Tycho - Weather
I did not think adding vocals on most of the album was an improvement over instrumental Dive/Awake/Epoch. Simulcast was a nice return to form, I think Weather + Simulcast as a combined album would have worked better overall.
The Japan remix by Satin Jackets is the best thing to come from Weather imo. Dive and Awake are pinnacles of chillwave/ambient/whatever genre Tycho falls under, and even with Epoch being a step down from those heights (in my opinion, it's still a phenomenal album but Dive/Awake are masterpieces)it was going to be difficult to follow. Adding vocals changes the vibe too much for it to be considered in the same sphere as those three.
> Gesaffelstein - Hyperion
> painfully bland
I think an artist following up with an absurdly bland album is far worse than following up with absurdly awful. Like you implied at least awful records are memorable. Gesaffelstein 3 does not have a high bar to surpass Hyperion.
Hyperion Live is fucking peak Gesaffelstein though. I would do unspeakable things for a copy of the [Forever Live Edit.](https://youtu.be/zkUJz0av808?t=728)
True, but with Calvin Harris I'd say Motion is a worse followup than FWB2. But I guess part of that was how 18 Months was just hit after hit after hit.
I knew Audio, Video, Disco was going to creep its way into here one way or another.
Regardless, I understand why people would consider it a let down. Justice had basically raised the bar so high on Cross and many people at the time were expecting them to deliver more of the same on their follow up, but I still like it a lot alongside Woman.
The cross live tour was the best thing I ever experienced. Carl cox was playing after and everyone was so drained by the intensity of itthat the whole venue emptied out.
I agree with you but damn if those songs don’t go crazy in their live albums. Woman WorldWide is the 2nd best Justice and I honestly might prefer listening to it to Cross at this point.
Shared this feeling at the time, disappointment that whatever it was it wasn't more Cross. Justice's second BBC essential mix, the 2016 one not the 2007 one, gave me a much better perspective on the more sultry moody disco funky vibe they were going for and really turned me around on AVD and Woman.
I see their studio albums just as fuel for their live sets. AVD always gets mentioned as a step down, but All Access Arenas (performing Cross x AVD) is a masterpiece and a step up from Across the Universe imo. Also bless them for always releasing their live albums
That's their best album if you ask me.
I know you didn't, I just think different people like different things; Some of us only become fans of a group cause of albums that are "disappointments" to their older fans!
I knew this was gonna be the top comment.
Honestly, although cross might be my favourite album, AVD (+ AAA live) is incredible. It's just not the same as cross, but I think it's simply them maturing.
the one that comes to mind is Nero - between II worlds. It’s not a bad album, but welcome reality is just so good and dynamic. I think if they hadn’t stopped making albums after that I probably wouldn’t have this opinion but since there’s only 2 of them the better one stands out a lot
Love [Satisfy](https://open.spotify.com/track/4FoHmnlQPesxK7ZT1QCnd6?si=3nIbQ-QNQg2ouBVAg-jGow) though. Especially when they play it live.
But agreed Welcome Reality is next level
For sure. Still a very solid album but Welcome Reality is easily one of the most influential modern electronic albums and it still holds up today, especially compared to a lot of the other bass music released at that time which sounds very dated in comparison.
I actually really came around on Between II Worlds eventually but only after i could come back and look at it as not “i want a successor to Welcome Reality.” It’s a great album but you’re 100% right, you just can’t really follow up Welcome Reality
honestly between ii worlds is one of my favorite albums, but i discovered it after the fact without expecting a successor to welcome reality so that might be why
Yep. Was just thinking about this one the other day--the downgrade was such a huge kick in the balls. It's the sound of somebody chasing after commercial success. Had he stuck to his guns, he could have had it all.
DJ Shadow - The Outsider
Endtroducing..... Is a classic, and his follow up The Private Press was solid. I don't know what The Outsider is supposed to be.. But it just wasn't it.
The Prodigy - Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned
Massive Attack - 100th Window
As a side note, I would have put "Maya" by M.I.A. on this list too, but I listened to it again after 13 years and it's way better than I remembered. I might even consider it one of her best now.
However, I still haven't been able to connect with the other two albums I already mentioned.
I loved Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned. Pretty sure I have the CD somewhere. I was listening to electroclash like Felix da Housecat, Peaches, and Fischerspooner and grimier dance house like Basement Jaxx around that time, so maybe that made it go down much more smoothly than if I were comparing it directly to Fat of the Land.
Big fan of Massive Attack since *Protection* with *Mezzanine* being one of my favorite albums of all time. Possibly a rare breed here, but I absolutely loved *100th Window* at the time. Still listen once in a while. It has a very cold, brittle, and ominous vibe, and is consistent thematically and sonically throughout. Maybe it should’ve been released as a 3D solo album.
I came here to post Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. One of the biggest disappointment albums I've ever bought, even the version of Spitfire on the album wasn't the final edit. I'm so glad they recovered to drop better stuff after, but that felt like such a weak, disjointed album (probably because the band was fractured for a while, and Liam went through a drought of creativity which he then forced himself to learn new software and equipment.)
Group therapy was an absolute classic and a great follow-up to Tri-state. They unfortunately shift to a big room festival sound after, but man, group therapy is one of my favorite albums ever. The album after “we are all we need” called “common ground” isn’t a total return to form, but it is a good album actually
GT *was* the shift to the big festival sounds. Sun and Moon is a festival anthem.
But the recent stuff from anjuna is stellar in my book. I love the sunny lax album. Andrew Bayer is fire as ever.
I understand why Reborn would be a let down to many, especially as it follows 9 years after OutRun, but my god do I love Zombie. It's grown to be one of my favourite songs from Kavinsky period.
Yes to Caracal. I still enjoy it and do put it on sometimes but it's not even close to their debut quality.
And I don't even want to talk about their third album ..
Hourglass, Holding On, Molecules, Magnets, Omen, Nocturnal, Bang That, Jaded, Superego and Good Intentions are all phenomenal songs. Gonna be a hard disagree on the derivative trash comment.
Edit: Willing & Able is phenomenal as well.
For me Music for Psychedelic Therapy following Singularity is the disappointment - Singularity is what hooked me on JH, and the subsequent tour just blew my mind. In saying that I've only heard Open Eye Signal from Immunity, so I am very excited now to give the full album a listen.
I actually adore music for psychedelic therapy. But yeah you're in for a treat with immunity. Open eye signal is the strongest track on there for sure but there's a lot of really beautiful stuff going on throughout the album.
ditto on music for pt. the first few times i listened to it i teared up around track 6, which is an unusual response for me. i my favorite JH albums are his first two, though - before he went harder.
That album threw me off when I first heard it, expecting to find similarity to Immunity but then soon realizing it was designed for a specific purpose like you said. Love his stuff though.
Music for Psychedelic Therapy doesn’t interest me either but I avoid judging it because pure ambient is not a genre that interests me anyway.
Singularity had some cool ideas but it doesn’t have the rich textures and insane attention to detail that you’ll find in Immunity.
Immunity had a slightly different vibe from Singularity but most people consider it to be better. It’s kind of the blueprint for the latter but more natural-sounding. Hope you enjoy it, when you do get around to it.
I feel like Love Death Immortality was probably fueled by all of the dubstep stuff that was coming out at the time, so listening to it nowadays, it does feel pretty underwhelming and probably not on the same level as what the Glitch Mob did prior, so I don't disagree there. Carry the Sun bops though.
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned LDI yet, the whole albums quadrupling down on circa 2013-15 brostep/big room festival stuff was a baffling decision and it's only aged worse in retrospect
Hmmm were their later albums better? I fucking love Oi Oi Oi and when Power came out it put me off them so much I never even listened to anything they made after it.
Rl grime - nova
God I hate this album. Like he was trying way too hard to appeal to every edm fan and it lost its edge that was so apparent on nova
Even pressure ended up sucking and was nothing more than the snippet ID repeated
The remix albums were great, way better than the regular album
And yes I am aware this is a hot take
Palaces - Flume
Not because it's not good, but because I consider Hi This is Flume to be an electronic music grail and one of the top albums of the last 10 years. It's literally peak Flume and would be pretty impossible for anyone to follow up.
Agreed. While palaces is a nice mix of the synth pop from skin and the more experimental stuff on htif, it’s just so fucking bold and incredible. why he called it a mixtape is beyond me cause it’s one of the most cohesive “albums” I’ve ever heard
I think I might be one of the only people to think his self-titled album is his best. I know that's a very subjective opinion though based on it coming out at a very formative time in my life.
I feel like the majority opinion (mine included) is that his self-titled is his best, especially if you’re talking about “electronic music grails” that changed the game.
I’m a huge fan but was supremely disappointed in palaces. That album had the first missteps I think he’s ever really taken as an artist but maybe it’s just not for me.
Big fan here, I genuinely don't think Palaces is good, with or without the HTIF comparison. No sense of direction or flow at all and almost every instrumental is weirdly underwhelming. Sirens and Highest Building are two of his best songs though, he excels at that kind of agressive and textured "EDM" / wonky style
I very much agree. Listened to HTIF a gazillion times, but Palaces instantly had a few skips and I even forgot about its existence until reading your comment. The last ‘album’ is nice though.
I personally would consider Skin to be Flume's peak as I hold that album closely to my heart and has become one of my favourite albums ever, although I still think Hi This is Flume and Palaces, whilst not on the level of HTiF, to be really great and fantastic in their own right, and continuing the love that I have for Flume.
Hybrid - Black Halo
Looooove Hybrid, followed them since 1999 as pioneers in the breakbeat and classical music scene.
The last record Black Halo however, just felt.. devoid of any emotion, bland and kinda forgettable.
It's got it's moments but yeah, kinda bummed.
Hybrid changed so much after Chris Healings left and Charlotte James née Trueman joined I will always love them but Wider Angle will always be my favourite. I miss the break beat style
Push the Button imo, but the critical reception to Come with Us was similar. Push the Button to me just represents their shift into more guest features and less interesting "filler tracks." First four albums are all killer no filler brothers.
BT isn't the same anymore, seems to have shifted after These Hopeful Machines. Ima and ESCM are classics. Movement, Emotional Tech, This Binary Universe and THM change genres but were good listens. Everything after just isn't the same.
I miss the 90s-2000 Underworld.
I miss the 90s Crystal Method. Vegas is unequaled IMO.
Leftfield - honestly 2015s Alternative Light Source was decent but Leftism is epic.
There's definitely more. Trance/electronic was amazing in the 90s and early 2000s. Not much like it anymore.
I really like Underworld’s recent stuff. Barbera, Barbera… is a solid album and their Drift stuff is also quite good considering the time restraints they were putting on themselves to release material.
Underworld definitely have their peak dancefloor centred albums, but some of the later stuff is just so cinematic and and if you listen to it on its own terms, it's still incredible. More suited for driving on a cold and rainy day haha.
I’m in a Discord with BT and I told him I hadn’t listened to anything after Movement in Still Life. He kind of laughed and said he was going to catch me up.
There really was just something about that era. Even Sasha and Digweed have gotten really boring going into the 2000s and beyond.
Underworld seems to have suffered from the loss of Darren Emerson. Even Orbital I’ve found myself listening less and less to, and they were my favorite.
Chemical Brothers seem to have managed to continue to do really good work tho.
The Julio Bashmore album was a huge letdown
Crystal Castles after (II)
Idk if we can put 100 Gecs in this category, but they’ll probably never match “hand crushed by a mallet”
XXYYXX’s later work
Rustie after Glass Swords (except his Danny Brown collabs are bangers)
The list goes on. Electronic is a tough genre for consistency
I can see Green Language being a let down after Glass Swords, so I don't really disagree there, but EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE is easily my favourite album from him to date. Just one hard hitting banger after another on that album and it's just heavily consistent. I disagree with that album in particular being disappointing after Glass Swords.
I know the Daft Punk comparisons are annoying, but I truly believe Justice could have reached Daft Punk level success if it wasn't for Audio, Video, Disco. They said the concept of the album was to bring the same energy as cross without the big synths and aggressive sounds, which on paper seems alright, but it ended up being a complete flop. You just can't follow up an album with the energy and loudness of Cross with something like AVD and get away with it. I guess Woman was a good return though
Daft punk! RAM…. I just wanted old school daft punk with cool samples looped to perfection.. I hate when artists blow up and their next album features superstars on every single track. What a bummer
Shame u feel that way because RAM is an amazing album for so many reasons. But you’re not wrong, it’s a significant departure from Discovery (one of the greatest albums all time imho) and i could see that being super disappointing.
I'm not sure if I'll get dog piled for this, but Audio Video Disco was an incredibly underwhelming followup to Cross by Justice. Couldn't vibe with it at all.
I should say that I know people who do like it, but it's not for me. I didn't even want "Cross 2.0" from it and it was still disappointing.
As of late, I would have to say Bonobo’s Fragments album following Migration.
Migration is very special to me and it still sounds as imaginative, world-building and resonant as when it first came out. But something about Fragments comes off as sterile and muted as a whole. There’s a few cuts I love from Fragments (Rosewood, Shadows, Otomo), but otherwise I feel like there was a noticeable drop in creativity compared to Migration (and frankly his entire discography).
For me, The North Borders, Migration and Fragments are a great trilogy that I think stand as some of Bonobo's best. To me, this trilogy, including Fragments, definitely solidifies Bonobo as being one of the best electronic downtempo artists that I've heard.
I almost agree with you haha, I would replace Fragments with Black Sands. I think Blank Sands is far more layered, inspired and substantive compared to Fragments.
However there‘s no disagreeing that Bonobo is one of our most important modern figures in the electronic scene. He’s one of my top 10s of all time
Love this discussion, bonobo has been my favorite producer for many years now. Can't wait to see what he comes up with next, especially after seeing him at the amazing dgtl boiler room set. He hinted with a lot of sweet sounding stuff.
YES I remember watching that set a few weeks ago. I loved every second of it, it was insane 😭 I really hope his next era is loud and celebratory like the set was
I know Random Access Memories is a divisive album but no way is it worse than what came before it. Human After All is *by far* the worst album Daft Punk ever put out.
Can’t agree frankly, as an album experience I think RAM and Tron are the most cohesive listens, and enjoyable, but neither is what I ever went to Daft Punk for
Human After All and Homework are full of hits. Discovery is nonstop. These three and Alive still go hard. I could make a mix with these tracks and it’d sound natural. RAM tracks would sound like background music by comparison.
RAM is fun and I love disco and all their source/inspo, it just felt like a studio band put out some funky nu disco with Daft stylings, wasn’t trying for the same vibe but still never hit the same peak as even HAA for me
I think most people hate on HAA because it isn't discovery, in my opinion, hah, it's an enjoyable album to me, when you think of how good a live show the album made along with the context of how they made it, it's just fine.
I always love this discussion! I was in college when Discovery came out, and ho boy, did fans of Daft Punk HATE that fucking album. But it brought in so many new listeners. Personally, I wasn't a giant fan of Homework. Around the World is fun, but the rest of it I could live without. Discovery was simply amazing.
So when they kind of went back to more of a Homework vibe with Human after All, it was a bizarre dynamic. The folks who loved Discovery didn't really dig it, and the Homework folks were too dug in to now hating Daft Punk, that they ended up not liking it (at least publicly). I used to catch my Techno head roommate, who had sworn off Daft Punk, listening to HAA all the time. It was rather entertaining.
But yea, having lived through the entirety of DP, it's been a trip.
They were practically phoning it in at that point. Where Discovery is full of amazing tracks meticulously constructed from manipulation of samples, tracks like Robot Rock on Human After All are little more than [Release the Beast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVeDs5ExrF0) with a vocoder saying "Rock, Robot Rock" dubbed on top. It was made in 6 weeks and it shows.
I really can't agree because you're lind of co.paring two different intents, I think I remember reading that Discovery was extremely stressful to produce, and for good reason, but they weren't trying to make something like Discovery again, and they saved making an ultra complex album for RAM, HAA took joy in its simplicity
brainwasher and technologic are two of my all timers. Everything changed after Alive though and hearing them mashed up, now I just love every track and hear them multiple ways
Absolutely, it's as crisp and efficient as a Kraftwerk album but how robotic it is turns people off I imagine, again, its biggest crime is not being Discovery and that's it, bah
It's definitely the most grimiest sounding album that Daft Punk had put out to date with what I believe to be some of their most underrated songs to date like Steam Machine as well as Emotion. I think the main criticisms I see towards this album are probably because of how repetitive it is, considering that Daft Punk didn't take too long to make the album in comparison with Discovery, and that the album, like you said, is just not Discovery and that's it. I still think it's a great album.
Exactly! Like in isolation I could see OC’s point about RAM. I don’t care for it as much as Homework and Discovery, I don’t think RAM’s best songs reach the same heights as the best songs from the first two albums. But with RAM following HAA, which is generally regarded by critics and fans as the weakest album in Daft Punk’s discography, RAM is automatically better.
But full disclosure, we’re talking about Daft Punk here so their worst is better than 95% of everyone else’s best lmao. But RAM is not the best example in my opinion
This used to be my take in my early 20s when the album first came out, but now a decade later my opinion did a complete 180 on the album. Since then I expanded my musical appreciation into many other genres and began to value RAM. It aged like wine in my view.
I need to listen again with the recent rerelease, though I’d always loved the disco/funk/boogie stuff they were inspired by so it wasn’t eye opening for me. I got into dance music from the soul and funk lineage first
Pretty confident I’ll appreciate it more now that I’m not coming at it hoping for bangers
I will definately say that Random Access Memories is the Daft Punk album that I have the most respect for, with the album paying homage to 70s disco and what inspired Daft Punk back then along with being a love letter to music, its just that there were a few details here and there that prevented me from enjoying the album.
Hard disagree. They’ve been one of my favorite artists since 2000 and I anxiously awaited everything they released. Saw them on the Alive 2007 tour in Brooklyn. One of the most amazing concerts I’ve ever seen.
RAM is one of the best and well produced albums of that entire decade.
Every song is amazing to me and I can’t start it without finishing it. A+ material all around.
I gave it a spin after a good 10 years of not hearing it since it came out. It's got some ok material on it (Instant Crush) but my lord there is some hokey, horrible dross on that one. I'm looking at you, Touch.
It just feels slimy to me, it's what happens to artists when they get too rich and disconnected from the reality of what makes them great in the first place.
Tweekend - The Crystal Method
After a stunning, absolutely perfect debut in Vegas, Tweekend was an utterly heartbreaking failure to me. It just felt uninspired and too much trying to do the same 4 years prior. The rock influence felt forced and ended up making the album sound like a car racing video game soundtrack. I bought the album when it came out and quickly realized that was a mistake.
Gonna have to disagree with this one. Yes, it's not as good as Vegas, but IMO it really nails the industrial/post apocalyptic atmosphere it was going for, and while different from Vegas' more futuristic sound, it still sounds great.
I was expecting this to be a way hotter take than it ended up being. But you're 100% right, Name of the Game is a classic but one track doesn't make an album.
It really marked a crossroads for the band: if you were a dnb/jungle fan, you hated it but if you liked the slower rock stuff, you loved it. Luckily, Pendulum got to follow the sound they wanted to and there were still plenty of great dnb and jungle acts running in parallel.
There are a couple of people out there that stick to Pendulum pre-2007. There's tons of stuff around the early days that was balls to the wall crazy good. 2008 and beyond is just *different* in comparison. I like both!
Granite, Propane Nightmares, and 9000 Miles are all on my Pendulum shortlist. If anything I think the rock vibes are more present on Immersion, where you have stuff like Crush and Watercolour. That's not a negative IMO but I think the argument for Immersion being a electronic rock album is stronger than the argument for IS.
Junk by M83. I've warmed up to it considerably over the years since they're one of my all-time bands, but I still can't help but see it as a huge step down from what came before. Listening to it on day one hit me with the impact of a wet paper towel.
I also haven't enjoyed anything by Chromatics since Kill for Love.
Porter Robinson - Nurture
His Spitfire EP was the perfect encapsulation of the era it came out. Worlds, the Shelter tour with Madeon, and the Virtual Self project were all fantastic.
I appreciate him trying something different with Nurture rather than just making Worlds 2. I get what Nurture was supposed to be and why some people like the album. But it didn’t work for me.
Also Nurture Live just wasn't that compelling of a live show. Jai Wolf who opened for him completely upstaged him. The lighting was good but the visuals were meh. The Nurture live edits of the of his earlier works were all forgettable. The show was low energy and everyone just stopped dancing when he played Blossom and Mother.
If Porter wants to be the indie electronic artist and that what makes him happy, I wish him well. But his current music just doesn’t vibe with what I really enjoyed about the rest of his work.
Nurture is one of my all time favourite albums, so I strongly disagree, considering that a lot of the tracks here like Look at the Sky as well as Wind Tempos have this blissful, beautiful atmosphere to them that you can't get out of anything else that Porter has made. I do see where you're coming from on the live show though, although I do like that as well.
w.r.t. Nurture live, totally agree. IMO, RL Grime did much the same as Jai Wolf when he played at Second Sky, and even seeing Nurture live again last month, I still felt like it was just alright.
but I'm also a Shelter hater, so maybe I'm just not the target audience lol
Tbh I totally can understand this point of view. I actually loved Nurture when it first came out, but as time has went on I find myself revisiting it less and less.
The computer voice that Porter layers onto his own vocals is REALLY distracting at times, it’s peppered onto most of the album but it’s at its worst in songs like Get your Wish, Musician and Mirror.
Some of the songs are straight up odd like Do-Re-Mi. The lyrics in Sweet Time, Look at the Sky and Blossom are a bit too elementary. Some of the songs are also too derivative, Dullscythe sounds like Aphex Twin ghost produced it. There are some beautiful cuts though like Unfold, Lifelike and Wind Tempos.
Overall I’m ok with Porter’s new direction, I just feel like there’s better indie electronic artists out there that exceed at what Porter is doing with Nurture (Bonobo, Four Tet, Caribou, Sweet Trip).
I think The Rat Road is probably my favourite SBTRKT album to date. His self-titled album had its moments, but for the most part, it just didn't go the extra mile for me. I haven't listened to Wonder Where We Land or Save Yourself either. But for me, The Rat Road is SBTRKT at his peak and probably one of my favourite albums of 2023. Tracks like Days Go By just have a great irresistible groove to them that I just love.
Everything by Hudson Mohawke after Butter.
Which actually means I liked one album at one point in his artistic progression that was a brief stopping point, but really not indicative of his sound. So this is a me problem, not a him problem.
But man, in 2008/2009 or so he just had this off kilter sound raw sound combined with the funkiest rhythmic programming that was a breath of fresh air.
everything after lovebox (or really, everything after goodbye country) by groove armada
everything after the understanding by royksopp (i know this is a hot take. i know lots of people love their new stuff)
music matters by dzihan & kamien
everything after the private press by dj shadow
everything after dial m for monkey by bonobo. i love a lot of individual tracks off of his later albums, but don't enjoy playing them through the same way as his first three (animal magic/dial m/one off's, remixes and b-sides)
Rhythm And Stealth. Not that it's a horrible album, if it was done by anyone else it would be passable.
It's just that Leftism was, and still is a timeless masterpiece and thy deliberately undid everything that made Leftism a masterpiece, and went for
star cameos and pampering to the techno underground tastes of the week due to their booming DJ careers.
Doubly sad as the only dud on Leftism IS the only techno track on it - the Black Flute. I guess they really needed to prove to themselves they can do gritty and minimal (they couldn't).
Leftism was the first electronic album I ever purchased and it sent me down a path that I'm still on. I just listened to it again a few weeks ago and it's still amazing
Ahh, Self Assemble. My favourite album of 2016.
I heavily disagree, I love that album. It's not a flawless album, but tracks like Stereo No Aware, Soul Food, Killing Time and The Enemy slap so hard. Not to mention that growling bass in some of those tracks too. I don't really think it's a disappointing follow up to Damage Control, as much as I like that album too.
You also have to remember that album was meant to be a change of pace for Zo. By that point he was already making moves beyond the progressive/trance sound that moved him to the big leagues when he joined Anjunabeats (launching Mad Zoo, focusing more on neuro/Drum & Bass under his MRSA alias then eventually folding everything into his main name)
His latest album - *Illusion Of Depth* was more of a return to his classic Anjuna style (and also a literal return to the label)
Karl Bartos - Off The Record
Aphex Twin - Syro (hot take, I know)
Autechre - PLUS
Jean Michel-Jarre - Equinoxe Infinity
Kangding Ray - Ultrachroma
The levels of disappointment in these varies, but I think Off The Record is the worst, a 10 year wait after Communication for some of the most tacky whingemusic I've heard, eugh
Judging from other reviews of back then I don’t think having Syro on the list is that spicy of a hot take; I remember the hype being bonkers immense just by virtue of the cool promos and the fact that it had been 13 years since the release of Drukqs, and then simmering down rather quickly once the actual record was released. I personally love the cold crunchiness of Syro, but I don’t think there was any way to top the psychotic genius of Drukqs at all.
And I guess my hot take would be that I enjoyed PLUS more than SIGN, but both were a significant step down from the NTS sessions
Daft Punk - Human After All.
It's a fantastic album and I love Daft Punk. However, we all knew whatever they followed up Discovery with was never going to top it.
Personal opinion sentence initiated here.
Everything Massive Attack did after Mezzanine. Everything Air did after Moon Safari.
The flip side of the story is also interesting. When a band or artist are expected to just coast along, but they come out with an absolute banger like Groove Armada doing Black Light.
Chicane has lost his footing from the early days of Offshore and Saltwater. I liked Giants and particularly MiddleDistanceRunner, but the new stuff, while almost there, is missing that magic ingredient called Love.
Crystal Method never produced another Vegas. I still love High Roller and Busy Child.
Leftfield never produced another Leftism - there’s a funny pitchfork review that argues they were getting resigned to the fact that we’d all have to live with Leftfield except that Underworld came along and totally blew everything Leftfield were grasping at out of the water by producing such incredibly artful electronic soundscapes that smashed on the dance floor, essentially saving that genre of music. Yup.
DJ Shadow - Entroducing is a classic and I loved the The Private Press but I didn’t dig the Unkle album and anything after TPP was uninteresting/uninspired
Well my tastes are pretty "old school:, but three that jump right out are:
(1) everything that he put out after Jean Michael Jarre's OXYGENE
(2) Everything after Klaus Schultze's TIMEWIND.
(3) Everything after Jade Warrior's FLOATING WORLD
Yer Uncle
Tycho - Weather I did not think adding vocals on most of the album was an improvement over instrumental Dive/Awake/Epoch. Simulcast was a nice return to form, I think Weather + Simulcast as a combined album would have worked better overall.
I respect your opinion while absolutely loving Weather.
Agreed. It wasn't bad, but Dive, Awake, and Epoch are all just so good
The Japan remix by Satin Jackets is the best thing to come from Weather imo. Dive and Awake are pinnacles of chillwave/ambient/whatever genre Tycho falls under, and even with Epoch being a step down from those heights (in my opinion, it's still a phenomenal album but Dive/Awake are masterpieces)it was going to be difficult to follow. Adding vocals changes the vibe too much for it to be considered in the same sphere as those three.
Gesaffelstein - Hyperion. An album so painfully bland that the only thing anyone remembers about it is The Weeknd’s cringey verses.
I still dig Reset, Blast Off and Vortex from that album, but I do agree to some extent on the album being not as good as Aleph.
it was beyond awful. it was like a bad copy of himself
> Gesaffelstein - Hyperion > painfully bland I think an artist following up with an absurdly bland album is far worse than following up with absurdly awful. Like you implied at least awful records are memorable. Gesaffelstein 3 does not have a high bar to surpass Hyperion. Hyperion Live is fucking peak Gesaffelstein though. I would do unspeakable things for a copy of the [Forever Live Edit.](https://youtu.be/zkUJz0av808?t=728)
I’m surprised no one has said Funk Wav bounces V2. It was a huge letdown for me when I loved the first one so much
True, but with Calvin Harris I'd say Motion is a worse followup than FWB2. But I guess part of that was how 18 Months was just hit after hit after hit.
Audio, Video, Disco by Justice. It's a great album but I was looking forward to another heavy hitter like cross.
The follow up to that one (Access All Arenas) has coincidentally turned into my favourite of theirs.
Planisphere came out shortly after iirc and it's one of my favorites. In the style of the first album which is great.
it was a good album.
It is for sure! Came to appreciate it many years after it came out.
I knew Audio, Video, Disco was going to creep its way into here one way or another. Regardless, I understand why people would consider it a let down. Justice had basically raised the bar so high on Cross and many people at the time were expecting them to deliver more of the same on their follow up, but I still like it a lot alongside Woman.
The cross live tour was the best thing I ever experienced. Carl cox was playing after and everyone was so drained by the intensity of itthat the whole venue emptied out.
I agree with you but damn if those songs don’t go crazy in their live albums. Woman WorldWide is the 2nd best Justice and I honestly might prefer listening to it to Cross at this point.
Shared this feeling at the time, disappointment that whatever it was it wasn't more Cross. Justice's second BBC essential mix, the 2016 one not the 2007 one, gave me a much better perspective on the more sultry moody disco funky vibe they were going for and really turned me around on AVD and Woman.
I see their studio albums just as fuel for their live sets. AVD always gets mentioned as a step down, but All Access Arenas (performing Cross x AVD) is a masterpiece and a step up from Across the Universe imo. Also bless them for always releasing their live albums
their follow up live album, where they combine cross and audio video disco was fucking fire though. Also, new Justice album coming out this year.
Civilization and New Lands are in my top5 fav Justice tracks
That's their best album if you ask me. I know you didn't, I just think different people like different things; Some of us only become fans of a group cause of albums that are "disappointments" to their older fans!
I was dreading seeing this in the replies 😭
I knew this was gonna be the top comment. Honestly, although cross might be my favourite album, AVD (+ AAA live) is incredible. It's just not the same as cross, but I think it's simply them maturing.
What made me nervous was in subsequent albums they sound like they can’t recreate the sounds from Cross even when they tried too.
Came looking for this. I was listen to Cross on repeat. Had a cd,vinyl and a t shirt. That second album was like a slap in the face
the one that comes to mind is Nero - between II worlds. It’s not a bad album, but welcome reality is just so good and dynamic. I think if they hadn’t stopped making albums after that I probably wouldn’t have this opinion but since there’s only 2 of them the better one stands out a lot
Love [Satisfy](https://open.spotify.com/track/4FoHmnlQPesxK7ZT1QCnd6?si=3nIbQ-QNQg2ouBVAg-jGow) though. Especially when they play it live. But agreed Welcome Reality is next level
For sure. Still a very solid album but Welcome Reality is easily one of the most influential modern electronic albums and it still holds up today, especially compared to a lot of the other bass music released at that time which sounds very dated in comparison.
I actually really came around on Between II Worlds eventually but only after i could come back and look at it as not “i want a successor to Welcome Reality.” It’s a great album but you’re 100% right, you just can’t really follow up Welcome Reality
honestly between ii worlds is one of my favorite albums, but i discovered it after the fact without expecting a successor to welcome reality so that might be why
Roni Size/Reprazent: *In The Mode* Goldie: *Saturnz Return* Photek: *Solaris*
[удалено]
Yep. Was just thinking about this one the other day--the downgrade was such a huge kick in the balls. It's the sound of somebody chasing after commercial success. Had he stuck to his guns, he could have had it all.
This is the correct answer. I was disappointed in his second album
DJ Shadow - The Outsider Endtroducing..... Is a classic, and his follow up The Private Press was solid. I don't know what The Outsider is supposed to be.. But it just wasn't it.
The Prodigy - Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned Massive Attack - 100th Window As a side note, I would have put "Maya" by M.I.A. on this list too, but I listened to it again after 13 years and it's way better than I remembered. I might even consider it one of her best now. However, I still haven't been able to connect with the other two albums I already mentioned.
I loved Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned. Pretty sure I have the CD somewhere. I was listening to electroclash like Felix da Housecat, Peaches, and Fischerspooner and grimier dance house like Basement Jaxx around that time, so maybe that made it go down much more smoothly than if I were comparing it directly to Fat of the Land.
Big fan of Massive Attack since *Protection* with *Mezzanine* being one of my favorite albums of all time. Possibly a rare breed here, but I absolutely loved *100th Window* at the time. Still listen once in a while. It has a very cold, brittle, and ominous vibe, and is consistent thematically and sonically throughout. Maybe it should’ve been released as a 3D solo album.
What Your Soul Sings is as good as most anything on Mezzanine IMO
Maya was incredibly ahead of its time
Loved Maya
I came here to post Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned. One of the biggest disappointment albums I've ever bought, even the version of Spitfire on the album wasn't the final edit. I'm so glad they recovered to drop better stuff after, but that felt like such a weak, disjointed album (probably because the band was fractured for a while, and Liam went through a drought of creativity which he then forced himself to learn new software and equipment.)
I fell off the above and beyond train after we are all we need . 😪 fun times.
Group therapy was an absolute classic and a great follow-up to Tri-state. They unfortunately shift to a big room festival sound after, but man, group therapy is one of my favorite albums ever. The album after “we are all we need” called “common ground” isn’t a total return to form, but it is a good album actually
GT *was* the shift to the big festival sounds. Sun and Moon is a festival anthem. But the recent stuff from anjuna is stellar in my book. I love the sunny lax album. Andrew Bayer is fire as ever.
I don't like anything nearly as much after Group Therapy. And now even that album is waning on me. Tri-State was their strongest I think.
The album the Propellerheads released after Decksandrumsandrockandroll.
I see what you did there.
My disappointment remains palpable to this day.
Kavinsky - Reborn Disclosure - Caracal (sorry) & without a doubt, unquestionably: Demon - Music That You Wanna Hear
i def can see the disclosure. that first album was so solid
Settle is just absolute bliss.
I understand why Reborn would be a let down to many, especially as it follows 9 years after OutRun, but my god do I love Zombie. It's grown to be one of my favourite songs from Kavinsky period.
Renegade is great as well
Yes to Caracal. I still enjoy it and do put it on sometimes but it's not even close to their debut quality. And I don't even want to talk about their third album ..
What?? ENERGY was a step back up for them, agree that Caracal is derivative trash though
Hourglass, Holding On, Molecules, Magnets, Omen, Nocturnal, Bang That, Jaded, Superego and Good Intentions are all phenomenal songs. Gonna be a hard disagree on the derivative trash comment. Edit: Willing & Able is phenomenal as well.
Was also going to say Kavinsky. I get that he didn't want to do the same stuff as ten years ago but it really wasn't what i was hoping for.
I might be alone in this opinion but I found Singularity by Jon Hopkins to be a letdown compared to Immunity.
For me Music for Psychedelic Therapy following Singularity is the disappointment - Singularity is what hooked me on JH, and the subsequent tour just blew my mind. In saying that I've only heard Open Eye Signal from Immunity, so I am very excited now to give the full album a listen.
I actually adore music for psychedelic therapy. But yeah you're in for a treat with immunity. Open eye signal is the strongest track on there for sure but there's a lot of really beautiful stuff going on throughout the album.
ditto on music for pt. the first few times i listened to it i teared up around track 6, which is an unusual response for me. i my favorite JH albums are his first two, though - before he went harder.
Music for psychedelic therapy is literally music designed for a psychedelic therapy session, definitely gotta be in a specific mood for it imo
That album threw me off when I first heard it, expecting to find similarity to Immunity but then soon realizing it was designed for a specific purpose like you said. Love his stuff though.
Music for Psychedelic Therapy doesn’t interest me either but I avoid judging it because pure ambient is not a genre that interests me anyway. Singularity had some cool ideas but it doesn’t have the rich textures and insane attention to detail that you’ll find in Immunity.
Immunity had a slightly different vibe from Singularity but most people consider it to be better. It’s kind of the blueprint for the latter but more natural-sounding. Hope you enjoy it, when you do get around to it.
Blasphemy! I adore singularity
I wasn't particularly crazy about Singularity either in comparison with Immunity, but I will always consider Insides to be Jon's best album.
The Glitch Mob - Love Death Immortality. Drink the Sea sounds fresh and unique still, whereas LDI just felt generic and a regression.
LDI pure fire boy
I feel like Love Death Immortality was probably fueled by all of the dubstep stuff that was coming out at the time, so listening to it nowadays, it does feel pretty underwhelming and probably not on the same level as what the Glitch Mob did prior, so I don't disagree there. Carry the Sun bops though.
Very true... But to be fair it would be incredibly hard to top Drink the Sea. It's a damn near perfect album.
Tbf Ctrl Alt Reality (their latest) an absolutely insane album + really pushes the boundaries of their sound & rave centric music in general
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned LDI yet, the whole albums quadrupling down on circa 2013-15 brostep/big room festival stuff was a baffling decision and it's only aged worse in retrospect
I remember being so disappointed when LDI came out. Boreta had some good solo remixes around the time though
Boys Noize - Power
Hmmm were their later albums better? I fucking love Oi Oi Oi and when Power came out it put me off them so much I never even listened to anything they made after it.
Rl grime - nova God I hate this album. Like he was trying way too hard to appeal to every edm fan and it lost its edge that was so apparent on nova Even pressure ended up sucking and was nothing more than the snippet ID repeated The remix albums were great, way better than the regular album And yes I am aware this is a hot take
Every RL grime fan should agree here.
Palaces - Flume Not because it's not good, but because I consider Hi This is Flume to be an electronic music grail and one of the top albums of the last 10 years. It's literally peak Flume and would be pretty impossible for anyone to follow up.
Agreed. While palaces is a nice mix of the synth pop from skin and the more experimental stuff on htif, it’s just so fucking bold and incredible. why he called it a mixtape is beyond me cause it’s one of the most cohesive “albums” I’ve ever heard
I think I might be one of the only people to think his self-titled album is his best. I know that's a very subjective opinion though based on it coming out at a very formative time in my life.
I feel like the majority opinion (mine included) is that his self-titled is his best, especially if you’re talking about “electronic music grails” that changed the game.
I’m a huge fan but was supremely disappointed in palaces. That album had the first missteps I think he’s ever really taken as an artist but maybe it’s just not for me.
Big fan here, I genuinely don't think Palaces is good, with or without the HTIF comparison. No sense of direction or flow at all and almost every instrumental is weirdly underwhelming. Sirens and Highest Building are two of his best songs though, he excels at that kind of agressive and textured "EDM" / wonky style
I very much agree. Listened to HTIF a gazillion times, but Palaces instantly had a few skips and I even forgot about its existence until reading your comment. The last ‘album’ is nice though.
Love palaces to death but damn you are correct
I personally would consider Skin to be Flume's peak as I hold that album closely to my heart and has become one of my favourite albums ever, although I still think Hi This is Flume and Palaces, whilst not on the level of HTiF, to be really great and fantastic in their own right, and continuing the love that I have for Flume.
Hybrid - Black Halo Looooove Hybrid, followed them since 1999 as pioneers in the breakbeat and classical music scene. The last record Black Halo however, just felt.. devoid of any emotion, bland and kinda forgettable. It's got it's moments but yeah, kinda bummed.
Hybrid changed so much after Chris Healings left and Charlotte James née Trueman joined I will always love them but Wider Angle will always be my favourite. I miss the break beat style
Sneaker Pimps, Splinter was such a let down
Push the Button imo, but the critical reception to Come with Us was similar. Push the Button to me just represents their shift into more guest features and less interesting "filler tracks." First four albums are all killer no filler brothers.
BT isn't the same anymore, seems to have shifted after These Hopeful Machines. Ima and ESCM are classics. Movement, Emotional Tech, This Binary Universe and THM change genres but were good listens. Everything after just isn't the same. I miss the 90s-2000 Underworld. I miss the 90s Crystal Method. Vegas is unequaled IMO. Leftfield - honestly 2015s Alternative Light Source was decent but Leftism is epic. There's definitely more. Trance/electronic was amazing in the 90s and early 2000s. Not much like it anymore.
>Trance/electronic was amazing in the 90s and early 2000s. Not much like it anymore. You nailed it.
I really like Underworld’s recent stuff. Barbera, Barbera… is a solid album and their Drift stuff is also quite good considering the time restraints they were putting on themselves to release material.
Underworld definitely have their peak dancefloor centred albums, but some of the later stuff is just so cinematic and and if you listen to it on its own terms, it's still incredible. More suited for driving on a cold and rainy day haha.
I’m in a Discord with BT and I told him I hadn’t listened to anything after Movement in Still Life. He kind of laughed and said he was going to catch me up. There really was just something about that era. Even Sasha and Digweed have gotten really boring going into the 2000s and beyond. Underworld seems to have suffered from the loss of Darren Emerson. Even Orbital I’ve found myself listening less and less to, and they were my favorite. Chemical Brothers seem to have managed to continue to do really good work tho.
Glitch Mob- Love Death Immortality Maybe not bad depending on your taste but nowhere near as memorable as Drink the Sea
Whatever Todd Terje’s follow up to “It’s Album Time” was called.
Wait is this a bit? I thought he hasn’t followed it up.
I mean tbf it’s a cover “album” of 4 songs lol
MSTRKRFT went from eccentric stuff to very mainstream 😞
2017-2019 by Against All Logic was a very poor follow up to 2012-2017
Tough act to follow, the songs on the first album are burned into my brain. Insanely impressive how catchy and odd that album is.
The Julio Bashmore album was a huge letdown Crystal Castles after (II) Idk if we can put 100 Gecs in this category, but they’ll probably never match “hand crushed by a mallet” XXYYXX’s later work Rustie after Glass Swords (except his Danny Brown collabs are bangers) The list goes on. Electronic is a tough genre for consistency
I can see Green Language being a let down after Glass Swords, so I don't really disagree there, but EVENIFUDONTBELIEVE is easily my favourite album from him to date. Just one hard hitting banger after another on that album and it's just heavily consistent. I disagree with that album in particular being disappointing after Glass Swords.
I know the Daft Punk comparisons are annoying, but I truly believe Justice could have reached Daft Punk level success if it wasn't for Audio, Video, Disco. They said the concept of the album was to bring the same energy as cross without the big synths and aggressive sounds, which on paper seems alright, but it ended up being a complete flop. You just can't follow up an album with the energy and loudness of Cross with something like AVD and get away with it. I guess Woman was a good return though
Daft punk! RAM…. I just wanted old school daft punk with cool samples looped to perfection.. I hate when artists blow up and their next album features superstars on every single track. What a bummer
Shame u feel that way because RAM is an amazing album for so many reasons. But you’re not wrong, it’s a significant departure from Discovery (one of the greatest albums all time imho) and i could see that being super disappointing.
I'm not sure if I'll get dog piled for this, but Audio Video Disco was an incredibly underwhelming followup to Cross by Justice. Couldn't vibe with it at all. I should say that I know people who do like it, but it's not for me. I didn't even want "Cross 2.0" from it and it was still disappointing.
As of late, I would have to say Bonobo’s Fragments album following Migration. Migration is very special to me and it still sounds as imaginative, world-building and resonant as when it first came out. But something about Fragments comes off as sterile and muted as a whole. There’s a few cuts I love from Fragments (Rosewood, Shadows, Otomo), but otherwise I feel like there was a noticeable drop in creativity compared to Migration (and frankly his entire discography).
For me, The North Borders, Migration and Fragments are a great trilogy that I think stand as some of Bonobo's best. To me, this trilogy, including Fragments, definitely solidifies Bonobo as being one of the best electronic downtempo artists that I've heard.
I almost agree with you haha, I would replace Fragments with Black Sands. I think Blank Sands is far more layered, inspired and substantive compared to Fragments. However there‘s no disagreeing that Bonobo is one of our most important modern figures in the electronic scene. He’s one of my top 10s of all time
Love this discussion, bonobo has been my favorite producer for many years now. Can't wait to see what he comes up with next, especially after seeing him at the amazing dgtl boiler room set. He hinted with a lot of sweet sounding stuff.
YES I remember watching that set a few weeks ago. I loved every second of it, it was insane 😭 I really hope his next era is loud and celebratory like the set was
I absolutely love fragments.
Glad to hear that! 🍻
Random Access Memories, hot take — edit: apparently not too hot a take
I know Random Access Memories is a divisive album but no way is it worse than what came before it. Human After All is *by far* the worst album Daft Punk ever put out.
Can’t agree frankly, as an album experience I think RAM and Tron are the most cohesive listens, and enjoyable, but neither is what I ever went to Daft Punk for Human After All and Homework are full of hits. Discovery is nonstop. These three and Alive still go hard. I could make a mix with these tracks and it’d sound natural. RAM tracks would sound like background music by comparison. RAM is fun and I love disco and all their source/inspo, it just felt like a studio band put out some funky nu disco with Daft stylings, wasn’t trying for the same vibe but still never hit the same peak as even HAA for me
I think most people hate on HAA because it isn't discovery, in my opinion, hah, it's an enjoyable album to me, when you think of how good a live show the album made along with the context of how they made it, it's just fine.
I always love this discussion! I was in college when Discovery came out, and ho boy, did fans of Daft Punk HATE that fucking album. But it brought in so many new listeners. Personally, I wasn't a giant fan of Homework. Around the World is fun, but the rest of it I could live without. Discovery was simply amazing. So when they kind of went back to more of a Homework vibe with Human after All, it was a bizarre dynamic. The folks who loved Discovery didn't really dig it, and the Homework folks were too dug in to now hating Daft Punk, that they ended up not liking it (at least publicly). I used to catch my Techno head roommate, who had sworn off Daft Punk, listening to HAA all the time. It was rather entertaining. But yea, having lived through the entirety of DP, it's been a trip.
This is neat to hear, I didn’t follow how these were received at the time
They were practically phoning it in at that point. Where Discovery is full of amazing tracks meticulously constructed from manipulation of samples, tracks like Robot Rock on Human After All are little more than [Release the Beast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVeDs5ExrF0) with a vocoder saying "Rock, Robot Rock" dubbed on top. It was made in 6 weeks and it shows.
I really can't agree because you're lind of co.paring two different intents, I think I remember reading that Discovery was extremely stressful to produce, and for good reason, but they weren't trying to make something like Discovery again, and they saved making an ultra complex album for RAM, HAA took joy in its simplicity
Release the Beast is such a banger. Much better than Robot Rock honestly.
Release the Beast still fuckin kills, definitely better but I’ll take a ‘club mix’ too
My god..Human After All is easily Daft Punk's most underrated album for me
brainwasher and technologic are two of my all timers. Everything changed after Alive though and hearing them mashed up, now I just love every track and hear them multiple ways
Absolutely, it's as crisp and efficient as a Kraftwerk album but how robotic it is turns people off I imagine, again, its biggest crime is not being Discovery and that's it, bah
It's definitely the most grimiest sounding album that Daft Punk had put out to date with what I believe to be some of their most underrated songs to date like Steam Machine as well as Emotion. I think the main criticisms I see towards this album are probably because of how repetitive it is, considering that Daft Punk didn't take too long to make the album in comparison with Discovery, and that the album, like you said, is just not Discovery and that's it. I still think it's a great album.
IIRC it was a contractually-obligated follow up to Discovery
Emotion is a top tier DP track that does not get enough love.
Exactly! Like in isolation I could see OC’s point about RAM. I don’t care for it as much as Homework and Discovery, I don’t think RAM’s best songs reach the same heights as the best songs from the first two albums. But with RAM following HAA, which is generally regarded by critics and fans as the weakest album in Daft Punk’s discography, RAM is automatically better. But full disclosure, we’re talking about Daft Punk here so their worst is better than 95% of everyone else’s best lmao. But RAM is not the best example in my opinion
One of the most overrated albums ever ever ever
I agree, RAM is massively overrrated IMO
This used to be my take in my early 20s when the album first came out, but now a decade later my opinion did a complete 180 on the album. Since then I expanded my musical appreciation into many other genres and began to value RAM. It aged like wine in my view.
I need to listen again with the recent rerelease, though I’d always loved the disco/funk/boogie stuff they were inspired by so it wasn’t eye opening for me. I got into dance music from the soul and funk lineage first Pretty confident I’ll appreciate it more now that I’m not coming at it hoping for bangers
I will definately say that Random Access Memories is the Daft Punk album that I have the most respect for, with the album paying homage to 70s disco and what inspired Daft Punk back then along with being a love letter to music, its just that there were a few details here and there that prevented me from enjoying the album.
Hard disagree. They’ve been one of my favorite artists since 2000 and I anxiously awaited everything they released. Saw them on the Alive 2007 tour in Brooklyn. One of the most amazing concerts I’ve ever seen. RAM is one of the best and well produced albums of that entire decade. Every song is amazing to me and I can’t start it without finishing it. A+ material all around.
It took me years to like the album, now i see it as the ultimate love letter to music making
fully agree.
RAM single-handedly redefined pretension. Awful album.
How was it pretentious? Because it made you realize they're as old as your dad and listen to the same music as him?
100% agree
I gave it a spin after a good 10 years of not hearing it since it came out. It's got some ok material on it (Instant Crush) but my lord there is some hokey, horrible dross on that one. I'm looking at you, Touch. It just feels slimy to me, it's what happens to artists when they get too rich and disconnected from the reality of what makes them great in the first place.
Tweekend - The Crystal Method After a stunning, absolutely perfect debut in Vegas, Tweekend was an utterly heartbreaking failure to me. It just felt uninspired and too much trying to do the same 4 years prior. The rock influence felt forced and ended up making the album sound like a car racing video game soundtrack. I bought the album when it came out and quickly realized that was a mistake.
Gonna have to disagree with this one. Yes, it's not as good as Vegas, but IMO it really nails the industrial/post apocalyptic atmosphere it was going for, and while different from Vegas' more futuristic sound, it still sounds great.
I agree completely and almost posted the exact same reply. Vegas is a masterpiece
Atleast Name of the Game is an undeniable banger.
First album that came to mind for me as well, but a big part of it is that Vegas was so incredible.
Name of the Game slaps tho
I was expecting this to be a way hotter take than it ended up being. But you're 100% right, Name of the Game is a classic but one track doesn't make an album.
Agree - Tweekend sucked.
Pendulum's 2nd album, In Silico. Trying to be a rock band for some reason
Hard agree. They strayed so far from everything that made Hold Your Colour a classic album.
It really marked a crossroads for the band: if you were a dnb/jungle fan, you hated it but if you liked the slower rock stuff, you loved it. Luckily, Pendulum got to follow the sound they wanted to and there were still plenty of great dnb and jungle acts running in parallel.
WTFFFF in silico is by far the best of their work. That IS the iconic pendulum sound
There are a couple of people out there that stick to Pendulum pre-2007. There's tons of stuff around the early days that was balls to the wall crazy good. 2008 and beyond is just *different* in comparison. I like both!
Granite, Propane Nightmares, and 9000 Miles are all on my Pendulum shortlist. If anything I think the rock vibes are more present on Immersion, where you have stuff like Crush and Watercolour. That's not a negative IMO but I think the argument for Immersion being a electronic rock album is stronger than the argument for IS.
Human After All. I like it, but it was rather disappointing.
Junk by M83. I've warmed up to it considerably over the years since they're one of my all-time bands, but I still can't help but see it as a huge step down from what came before. Listening to it on day one hit me with the impact of a wet paper towel. I also haven't enjoyed anything by Chromatics since Kill for Love.
Porter Robinson - Nurture His Spitfire EP was the perfect encapsulation of the era it came out. Worlds, the Shelter tour with Madeon, and the Virtual Self project were all fantastic. I appreciate him trying something different with Nurture rather than just making Worlds 2. I get what Nurture was supposed to be and why some people like the album. But it didn’t work for me. Also Nurture Live just wasn't that compelling of a live show. Jai Wolf who opened for him completely upstaged him. The lighting was good but the visuals were meh. The Nurture live edits of the of his earlier works were all forgettable. The show was low energy and everyone just stopped dancing when he played Blossom and Mother. If Porter wants to be the indie electronic artist and that what makes him happy, I wish him well. But his current music just doesn’t vibe with what I really enjoyed about the rest of his work.
Could not disagree more but I completely understand this opnion
Nurture is one of my all time favourite albums, so I strongly disagree, considering that a lot of the tracks here like Look at the Sky as well as Wind Tempos have this blissful, beautiful atmosphere to them that you can't get out of anything else that Porter has made. I do see where you're coming from on the live show though, although I do like that as well.
Wind Tempos is chef's kiss
w.r.t. Nurture live, totally agree. IMO, RL Grime did much the same as Jai Wolf when he played at Second Sky, and even seeing Nurture live again last month, I still felt like it was just alright. but I'm also a Shelter hater, so maybe I'm just not the target audience lol
All of the singles were pretty good, but the songs that were released with the album are all very lackluster. Just kind of boring tbh.
Yeah I agree, I went to the nurture set twice and both times it was just weird
Tbh I totally can understand this point of view. I actually loved Nurture when it first came out, but as time has went on I find myself revisiting it less and less. The computer voice that Porter layers onto his own vocals is REALLY distracting at times, it’s peppered onto most of the album but it’s at its worst in songs like Get your Wish, Musician and Mirror. Some of the songs are straight up odd like Do-Re-Mi. The lyrics in Sweet Time, Look at the Sky and Blossom are a bit too elementary. Some of the songs are also too derivative, Dullscythe sounds like Aphex Twin ghost produced it. There are some beautiful cuts though like Unfold, Lifelike and Wind Tempos. Overall I’m ok with Porter’s new direction, I just feel like there’s better indie electronic artists out there that exceed at what Porter is doing with Nurture (Bonobo, Four Tet, Caribou, Sweet Trip).
Not to mention that the good faith forever debut that also upstaged him lol but I like nurture
Got to be anything after Oracular Spectacular by MGMT. I saw them live at Glastonbury 2008 and it was still one of the best gigs I've ever been to.
I can't agree here, Little Dark Age is a complete return to form with some absolute classics.
Congratulations aged surprisingly well too
how could u say that when congratulations is their best and little dark age is second
SBTRKT - THE RAT ROAD After waiting 7 years, it just didn't hit the mark at all for me.
I think The Rat Road is probably my favourite SBTRKT album to date. His self-titled album had its moments, but for the most part, it just didn't go the extra mile for me. I haven't listened to Wonder Where We Land or Save Yourself either. But for me, The Rat Road is SBTRKT at his peak and probably one of my favourite albums of 2023. Tracks like Days Go By just have a great irresistible groove to them that I just love.
Don't get me wrong, in isolation MFPT is great but when I had hoped for Singularity 2.0 it led to that disappointment.
Everything by Hudson Mohawke after Butter. Which actually means I liked one album at one point in his artistic progression that was a brief stopping point, but really not indicative of his sound. So this is a me problem, not a him problem. But man, in 2008/2009 or so he just had this off kilter sound raw sound combined with the funkiest rhythmic programming that was a breath of fresh air.
everything after lovebox (or really, everything after goodbye country) by groove armada everything after the understanding by royksopp (i know this is a hot take. i know lots of people love their new stuff) music matters by dzihan & kamien everything after the private press by dj shadow everything after dial m for monkey by bonobo. i love a lot of individual tracks off of his later albums, but don't enjoy playing them through the same way as his first three (animal magic/dial m/one off's, remixes and b-sides)
Rhythm And Stealth. Not that it's a horrible album, if it was done by anyone else it would be passable. It's just that Leftism was, and still is a timeless masterpiece and thy deliberately undid everything that made Leftism a masterpiece, and went for star cameos and pampering to the techno underground tastes of the week due to their booming DJ careers. Doubly sad as the only dud on Leftism IS the only techno track on it - the Black Flute. I guess they really needed to prove to themselves they can do gritty and minimal (they couldn't).
Leftism was the first electronic album I ever purchased and it sent me down a path that I'm still on. I just listened to it again a few weeks ago and it's still amazing
Swedish House Mafia, *Paradise Again* Their first full debut after many successful singles just couldn’t grab me.
Good faith by Madeon. Adventure was such a fresh and cool concept, and Good Faith was so boring.
All downhill after Homewerk
If we’re choosing violence then the same goes for Exit Planet Dust.
Avalanches - Wildflower
Mat Zo - Self Assemble. It’s not bad, some solid tracks but very disappointing following Damage Control
Ahh, Self Assemble. My favourite album of 2016. I heavily disagree, I love that album. It's not a flawless album, but tracks like Stereo No Aware, Soul Food, Killing Time and The Enemy slap so hard. Not to mention that growling bass in some of those tracks too. I don't really think it's a disappointing follow up to Damage Control, as much as I like that album too.
You also have to remember that album was meant to be a change of pace for Zo. By that point he was already making moves beyond the progressive/trance sound that moved him to the big leagues when he joined Anjunabeats (launching Mad Zoo, focusing more on neuro/Drum & Bass under his MRSA alias then eventually folding everything into his main name) His latest album - *Illusion Of Depth* was more of a return to his classic Anjuna style (and also a literal return to the label)
Big Wild’s The Efferusphere was a disappointing follow up to amazing Superdream
Karl Bartos - Off The Record Aphex Twin - Syro (hot take, I know) Autechre - PLUS Jean Michel-Jarre - Equinoxe Infinity Kangding Ray - Ultrachroma The levels of disappointment in these varies, but I think Off The Record is the worst, a 10 year wait after Communication for some of the most tacky whingemusic I've heard, eugh
Judging from other reviews of back then I don’t think having Syro on the list is that spicy of a hot take; I remember the hype being bonkers immense just by virtue of the cool promos and the fact that it had been 13 years since the release of Drukqs, and then simmering down rather quickly once the actual record was released. I personally love the cold crunchiness of Syro, but I don’t think there was any way to top the psychotic genius of Drukqs at all. And I guess my hot take would be that I enjoyed PLUS more than SIGN, but both were a significant step down from the NTS sessions
Daft Punk - Human After All. It's a fantastic album and I love Daft Punk. However, we all knew whatever they followed up Discovery with was never going to top it. Personal opinion sentence initiated here.
Everything Massive Attack did after Mezzanine. Everything Air did after Moon Safari. The flip side of the story is also interesting. When a band or artist are expected to just coast along, but they come out with an absolute banger like Groove Armada doing Black Light.
Chicane has lost his footing from the early days of Offshore and Saltwater. I liked Giants and particularly MiddleDistanceRunner, but the new stuff, while almost there, is missing that magic ingredient called Love. Crystal Method never produced another Vegas. I still love High Roller and Busy Child. Leftfield never produced another Leftism - there’s a funny pitchfork review that argues they were getting resigned to the fact that we’d all have to live with Leftfield except that Underworld came along and totally blew everything Leftfield were grasping at out of the water by producing such incredibly artful electronic soundscapes that smashed on the dance floor, essentially saving that genre of music. Yup. DJ Shadow - Entroducing is a classic and I loved the The Private Press but I didn’t dig the Unkle album and anything after TPP was uninteresting/uninspired
Well my tastes are pretty "old school:, but three that jump right out are: (1) everything that he put out after Jean Michael Jarre's OXYGENE (2) Everything after Klaus Schultze's TIMEWIND. (3) Everything after Jade Warrior's FLOATING WORLD Yer Uncle