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Silent Alarm
Bloc Party
Retail Price (not our price): $12.98
Release Date: 2005-03-22
Manufacturer: Vice Records
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com
Styled more along the lines of a revolutionary cell than a band, Bloc Party approach the medium of rock'n'roll with the sort of high seriousness usually reserved for philosophy lectures. Yet on Silent Alarm, this "autonomous unit" of smart, wiry London youth don't just succeed in reinvigorating the artform--they come pretty close to reinventing it from the ground up. Whereas early singles like "She's Hearing Voices" found the band still attempting to chisel their own image out of familiar post-punk reference points--The Fall, Joy Division, and Gang Of Four, to name but three--newer tracks such as "Like Eating Glass" and the prickly "Price Of Gas" find Bloc Party pioneering a freshly-minted template of staccato percussion, expansive soundscapes, and cryptic lyrics that artfully straddle the political and the personal. Russell Lissack has forsaken that overdone hallmark of post-punk, brittle tortured-fretboard skronk, in favor of an effects-laden guitar sound that adds genuine prettiness to Bloc Party's edgy rush. But it's Kele Okereke's vocal that's the band's most flexible facet, morphing from frothing anger to breathless desperation. "Are you hoping for a miracle?" he bays, on "Helicopter". Yes? Well Silent Alarm ably fits the bill. --Louis Pattison

2) Album Description
Bloc Party is an autonomous unit of un-extraordinary kids reared on pop culture between the years 1976 and the present day. They eventually concluded that their own attempts to imitate what had informed them could be innovative and fresh.

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) One of those rare albums...   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
...that is basically great all the way through. The only misstep is the last song "Compliments", which I just found really lame. Other than that, though, every one of these songs is great. As is with most terrific bands, it's difficult to describe their sound, but to me, it's like (not entirely, but this is the best I could do) Radiohead playing with Gang of Four, mixed in with their own elements.The songs are well-written, with the sort of angular funk you come to expect from bands of this ilk used to great effect. Kele Okereke's (if that's not how it's spelled, sorry) yelpy but melodic voice drives the melodies along, with drummer Matt Tong propelling the groove forward (without him, I think, the band would be less exciting). "Like Eating Glass", "Helicopter", "Positive Tension", "Banquet", and "She's Hearing Voices" are the best tracks, in my opinion, so if you don't feel like getting the whole album ('tard), PLEEZ, I BEG OF YOU, at least get those.Overall, tied for my favorite album I've bought this year, along with Built to Spill's "Perfect From Now On".

2) One of the best albums of the decade.   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
A perfect mix of post-punk, alt rock, and dance. What really stands out about the album is that there is quite a variety in sounds and textures throughout (much like a Radiohead album). From the anthems Like Eating Glass and Banquet, to the more ambient rock tracks Blue Light and So Here We are, to a electro dance track She's Hearing Voices, the straight experimental rock tracks Price of Gas and Plans, to the rock tracks Helicopter and Little Thoughts, and the perfectly haunting finale Compliments. Kele's vocals and philosophically relevant lyrics, along with the precise drumming, cool bass and that awesome Fender Telecaster sound create a wonderful amalgamation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

3) Bloc Party   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
The best cd I have bought in a really long time. I loved it.. I liked every song on this cd. All my friends liked it to.

4) A true musical gem   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Bloc Party have been riding the wave of critical acclaim and comes with no surprise. Their debut album is one of those works whose style seems so easy to classify, but upon further investigation, lacks any simple categorization. Put simply, this album is bloody brilliant. Instead of constructing another cliche rock album with standard hooks, Bloc Party opt for complex rhythmic constructions and unconventional song structures. The result is a fresh spark of originality in a genre that, at least from current radio output, seemed destined towards banality. Whether he is yelping in frustration or crooning a ballad, Kele's voice supplements the tight orchestration from the other band members (with a fantastic Matt Tong on drums). "Like Eating Glass" is a perfect opener for the album, combining the sense of urgency and trend in a way that is hard to describe, but easy to appreciate. "Helicopter", "Banquet", "Positive Tension", and "She's Hearing Voices" are tracks that mesh jagged, angular riffs with the disillusioned frustrations of Kele. And on the other end of the spectrum, "Blue Light" and "This Modern Love" are lovely, soft ballads. The incredibly gorgeous "So Here We Are" does away with conventional song structure, opting for a beautifully crafted crescendo. The result is one of the most heartfelt songs I have heard in ages. When the final cascades of chords arrive, with Kele singing "Hold on, I've figured it out!", the result is simply ecstatic. Finally, "Compliments" closes out the album with a state of meditative suspension. Bloc Party is the first band in a long time has delivered an album of solid aesthetic merit. In the song "Pioneers", Kele sings "We will not be the last, we will not be last." I hope that he keeps this promise.

5) She's Hearing Voices   [Rating: 4 out of 5]
And so am I, Kele and Gordon's specifically. Mixed cross-firing angular guitars, anguished vocal delivery, emotionally devastated lyrics, and danceable firework drumming Bloc Party explodes out the speakers with a cool intensity that commercial music has lost. The clean Fender guitar sound lends itself well to the alternately ambient and aggressive playing of Russell and (generally) grounded rhythm stylings of Kele. Gordon's bass playing throughout the album displays a solid rock know how in constructing parts that both hold up the rest of the song while also being individually listenable.All the songs fire on all cylinders; even the ballends such a "Blue Light", "Complements" and "So Here We Are" hit home with intensity rather than outright speed. The rockers like Helicopter, Positive Tension, She's Hearing Voices, and Little Thoughts rush along powered forward by Matt's drumming, pulled skyward with racy guitar lines and thicked up with rich bass. The only dud is "The Price of Gas" which happens to be the only moment that Kele's ranting goes to downright annoying with the repeated yelling of phrases like "Is that a FA-CT, Is that a FA-CT, Is that a FA-CT". It really kills the momentum of the album to the extent that nine times out of ten I skip it. Otherwise this is a 5 star album, with beautiful production values and a band performing like finely tuned sports car; racing, weaving, speeding up, and slowing down with almost unimaginable hast and ease.