871 TV On The Radio - Dear Science The Radio (2008)

 871 TV On The Radio - Dear Science The Radio (2008)


Studio Album - Alt Rock



About the Act:

TV on the Radio are a band from Brooklyn They formed in 2001 and are still going. Influential people like them.


About the Album:

This was their third album. Critics absolutely did their nut over it, it was named baest album of 2008 by Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Spin, MTV, Entertainment Weekly, The Village Voice and the readers of Pitchfork.


My History with this Album:

None


Review:

I don't get it. What do these critics hear in this that I don't?

Don't get the wrong idea, I don't hate it. I just don't think it's a universal classic as the critics seemed to think. I have a theory.

So as I listened to it, I found it hard to form an opinion. That's because it is pretty eclectic and hard to pigeon-hole. It has the feel of electronica at times, rock at times, the vocals at times remind me of Scissor Sisters, and the general lack of adherence to norms reminds me of David Bowie. I am fairly certain it could be deemed experimental at times. There are elements of so many different things in here, that it's a kind of rich gumbo in some ways. I have found myself somewhat at a loss of an opinion. And this is my theory, that the critics experienced the same, and in the lack of having an expressible opinion, decided on mass that it must be brilliant.

It's interesting, that is certainly true, musically. Lyrically, I'm not sure, the production doesn't really invite you to listen to the words that much, as if they are incidental. Sometimes the delivery is stilted, with big pauses, a bit like 80s electronica, sometimes they are very heavily overdubbed, in the style of Prince. All this is good. One measure I often use for new music, is whether it surprises and delights me. Well I can admit that this does at times surprise me, but I'm afraid I cannot admit to it delighting me. For me (and I think in this I am pitted against the massed banks of critics, who presumably know better than I do) the end result is a little on the dreary side.

So, there you go, I managed to have an opinion. That opinion has a certain duality to it, and now I need to think of a number. Somewhere in the high 6 point something I think, given a balance between interesting eclecticness but lacking in the ability to reach down my throat and grab my heart. 


6.7/10 


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/5XPg48YAFPy6xWF7kYxhht

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWgWmGdjsoZ_QFslktrGFYjpEEh8kLkmw

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_Science




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