Track Listing

1. Get Innocuous!
2. Time To Get Away
3. North American Scum
4. Someone Great
5. All My Friends
6. Us V Them
7. Watch The Tapes
8. Sound Of Silver
9. New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2334 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-20
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.com
Two years after LCD Soundsystem's eponymous full-length debut sent indie scenesters rushing to the dancefloor, the outfit headed by dance-rock producer James Murphy serves up another stiff cocktail of punk, dance, and funk with Sound of Silver. Analog synths, chugging basslines, chunky guitars, and Murphy's wild falsetto excursions are once again the foundation to which is added the new and strange, such as the heavily chorused voices that suggest backward-masking in the opener "Get Innocuous" and the captivating harmonics keyboardist Nancy Whang bounces off of Murphy's vocals on "Someone Great." If this album has its own version of "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House," it has to be "North American Scum," an infectious stormer that breezily dismisses Europe as a place where "the buildings are old and you might have lots of mimes." Such lines are good evidence that LCD's music would rather ridicule itself than fall into the kind of pretense and nostalgia it constantly lampoons. The album's title track reflects that hankering after one's teenage years is often interrupted when "you remember the feelings of a real live emotional teenager--then you think again," while the power ballad "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" wearily serenades the Big Apple as "still the one pool where I'd happily drown." True, LCD's music is not for everyone, which may have something to do with why their fans love them as they do. If you fall into the latter category, however, Silver is gold. --Brent Kallmer

Customer Reviews

Only 50-60 reviews for this album?...wow
This is probably one of the better albums of the decade so far; most likely top 25 for sure. The 5th track: "All My Friends" is a brilliant 7 1/2 minute epic that, by itself, is worth the price of the album. It does have a weak moment(s) in the title track "Sound of Silver" and to some extend "Watch the Tapes" which are both decent songs but have a tough act to follow after the genius of track 5 and the impressive track 6. I recommend this album for sure. I also recommend that you listen with head phone as you'll pick up on much of James Murphy's subtleties.

takes me back
I was skeptical of this band a while now, being weary of all things hipster and hyped. I love good electronic music though, be it ambient, idm, 80's style dance. As with many trends, I jump on the bandwagon a bit late, but I'm so glad I didn't miss this one. Luckily my local library had this and I took it out and gave it a few listens and was immediately engaged. Every so often a release drops and makes your ears perk. This is definitely one of 'em. From start to finish it's a gem. Growing up in the 80's, being big into New Order, Human League and the underground dance music of the time, this disc gave me chills, it was so dead on as far as getting that special sound that so many imitate but fail at. this is a band who KNOWS. At the same time, this is a very current release, and in my opinion, will be a classic from this decade. It's tough to pick favorites--the music and lyrics are all very good. "Someone Great" is beautiful and reflective, in the best way, and "Get Innocuous" is a storming, strobe and smoke opener with Enoesque vocals. "Time To Get Away" is an extremely catchy, dance-funk number reminding me of Gang Of Four, as well as some other releases from back in the day. "North American Scum" has some of the freshest lyrics I've heard from anyone in a while and is another that will have you dancing, if you know what's good for you.

I don't want to label this band as a "retro" outfit. I see them more as a group who loves and knows a particular era (or several for that matter) and assimilate that love and knowledge into the now. I plan on picking up all their stuff (just heard "45:33" and thoroughly enjoyed it). I just hope they keep dropping more good stuff like this (and maybe tour again for those who were late to the table).

Great from the start
I'm by no means an expert on how to appreciate music, but I must say I was really impressed with Sound of Silver's quality. There were a few songs that I enjoyed from LCD Soundsystems first release, but those took a bit of time for me to get into. Sound of Silver got me right from the start in a way I haven't experienced from a CD for some time. Normally I expect to have to give some time for a CD to grow on me, but this one didn't require any extra effort. Having said that, I know a few of the songs will not have a great deal of staying power in my "everyday playlist", but enough of them do that I would strongly recommend this CD. "Get Innocuous!", "North American Scum", and "All My Friends" all deserve the positive attention they've been given and I know I will continue to enjoy them for years to come.