Album of the Week #56: Turn on the Bright Lights by Interpol

Dudess

Fabulous exponents of that gloomy, icy, post-punk sound. Remarkable album - those of you who have not heard it are likely to be familiar with the stunning single Obstacle 1.

Xavi6

Amazing album.

I remember hearing 'Obstacle 1' for the first time on Phantom when it was released and being absolutely blown away.

I honestly don't think there is a bad song on the album. If I had to pick favourites then I would go for 'PDA', 'Obstacle 1', 'The New' and 'Stella Was A Diver....'.

There's so much variation on it, and not just from song to song, but also in the indiviual songs themselves. 'The New' is the perfect example. Most bands would have chopped that up into three different songs but Interpol have it all together in what is 5 minutes of stunning music.

The two subsequent releases are excellent in their own right but for me TOTBL is waaaaay ahead of them.

I was fortunate enough to see Interpol live back in february in a small intimate venue and it was a great experience. 'PDA' in particular sent a chill down the spine with it's soaring outro.

This is one of the top 5 essential records of the 2000s.

Tommy the Cat

Yeah I remember hearing Obstacle 1 on Phantom when it was still a pirate radio station. Normally I wouldnt buy an album on the basis of one song, but my God what an album. It has everything. Personally I'm not too keen on there other albums. It just got too predictable.

JC 2K3

I remember my girlfriend being mad into them when I was about 16 and going through a phase of being rather obstinate to any kind of new music. This album managed to make an impact on me, however, though I'd never had admitted it at the time

I must give it a listen again, but I'm not a fan of the whole Post Punk Revival thing in general, since I often feel that they're doing nothing new.

Cadeaus

I remember hearing Roland way back and playing it to death. I just loved how bleedin creepy and bizarre that song was. An absolute classic album. Obstacle 1 is one of my all time favourite songs too.

11811

oh what an album!! Definitely one of my favorites. Still listen to it regularly, altho i must say it took a little while to get into it when i first bought it...

Karma_Police

Yeah it took me a while to get into the 2nd album, but after that it was easy enough to get into their first! Especially because it so god damn awesome!

And questionable lyrics can be found in a few songs, i think its in NYC where its

this is a conquest
this is a braclet
this isn't no intervention

this is a union


like that makes no sense with the rest of the song

and you wear those shoes like a dove
what?

Blue 84

Karma_Police wrote: »

Yeah it took me a while to get into the 2nd album, but after that it was easy enough to get into their first! Especially because it so god damn awesome!

And questionable lyrics can be found in a few songs, i think its in NYC where its

this is a conquest
this is a braclet
this isn't no intervention

this is a union


like that makes no sense with the rest of the song

and you wear those shoes like a dove
what?

'Say Hello To The Angels' is the song you're thinking of.

One of a handful of albums I can let play right through. The 'sound' of this record is my favourite of any album, and the reason I think it edges out their other two (still very good) albums. Somehow bleak and beautiful simultaneously. And 'Leif Erikson' is up there with the best closing tracks on an album of all time.

cashback

Blue 84 wrote: »

And 'Leif Erikson' is up there with the best closing tracks on an album of all time.

I bought the album in Australia so the last song on my version is The Specialist. Which is excellent.
Great album, love PDA, Obstacle 1, Hands Away and Leif Erikson.

Last two mins of PDA are spectacular.

shortys94

Great album, Say Hello To The Angels and PDA, Wow.

I love the way the guitar is sometimes simple, but the way it is intertwined with the other instruments is great.

Saw them live and fortunately they played alot of songs of this album such as PDA. One of my favourite albums!

RAUL DUKE

I only really got into interpol early last year but since then they've probably become my fav current band,TOTBL is simply stunning,from start to finish,the outro to pda is so epic it still blows me away everytime i hear it!Incredible song.

MikeHoncho

A friend of mine was a away on a a J1 in America back in 2002 and he told me about this great new MP3 player the Ipod. I looked it up online and asked him to bring me one back as they werent available here yet. When I got it it turned out that you needed to have a firewire port for the Ipod to download music off your PC (yes folks this is before Ipods had USB 2 support).

Basically I got him to put his music on my Ipod while the firewire card was on the way in the post. One of the things he put on it was Turn On The Bright Lights. I remember hearing it for the first time and just being blown away by the intro to Untitled (sent shivers up my spine). Songs like Obstacle 1 and Say Hello To The Angels were instant favourites. Ive seen them live on numerous ocassions at this stage and love Antics as much as I love this album.

I couldnt really pick a favourite track but at a push I dont think I could live without the guitar solo at the end of Roland so I would have to pick that one.

Simply a stunning band and definatly a top 5 favourite album of mine. Actually I think im gonna give it a listen now.

bugler

One of my all time favourite albums but slightly let down by a ropey middle section, IMO.

insinkerator

This is a fantastic album without a doubt!!

My band used to play Obstacle 1!

MrSparkle

Got into Interpol through Antics which I thought was class, but I was blown away when I heard this album.

Favourite songs are Untitled, Obstacle 1 and PDA(the outro is amazing)

Jim

She went down down down into the sea,
She went down down down there down there for me,
Right on.

Beached as

I actually forgot how good the album was until a taxi driver played it for us in the states over the summer! Savage album

Placid_Casual

Leif Ericksson is probably my favourite song on the album. I think its partly because i'm so intrigued by the title as the lyrics don't seem to be in any way about a Viking explorer!
Answers on a postcard please.

robotfridge

What an album!
I bought it at the same time as I bought "Deloused in the comatorium" by the Mars Volta, and "Endtroducing" by DJ Shadow. All 5/5 albums
3 of the best albums I have ever heard and all 3 def on my all time top 10

orourkeda

One of the best albums of the decade so far without doubt. A first album like this is almost impossible to beat

skippy26

bugler wrote: »

One of my all time favourite albums but slightly let down by a ropey middle section, IMO.

i agree some unremarkable stuff in the middle otherwise its a great album.antics is my fav tho

violetdream

class album....very intense...apart from a few decent tracks on antics it was all downhill after that.....

mr_angry

Definitely one of my all-time favourites too. Songs like "Leif Eriksson" and "Hands Away" really nicely offset the choppy guitars of "Roland" and "Say Hello To The Angels". Considering the complexity of the music, its arranged beautifully, and has a very orchestral feel, despite not having a string section.

dceire

What an album, what a band! So many great songs Obstacle 1, Say Hello to the Angles, PDA, NYC, Stella was a diver! I'm going through my Interpol phase again, wish they were touring right now!

I Love Interpol!:D

11811

it just so good its been album of the week for well over three weeks!!!!:D
enough said really.

Shacklebolt

Jim wrote: »

She went down down down into the sea,
She went down down down there down there for me,
Right on.

She was alright cause the sea was so airtight she broke away.

insinkerator

if we could get this unstuck and the other stuck itd be great:)