Search - TV on the Radio :: Dear Science

Terrible compression = terrible album.

Graciela | Auckland, New Zealand | 09/18/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this album, like its (far superior) predecessor, as soon as it came out. Unlike Cookie Mountain, I have since returned it to the place where I bought it from. The songs could have been good, but the terrible mixing (done by the same guy who ruined The Strokes' Room on Fire) made it virtually unlistenable, so the songs may as well be bad because I simply cannot listen to them. The mixing makes the band sound bored and half-asleep - all the excitement has been sucked out of the music.



Artists like Merzbow over-compress their music because they want their listeners to feel uncomfortable; is this really the effect TVOTR were aiming for here? If so, job well done boys. I will not be buying any more of their albums unless I receive proof that the mixing was not ruined by the idiot record company (Interscope, in this case)."

Science experiment

Greg Kinne | midwest | 07/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"TV On The Radio have recorded their most listener friendly album ever. Don't let that sway you though, as the follow up to "Return To Cookie Mountain" is quite good, and doesn't scream sell out. There's not a bum track on it, which might make contemporaries like Bloc Party a little envious.



By making their music more melodious, TV On The Radio has finally garnered my full attention; I found their previous releases too obtuse. I knew the band had an excess of talent, but always found myself becoming bored with their music. It seemed like they were trying to hard, and I couldn't tell what they were getting at. Because of their previous dense recordings, it seems like TV On The Radio wanted to lighten up on this album. They did lighten up the production but not the mood, as this album is somewhat fixated on death and dying.



On this release, TV On The Radio retained their edginess, and has created an emotional album in the process. TV On The Radio wears its influences proudly as evidenced by the Peter Gabriel like opener "Halfway Home," and the Bowiesque "Red Dress." Stylistically, the album ranges from synth pop to jazz-tinged ballads. The guitar work on this album is strong as are the vocals by Tunde Adebimpe who is able to sing various styles effortlessly.



TV On The Radio has matured on this album and seems content in exploring new sonics, which has me curious to see what the future brings."

Dear Science Great.... Return to Cookie Mountain terrible

Pali Gap | California | 09/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Dear Science" was my first foray into TVOTR and I was bowled over - the density of the music can be a little much but the underlying rhythms are so different, one song to the next, that I think it's worth it - the songs have a lot of heart - and how often do you hear bands that have two solid vocalists, each with their own distinct personality?



I saw them at the Oakland Fox Theater a few months ago and got an even greater appreciation for the rhythms and for the drummer - the LoveDog opener was perfect although, all in all, they need to rock out a little more in their live performances - a little too much subdued-indie-band presence and not enough Humble-Pie-Rockin'-the-Fillmore



"Return to Cookie Mountain" on the other hand, WTF? That album is so hard to listen to that I can't believe it's the same band - I listened to it many times in the weeks before the concert and just couldn't get into it - it's mechanical with zero heart - just about every song they played at the concert from Cookie Mountain was a total buzzkill (good time to go get another beer) - I hope their next album continues with the great songwriting/performing of Dear Science

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