Terror Twilight

Pavement | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 8, 1999)
• Original Release Date: June 8, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B00000IKUQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (163 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,027 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #26 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative
  • #36 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo Fi
  • #53 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Lo-Fi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If it wasn't any good, why can't I stop listening to it?, July 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Terror Twilight (Audio CD)

Is it just me, or is this a REALLY dark album? "Spit on a Stranger" is a wonderful yet melancholy pop song. "Major Leagues" is twangy and sad. "The Hexx" strikes fear into my heart. And my favorite track, "Ann Don't Cry," is the definition of elegiac.

I understand all the criticisms of this album--overproduced, irrelevant compared to "Slanted and Enchanted" or "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain", somewhat dull, almost a Steve Malkmus solo project. I didn't really like it, either, the first time I heard it, and only liked it a bit more the next twenty times I played it--until I suddenly realized I kept playing it. Over and Over. Like standing in the Louvre, staring at the Mona Lisa for hours, caught up in the enigma.

"Terror Twilight"--Never has an album been so appropriately monikered. Just like they've always done, Pavement makes concept albums about California without calling them concept albums about California. This one is all about what happens when you're in your early 30s, bored and listless, trying to recapture the enthusiasm of your early 20s (i.e., "S&E"). Instead of skateboarding home from your job at the cafe, now you're driving a Lexus, stuck in rush hour traffic, coming back from your cubicle job at some software company. I don't think I'm wrong about this.

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatest band of the '90s, November 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Terror Twilight (Audio CD)

I have been listening to rock for over 35 years. Through the decades, certain ablums have been special to me (The Velvet Underground and Nico, Patti Smith's Horses, The Replacements' Tim). For the past decade, though, nothing has really grabbed me like that. Oh, I liked Nevermind and Exile in Guyville as much as the next guy, but somehow nothing seemed to have that special spark.

Until I discovered Pavement. I was somewhat at a loss as to where to place this review. I love all five of their official albums, and I think that Slanted and Enchanted is probably still their best. Still, Terror Twilight has grown on me to the point that the hooks, melodies, and lyrics have become indelible.

Since I'm a middle-aged guy, my opinion may not mean much to Pavement's basic audience (or what I imagine is their audience). But from the point of view of a guy who has heard it all (or at least a lot of it), entered college when Purple Haze was in the Top 40, and been listening ever since, take it from me: Pavement can stand with the best of them!

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars bittersweet ending, April 4, 2005

By 

D. greene "obsessive compulsive buyer/liar" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Terror Twilight (Audio CD)

The best band of the 90's, arguable yes, but many share the same feeling. Malkmus took over songwriting here, as if it should have ever differed on the past albums so it feels more like his first solo album rather than a Pavement record. This album is missing something that all the previous albums had and the strangest thing is that its not missed what so ever. This album is the most endearing work Pavement did in their 12 years of being a band. It's nearly impossible to not give this album anything less than 5 stars because, simply put, this is the album where Pavement sounded like a pop genius rock band. The only thing that is a downer on this album is the fact that it's the fairwell, swan song album. Even with that considered, the material is so wonderfull that you almost forget this is the end of the journey. It's like crying happy and sad at once. Pavement was once sloppy and imperfected which is what made their early records such a treat to listen to and, more often than not, a strange and difficult listen. It's amazing to me how much this is an improvement from the least consistent album by Pavement, which in my opinion was "Brighten the Corners." It wasn't a bad album, just not complete sounding. Terror Twilight is not only a huge rebound, but it's where Pavement shows they were always as good as the Beach Boys or the Velvet Underground. I never understood the "cool kids" who said they liked Pavement's early records and lost interest in the later material. Terror Twilight stands as tall as any of the first three full lenghts and any of the early 7 inches and EPs. The album is so good, that a track by track review is pointless. Take this as a pill and swallow it whole. You won't believe your ears or anything else around you. I'll leave you to it now as S.M. says..
"My Palestinian nephew got his face blown off
in a dusty craft."