feel. As a drummer, I know a good drummer when I see one and Matt Tong is a good drummer; his beats are all innovative and almost give the effect of a drum machine, they're so precise. Although I'll admit it took me a while to get used to Kele Okereke's very unique voice, after a few rotations on my cd player I really grew to like it. Both Kele and Russell Lissack are strong guitarists, and each song has a very distinct guitar line that will make you want to dance or at least nod your head until it feels like it will fall off. Gordon Moakes, the bassist, adds a lot of the funk to the band, providing steady yet fun beats that will get stuck in your head.

The best songs on this album are "Positive Tension," "Pioneers," "Plans," "Helicopter," "This Modern Love," and their debut single "Banquet." "Banquet" has been a huge dance hit in the UK this summer, and for good reason. "Plans" is the most haunting song on the album, and it is reminiscent of the creepiest songs on Radiohead's OK Computer; it's quite dark and saddening. "Helicopter" is just plain fun, while "Pioneers" is powerful and engaging. "This Modern Love" serves as something that I think sets Bloc Party apart: a slow song with gloomy lyrics but with quick drums. They're one of the only bands I've heard who can do that. "Positive Tension" is probably my personal favorite; it's smart and purposeful, fast and driven, enjoyable and danceable, and has an absolutely amazing guitar solo that makes me nod my head in the middle of class to it, since I can't get it out of my head! There's really no other word for it other than "cool." However, in the end it really is difficult to choose the "best" songs, as every song is astoundingly good and it all depends on what you personally like.

If I may go off on a side tangent for a moment....Upon having a chance to see the band live in DC, I took it... and wasn't disappointed in the slightest. They're even better live than on record, so I'd highly recommend seeing them if you ever get a chance.

In the end, Bloc Party is a very talented, innovative new band with refreshing songs that have never been done before. This album is energetic and fun, and Bloc Party makes many statements throughout it without the listener even realizing they're doing it. I highly recommend this band if you're a fan of Brit rock/Indie guitar rock/Post-Punk; the bands Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, Razorlight, the Killers, Radiohead, and Gang of Four; and are still mourning the devastating break-up of the Libertines. I guarantee that no matter what you listen to over the next few months, you'll keep turning back to this cd... that is if you ever take it out of your cd player long enough to listen to anything else.

Bloc Party has a unique style of music that I personly find very amusing. When the singer hits some chords that I've never heard before It sends shivers down my spine everytime I hear them. Hear is a list of tracks and ratings:


1. Like Eating Glass- 4.5/5-A very catchy good song with good lyrics, but the drums are a little off in the song.

2. Helicopter- 5/5-My favorite and a lot of other peoples favorite song too. Simple chorus, great guitar, great vocals.

3. Positive Tension- 4/5-Beginning is a little rought but once the song gets going it makes you tap your toes.

4. Banquet- 5/5-Most popular song, a lot like helicopter awesome lyrics.

5. Blue Light- 4.5/5-First slow song but a very good one. When he starts going fast, it is one of my favorite moments on the cd.

6. She's Hearing Voices- 4/5- The chorus gets a little anoying and the voice is rasping but it is catchy at the same time.

7. This Modern Love- 5/5-One of my favorite songs one the cd."You told me you wanted to eat up my sadness" is a great line.

8. Pioneers- 5/5-Best vocals on entire album. I get goosbumbs every time I listen to it. This is the song I show people who don't know about about Bloc Party.

9. Price of Gas- 5/5-The best drummed song on the cd. Has almost a scary feel to it. Great song.

10. So Here We Are- 4.5/5- You may recognize it from the Saturn commercial. Very slow but repetitive. Still a good song.

11. Luno- 4/5-Not my favorite song but quick song, catchy, decent lyrics.

12. Plans- 5/5- One of my favorite song on the cd but not others. I think the lyrics are spectacular and his vocals are really on display. This also has a scary feel to it.

13. Compliments- 4.5/5- Very slow... a song to sit back and just close your eyes and listen to. Guitar is exceptional.

Overall it is a great albulm with just a few issues with recording but I truly think you will enjoy just as I have and I think that future BP albums will be good as well.

source: www.alternativemalta.com

Probably the most defining moment in Bloc Party's debut album "Silent Alarm" is 1:37 into the song `Positive Tension' where frontman Kele Okereke belts out `something glorious is about to happen'. Whether it refers to his band or not, this is the general feeling of this album.
Ever since I heard the single `Banquet' (also reviewed on this website) back in May 2004 I knew that this band would go places and I was right.
Magazine coverage, mentioned by other bands, being slagged by Liam Gallagher, and now I read that Death From Above 1979 are going to cover `Luno' as well - respect.
Now when I review an album I always give the band a chance. I listen to the CD constantly until it sinks but in the case of `Silent Alarm' I've listening to it since its release date in February, just to make sure that the album will stick through the hype that the band is receiving. Now that its May 2005 I can safely say that this album is no flash in the pan but fully lives up to the attention that this wonderful London four piece is getting.
In fact `Silent Alarm actually surprises at some points, as there are `tender songs' (`Blue Light'), electronic bits (check out the sound effects in opener `Like Eating Glass') and their trademark spiky sound (third single `Helicopter' and `Price of Gasoline' - a Gang of Four reference?). So yes, there is variety for the listener, and those uninitiated to Bloc Party's b-sides may even be shocked that the band is so versatile.
As a lyricist Okereke likes to state that Bloc Party (as their name suggests) have a political agenda, but there is their soft side where songs about love do battle. So for every `The Pioneers' (if it can be lost it can be won ... go stick your bloody head in the jaws of the beast) there is a `This Modern Love' (what a beautiful song!) cropping up.
Alas "Silent Alarm is not a perfect album. It is two tracks too long, and maybe their earliest recording `She's Hearing Voices' is now out of place. However it is a near perfect album, and for a debut these are just some minor blips that will be ironed out come album two.
One thing which is on Bloc Party's side is their blinding ambition which sears through the duration of "Silent Alarm" and which frankly I haven't really heard since Radiohead's sophmore album `The Bends'. Actually Bloc Party are one step better for they nailed it on the first try.
Along with the new crop of English post-punkers namely Franz Ferdinand and The Futureheads, Bloc Party have made their mark upon music. I also have the feeling that these guys may move to bigger pastures in the near future and that their masterpiece is in the making. Really don't be a fool like me and worry about crap like this. "Silent Alarm" is as good as good can get, and trust me, for something so silent it is definitely being heard in many, many places.

Bloc Party is the band that has touched me the most sine the Mars Volta in 2003. Bloc Party are amazing musicians, though there isn't a lot of lead guitar on the album, there are plenty of tasty textures to keep your ears happy. The lyrics are solid, if occasionally juvenile, but overall very poetic, beautiful, enlightening, and charming.

Matt Tong is an amazing beast on the drums and Gordon Moakes bass playing is very solid much like Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The hype is justified but be warned, Bloc Party is not New Order, they are not the Cure, they are not Franz Ferdinand or any other band that they have been compared to. My advice would be listen to the samples here on the web and if you don't really like what you hear, then DON'T buy it. But if you are intrigued and like what you hear, then hopefully you'll be like myself and the others and put under Bloc Party's magical spell.

Don't go into it like your mind will blown, go into it skeptical, therefore you can not be let down. Don't give them the credit and make them prove it to you over 14 tracks that they are an amazing band.

I won't insult them with anymore comparisions of other bands, but to me Bloc Party are completely unique in that they have fused their various influences into a cohesive sound that is truly their own.

Bloc Party is the perfect in more than one way! Let's talk about what I just said - I said, perfect in more than one way! Now here's why:

1) Their sound is the first to successfully create the union of new wave music and indie rock. There have been a lot of great bands surfacing ever since The Strokes became popular in 2001, but I do believe that Bloc Party has finally perfected what the 5 boys from NYC were trying to do with their first album, and that is re-create the past in both a musical and a fashion sense. If you dissapeared for 15 years (be it a coma, or kidnapped by aliens), and then returned and was told to listen to Bloc Party and try to guess what year they're from, you'd probably have a difficult time determining that, due to Bloc Party's over-excessive admiration for the best and rawest forms of new wave music. Yes, Stellastarr*'s debut album from 2003 was also very, very close to accomplishing what Bloc Party has done here in 2005, but that's a whole different group and a whole different story. Every time I hear "Banquet" on college radio, I honestly feel like it's 1985 again and I am listening to Men At Work, Big Country, Icehouse, or Split Enz.

2) Their music is electric, it's exciting, it's everything you want it to be! And most of the songs have intelligent lyrics that aren't annoying or idiotic. Just think of "The Price Of Gas", which is blatantly exploiting the automobile and gasoline industry's. What they say in that song, which is probably over a year old, is so true for today.

3) Bloc Party's entire album offers music that sounds circa mid-80's, but at no point in the album does any song sound like a copycat of another song or artist, just the general style and instrumentation that Bloc Party uses is reminiscent of the sound of new wave music. We all know that groups like Interpol are the modern Joy Division, The Strokes are the modern Richard Hell or Iggy Pop, and The Killers are what Duran Duran would sound like today if they were still young. But Bloc Party is.. Bloc Party. They simply took an era of music that was intense and simply built on it with bigger, better quality songs than you'd find in the height of new wave.

While I am praising Bloc Party, I also thought I'd suggest 2 other great groups that I would say are just as good as Bloc Party (and if you are interested in either, just look them up on Amazon, there are 100's of reviews on both acts): Arcade Fire and The Bravery. And of course, check out Stellastarr* too!

Block Party's 'Silent Alarm' integrates addictive guitar riffs and drum beats with demi-poetic song lyrics that keep you listening hard.

The choruses change frequently throughout the songs, especially in "Like Eating Glass" (my favorite) so the music is never repetitive or boring. I found myself singing along to most of the songs after the first listen or so, but they're not so distracting that you can't use the CD as background music for a conversation.

Kele's vocals are like the grapefuit to the music's avocado (grapefruit and avocado salad - anyone had one? It's marvelous.) Though dissonant at times, like in 'Positive Tension,' his voice captures my attention like no one else's. And it changes tone and pitch (high in 'Banquet', low in 'She's hearing voices'), so you don't tire of his singing.

The songs blend extremely well, too. There's a mix of loud ('Helicopter') and soft ('Bluest Light').

I HIGHLY reccomend this album, every song is worthwhile. Bloc Party is fun, witty, poetic, rockin' and maybe just a little emo? But I'm not quite sure how that's defined these days.

'Silent Alarm' is not something you'll tire of very quickly.

American indie-rock has been mining the exact same post-Velvet Underground/Sonic Youth, vocally whiny, detached irony for over FIFTEEN years.

England really did invent and perfect post-punk. Just like they invented and perfected heavy metal.

The fact that current English bands are creating sounds that look back at their gloriously rich history should really come as no surprise to anyone.

So the English will SING, dabble with the ability to make you dance, shimmer, chime, envelope you with atmosphere, SING in ways they've really never stopped doing for the past twenty-five years. SING. Did I mention that they actually sing?

Since our current musical climate is so utterly lame (there are a number of Americans making decent music that may or may not mine these English influences), it's no wonder that the quite healthy U.K. pop scene is, once again, being hailed as revelation on this side of the Atlantic.

Bloc Party rock. The Futureheads rock. The Doves rock. England's Dreaming and thank f**king god for that.

Oh, yeah. Put "Turn on the Bright Lights," "The Last Broadcast," "Make Up the Breakdown" in a blender with The Cure, U-2, Close Lobsters and, yes, you've got this record. Not perfect, almost too ambitious, but I can't wait to hear where the band go from here. I love it!

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.

(...)

Better late than never, that's what my mom used to say. Although, the hype surrounding Bloc Party has died down a bit, their presence is still known. The guys crossed the Atlantic and literally took the U.S. by storm with their infectious dance/punk/rock/indie, whatever you want to call it. It is an orgy of genres.

Silent Alarm is an understatement when it comes to the intensity you get from Bloc Party's album. Every single song on this album is a hit single. "The Pioneers" is probably the best song on the album. It might not be as upbeat as "Banquet" or "Helicopter", but the overall feel from the song is breathtaking.

The influences heard on this album are clear: The Cure, Joy Division, and the list goes on. While you can hear the influences, Bloc Party is still able to create their own distinctive sound that many have come to love; even the people who want to admit they hate it.

Kele is definitely a perfect frontman to the band, but to every band there is the backing. Matt, Russel, and Gordon combined with Kele make probably one of the best albums of the year. The cohesion between them all is very strong as all the songs are tight knit.

Bloc Party will be the band you come to love, even if you aren't the biggest fan of the genre. One listen to Silent Alarm and you'll be hooked. Guaranteed.

Bloc Party have created a brilliant sound which evokes some of the deepest emotions ranging from jumping-up-and-down excitedness to floored-stunning-awe. They have succeeded in nodding to 70's and 80's new-wave/punk rock without ripping it off, but instead springboarding off it and layering their unique creativity overtop.

The song compisitions are rock-solid, surprising, and surge forward while taking you along for the ride. The drumming is tastefully awesome, complimenting the ecstatic guitar work, and wailing-to-subdued vocals, bringing together with the bass, a very rockin' and funky sound.

Bands that would work great on a mix with Bloc Party are Fugazi, The Knack, The Ramones, The Strokes, and The Police. I am very impressed and pleased with Bloc Party, yet pissed I didn't know about them when they toured through here a few months ago!