Sound Of Silver

I have listened to this a few times now and it is full of great songs that make a fantastic album. I agree with other reviews that the "LCD Soundsystem" is nowhere near as good although it does have two or three good tracks. On this "Someone Great" is just superb.

First things first Ive never been a huge James Murphy fan. I enjoyed "Daft Punk is Playing..." like everybody else but found "Losing My Edge" vastly overrated. For me one song does not justify a near God like reputataion that the likes of NME among others have chosen to bestow on the man.

Prior to listening to SOS I decided to purchase and listen to LCD's debut album and aside from "Daft Punk..." and "Tribulations" there is not too much to enjoy, it sounds more like a collection of ideas rather than an actual album with very few ideas actually sticking to the wall. Its only when near the end of the album on "Yeah" Murphy decides to freak out does things get good.

I went into Sound of Silver with my expectations now lowered and I cant tell you how much I enjoyed this album. One of many things that come from listening to this album is you could listen to it in any situation or environment. You could listen to it in a club, while your jogging or just layed in bed (which I prefer to do when I try out new albums as I can experience all the sounds and hooks without distractions).

Sound of Silver consists of 9 songs with only one track lasting under 4 minutes which is one of the qualities I admire about this album as Murphy gives his music time to breathe and naturally grow rather than rush things. Each song on this album sounds like it has had a huge amount of time and effort spent on it, perhaps Murphy felt like he had something to prove. I also feel this an album that could appeal to all audiences the dedicated fan base, casual fans, chin strokers (myself) and club goers which is a difficult thing to achieve.

The songs you will likely have heard are Get Innocous (featured on the Tv advert for the Grand Theft Auto 4 video game)- which features a low bubbling bass line which grows and grows while repetetive synth stabs and Murphy's detached vocals float around in the background. The second would be North American Scum (featured on the advert for Tv drama Dirty Sexy Money) one of the many times on this album of which Murphy is in sharp lyrical form "and for those of you who still think we're from Englind we're not. no." and "new yorks the greatest if you can get someone to pay the rent, its the furthest you can live from the government".

I cant go into every track on the track on the album but my other highlights are "Time To Get Away", "All My Friends" which features a small piano riff which sounds like a train veering dangerously close to coming off the tracks it is then overshadowed by layers of guitars and cymbal crashes. Possibly my fave track on SOS is Sound Of Silver featuring the repeated line of "sound of silver talk to me, makes you wanna feel like a teenager, until you remember the feelings of a real life emotional teenager...then you think again" trust me no more lyrics are needed. Much like every track on this album Murphy allows this track to grow and constantly adds new sounds like a new drum loop here or a piano chime there like hes trying to create a new atmosphere for this one song . There is also an awesomely low funk bassline at the beginning and towards the end which is something to look out for. IMO This is the real standout and centrepiece of this album.

Im going to go out on a limb and say this is one of the best albums of my generation (im 23), a classic, something you cant say about the majority of music you hear these days, as most of it is geared to one particular (mainstream) audience something of which I believe SOS rebels against.

BUY IT. It deserves to be in your collection.

I jumped into LCD Soundsystem without hearing their first effort, and almost as a random CD purchase. The band name, and the track list gave it away as your typical party album. Nothing too deep, but holding the odd funky song you might slot into a playlist. But 'Sound of Silver' delivered on more levels than I expected.
Firstly was the witty, deadpan humour that runs throughout some of the tracks, "and for those of you who still think that we're from England: we're not... No."
There's nine tracks, each of a considerable length, and each a distinguishable piece of it's own. The album's structure leads you through differing phases of mood and seriousness.
When Silver wants to be deeper, it does so very well. In Someone Great we hear the one-man-band James Murphy resignedly sing about a crumbling relationship, filling it with credible history, "the little things that made me nervous are gone in a moment". And then All My Friends conjures nostalgic imagery of times that have regrettably gone by, how friendships pull slowly apart as we grow old, "you spend the first five years trying to get with the plan, and the next five years trying to be with your friends again", whilst a run-away piano riff pulls the album to it's climax.
Silver is exactly what it says on the case: is has a clean, appealing sound all the way through. For example, Get Innocuous opens with a barely noticeable, bubbling base line that as the song wakes up slowly expands and grows into a fantastically catchy repetition. The same applies for the unexpected turn that the title track takes, mid way through.
This album was the best thing I heard last year, stealing 'In Rainbows' crown. It proves music doesn't have to take itself too seriously to be respected. It's an easy going, catchy sound with a remarkable amount of substance. The sound of gold.

I think dance music is a risky bussiness, in a genre so insistent on whats new and cool, how do you remain cool yet timeless enough to stick around? I think James Murphy has found the answer.

That is not to say this isn't cool and dance-able, it most certainly is, maybe not to the extent of the punk-funk of "Daft Punk is playing at my house" or "Tribulations" but the beats on "Get Innocuos" and "SOund of Silver" are fit and ready for clubs and remixes, but it is the wit and heart of LCD that make them brilliant.

"North American Scum" is a biting commentry on Yanka-phobes that is patriotic and cool at the same time, it is a great lead single with a catchy chorus. THe two following this, "SOmeone Great" and "All my friends" display repetative drums with synths and guitars building up and crashing down around it complete with a lament for someone after a bad break up and a commentry on fame and growing up on the scene respectively. THese vocal takes show the heart behind the beats and the honest lyrics are what makes this album a classic.

"Watch the tapes" crashes in on a wave of punk-funk not unlike "Movement" showing the rockier side of LCD's cannon andthe climactic closer "NY I love you, but your bringing me down" is surely one of the best songs of the 21st century, a call to arms for New yorkers and mourning for old times that truly is the comedown from LCD's first two albums, and makes you wonder what the third album could be, there is tonnes of potential for LCD soundsytem to be one of the best bands of this decade.

LCD soundsystem are just incredible, they hit all the right buttons in my head. The vocals delivered by James Murphy are just effortlessly amazing and the beats are great and so is everything else about their music. I love it all.

It's slightly less dancy than their last album but just as good. The songs that stand out in my mind are; Time to get away, All my friends, Watch the tapes and New york (a beautiful track).

Great album.

okay everyone has already spoken great words about the trio that is lcd soundsystem...and we all know james murphy has a liking for lou reed david bowie etc..but when you can remember your heroes and copy them in such delightful ways who cares...
for me the more dancey records let sound of silver down...i repeat this is my opinion..but i have not listened to any other record as much and continously as this..."all my friends" is the key track...but "new york..."is so incredibly beautiful with such an awe inspiring climax that also i can say..lcd soundsystem record of 2007

The first album was a triumph... hard to match and especially not to surpass! But yeah in my humble opinion it does with flying colours.. how could this happen! His debut was outstanding but 'Sound Of Silver' has been played to death by me which says it all..... I saw him live for the first time at reading 2007 and was blown away..

Browsing through magazines like Uncut, Mojo and Q I couldn't help but noticing the rave reviews greeting SOUND OF SILVER.
Should you believe the hype? You better!
This has instantly become one of my all-time favourite albums.
It's been years since I've listened to the same CD four or even five times in a row.
Will I ever stop listening to it?
Guess not...

well i have heard this album and the last one. i have seen them at creamfields 2007 in daresbury and they were very shockingly poor, lets just hope that if they bring something else out it would be better

After not having the previous album, 'LCD Soundsystem' off my iPod for any considerable amount of time for the past few years, I was really hoping that James Murphy and the guys would do it again. I couldn't get enough of their mix of acid bleeps, growling basslines and the occasional cowbell - and hoped that they'd kept enough of the previous album's quirkiness to keep me coming back.

I've not been disappointed. Different enough from the fist album, but still retaining the energy hooks that only the "fat guy in the t-shirt doing all the singin'" seems to be able to provide, this album rocks. Standout tracks include the fairly well known 'North American Scum' - but I've yet to hear a better intro and build up lately than 'get innocuous!'. There are just too may points of note in each of the songs to mention, the production has just that right amount of roughness, and all in all another excellent album.