LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver released

Sound of Silver LCD Soundsystem

Released: March 20, 2007 Peak: 46 US, 28 UK Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.1 UK Genre: electronica/dance punk

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Get Innocuous! (James Murphy, Tyler Pope) [7:11] Time to Get Away (Murphy, Pope, Patrick Mahoney) [4:11] North American Scum [5:25] (2/28/07, 40 UK) Someone Great [6:25] (10/22/07, --) All My Friends (Murphy, Mahoney, Pope) [7:37] (5/28/07, 41 UK) Us v. Them (Murphy, Mahoney, Pope) [8:29] Watch the Tapes [3:55] Sound of Silver [7:07] New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down (Murphy, Mahoney, Pope) [5:35] Songs written by James Murphy unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 55:55 The Players: James Murphy (vocals, synthesizers, drums, percussion, bass, programming, etc.) Tyler Pope (guitar, bass, etc.) Patrick Mahoney (drums, percussion) Nancy Whang (vocals)

Rating: 4.034 out of 5.00 (average of 21 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “James Murphy had proven his kung fu as the most badass electro-punk producer in clubland. But not even fierce fans dreamed he’d make a masterpiece like Sound of Silver.” RS’20 “Every track sounded like a different band’s greatest hit.” RS’20 “Compared to the first LCD Soundsystem album, Sound of Silver is less silly, funnier, less messy, sleeker, less rowdy, more fun, less distanced, more touching. It is just as linked to James Murphy’s record collection, with traces of post-punk, disco, Krautrock, and singer/songwriter schlubs, but the references are evidently harder to pin down; the number of names dropped in the reviews published before its release must triple the amount mentioned throughout ‘Losing My Edge.’ There’s even some confusion as to which version of David Bowie is lurking around.” AMG “One clearly evident aspect of the album is that Murphy has streamlined his sound. All the jagged frays have been removed, replaced by a slightly tidier approach that is more direct and packs more punch. Murphy comes across as a fully naturalized producer of dance music – especially on Get Innocuous! – as opposed to a product of ‘90s indie rock who has made a convincing switch-up.” AMG “And yet, the album’s best song is sad, should not be played in any club, and it at least matches the work of any active songwriter who has been praised.” AMG Someone Great is a “synth-pop breakup lament” RS’20 “built on swelling synthesizers and a dual vocal-and-glockenspiel melody, could definitely be about a devastating breakup (‘To tell the truth I saw it coming / The way you were breathing’), at least until ‘You’re smaller than my wife imagined / Surprised you were human,’ which could mean the song either took a turn for the absurd or is about the death (and funeral) of a loved one. Either way, it is the most moving song Murphy has made, and it only helps further the notion that he should be considered a great songwriter, not simply a skilled musician with a few studio tricks and the occasional clever quip.” AMG “The closer, New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down, seals it: ‘New York, you’re perfect, oh please don’t change a thing/ Your mild billionaire mayor’s now convinced he’s a king/ And so the boring collect – I mean all disrespect/ In the neighborhood bars I’d once dreamt I would drink.’ If he keeps it up, he’ll be writing songs for Pixar by 2020.” AMG The album also includes the “political punk goof North American Scum” RS’20 andAll My Friends, a “song for the ages…[with] huge, sweeping, ferociously emotional, with disco keyboards and rock guitars pulsing as Murphy looked back on a youth of killer parties and silent mornings.” RS’20

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for LCD Soundsystem AMG All Music Guide review by Andy Kellman RS’20 Rolling Stone (9/22/2020). “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time” WK Wikipedia First posted 3/30/2010; last updated 4/27/2022.