ShadTheBowie
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- Notes
- ♬107
Hi y'all! Not sure what topic I'm supposed to post this in (indie or alternative, both of them seem a bit eepy though) or if it's considered spam because tier list. Anyway, I shall post this little thingy here and give my honest thoughts on the band's discography. I've been into their music since 2024, can't really claim I'm a big fan or whatever because I didn't watch much of their interviews and haven't checked out a big chunk of their singles yet (btw if this thread gets traction I might just make a tier-list on their singles as well). Without further ado, let's get right into it. Since I accidentally exceeded the character limit while writing this, I shall turn this into a short thread
S-tier:
Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (aka TBHC) (2018). Without any overstating, it is my favourite album of the band. It did take me quite some time to warm up to it in its entirety, but currently it is the kind of album in which I do not dare skip a single song because they're all absolutely majestic and beautiful. Firstly, it's a great concept album that explores themes of growing technogenic isolation of humans, especially the band itself being quite of touch with social media and things. Secondly, its sound is extremely experimental and is nothing like any other 5 albums that came before it, leaning more into lounge music than typical rock. It manages to be triumphant and calming, odd and romantic, all at the same time. I absolutely love the instrumentals on this album, the build-ups, the pianos (especially on She Looks Like Fun's outro, second best climax of an Arctic Monkeys song ever imho). I'd like to give a separate mention to Batphone for how "ordered" the melody is with each instrument replacing the previous one, making my inner perfectionist experience the state that's between catatonic and nirvanic. And thirdly, Alex Turner's vocal performance goes incredibly hard with the higher pitching and his voice deepening to ungodly levels by itself. For how unusual and bold it is, the whole album is a very smooth experience without major setbacks, especially pace-wise, every song is in the right place and excelently completes this intricately crafted puzzle of an album
Suck It And See (aka SIAS) (2011). My second favourite album and apparently quite an underrated one (for some reason in the AM community this album catches a bit of unwarranted smoke, thankfully there's also a big chunk of people who enjoy the album for what it is). When I first discovered this release it did catch me quite off-guard with its title (yes, I took it as a sexual reference), the cover did intrigue me quite a bit though. Perfect, elegant combo that makes you curious what in the world is this even about. This did not disappoint me in the slightest. The album has an insanely romantic vibe mixed up with psychodelic atmosphere and western references (All My Own Stunts literally has lines like "I wanna be in that damsel patterned alley" and "Been watching cowboy films on gloomy afternoons"). It's also arguably their most melanholic and bitter-sweet album ever, especially its later part (I've been under quite a bit of pressure this week and listening to this album felt as releasing as weeping on someone's lap, I only ever cried to a tight selection of releases like that, especially made by musicians who are still alive). The waves of somberness come periodically, but when they do they soak you wet, especially consecutive Piledriver Waltz and Love is a Laserquest (I find it difficult with deciphering lyrics in music, especially the kind that's not produced in my mother tongue, but Piledriver Waltz is easily my favourite song lyrics-wise, especially the traffic light comparison in the second verse; the lyrical genius is consistent throughout the entire thing though, best example other than Piledriver Waltz is the titular track, for how simple its main themes are it develops them in a super poetic and intimate ways with lyrics like "That's not a skirt girl, that's a sawn-off shotgun and I can only hope you've got it aimed at me" or literally the opening line "Your love is like a studded leather headlock"). There's only one song I genuinely dislike on the album, otherwise I love it to bones and listen to its entirety religiously. Btw, it's my first CD album ever bought
AA-tier:
Humbug (2009). I will be blunt here, I was struggling hard with assigning this album the right tier. It didn't really give me that big of a spark in the eyes to call it band-defining, and yet it's still an album that doesn't have a single "miss" song for me (except maybe for a single one). It has a very peculiar sound, a lot of people call it creepy (blissfully unaware of Riot Van's demo version) or disturbing, but I think ominous and mysterious describe it better. Humbug both stands for a deceptive person and a peppermint candy, very fitting for an album like that. It does feel like walking around in a mist with a mint candy in your mouth: the fog is not only around you, but within you as well. For me it's a perfect combination of heavy (Dangerous Animals, Dance Little Liar, Pretty Visitors) and melodic (Fire and the Thud, Secret Door, Jeweller's Hands) stuff in their discography. I'm also quite frankly obsessed with Cornerstone in a lot of ways, especially the music video (just like a major half of the community). I believe this single awkward low-budget flick had the most impact on my fashion sense and whatnot out of anything I've ever seen, especially Alex Turner's hairstyle in it. I'd go as far as saying that, as a straight man, I fell in love with Alex's look in this one and have been dreaming of achieving it ever since. Overall, I'd say that if TBHC has the best vocals and SIAS has the best lyrics, Humbug has the best instrumentals. The guitar work on Dance Little Liar makes my leg shed rivers, Crying Lightning's bass is as sweet to my ears as a caramel chocolate bar to my tongue and Jeweller's Hands' drums alternate my brain chemistry unlike anything in this world
A-tier:
Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not (aka WPSIATWIN) (2006). For how loved and celebrated their debut album is, I really don't get when people call it the pinnacle of their music. It's a good piece, but like a lot of debut albums it's rather formulaic. It's not boring in any way though, but it does sound a bit repetitive at times. There are quite some outliers that are worth mentioning like Mardy Bum, Riot Van (especially its demo version that borders on noise rock at times) and A Certain Romance (I absolutely adore its prolonged instrumental intro and outro). In general it's a very dynamic album and, I don't care if I'm repeating myself, it's anything but boredom-inducing because even though the songs sound similar they absolutely blast your trousers off with their crazy fast tempo like in I Bet That You'll Look Good on the Dancefloor or heaviness like in Perhaps Vampires is a Bit Strong But... In addition I'd like to give due credit to the wrecking build-ups like From the Ritz to the Rubble with its super quick intro and "bouncingly" groovy verse to chorus progressions. Overall it's a fun album, but the reason why I give this only A tier is that I do not consider it a record I could listen to anytime, I think of it as "mood-specific" since the sound doesn't dwell off too much from punk-rock vibe and it can get quite tiring
The Car (2022). Easily one of band's most hated albums, if not THE most hated one. It often catches smoke for "copying" TBHC or simply for being released after their "prime era" of the first two releases. I loved it from the very first time I listened to it, though I did have trouble with getting used to, like, half the songs from it. If I were to describe its sound in a single sentence, I'd say that listening to it feels like having a serene walk mid-April in a tiny garden under a triumphantly elegant mansion you're spending your retirement days in. The pathos is much less prominent in this record, opting for a calmer and slower sound with some orchestra parts included. I'd call it a polar opposite of their debut album, because for how changing the sound is it can get a bit snoozy at certain parts as it doesn't have TBHC's futuristicly vintage vibes or SIAS' psychodelic dreamy feel to compensate for this. Which makes it another great, but "mood-specific" record for me. The first 5 songs of the album are still undescribably majestic and could genuinely work as a separate EP with Body Paint as a perfect finisher. I think the trio of There'd Better Be a Mirrorball, Sculptures of Anything Goes and Body Paint break the mold of "boring" quite well, especially the last one which deserves all the praise and all the glaze. It has a defined and prolonged structure similarly to A Certain Romance and a very cinematic feel to it, especially the music video which is easily my second favourite visual work of the band ever. I don't think I can put into words how much I love the final chorus part of the clip where Alex Turner's shadow playing the guitar just begins to spin around to the sound of the music. I am going as far as to say that it's the band's very own Exit Music (For a Film) for how well it'd fit as a credits theme for a big movie (some consider it the band's Bohemian Rhapsody, at least the ones who didn't give this title to A Certain Romance). I'd also like to appreciate Hello You and Perfect Sense for a bit because I feel like they're the most underappreciated songs on this whole recording, perhaps because of how somewhat incosistent the second part of it is. Still, Hello You has a very infectious piano part with an absolutely beautiful climax and Perfect Sense is just a perfect album closer. Although certainly not the greatest, I believe this album deserves more appreciation than it actually gets
