Recording and composition
James Murphy recorded Sound of Silver at Long View Farm in Massachusetts, where he had previously worked on LCD Soundsystem's eponymous debut album. Murphy found recording his own vocals uncomfortable, describing the experience as "horrifying." He covered the entire studio in silver fabric and tin foil during the process. For the recording of LCD Soundsystem's next album, This Is Happening , Murphy brought one of the original pieces of silver fabric to the recording studio in Los Angeles and hung it in Rick Rubin's recording den, the Mansion. [2]
Musically, Sound of Silver has been described as dance-punk, [3] [4] dance-rock, [5] [6] [7] electronica, [8] [9] electronic rock, [9] [10] and indie rock. [11]
Several songs incorporate instrumentals from the band's six-part, 46-minute-long 2006 composition "45:33". [12] The album was dedicated to "the memory of Dr. George Kamen (1942–2006), one of the great minds of his or any generation." [13]
Dr. Kamen, a Bulgarian-born doctor, was a pioneer of group therapy and established a practice in New York City. It has been suggested that the loss of "someone" referenced in the track "Someone Great" alludes to Kamen. [14]
Reception
Sound of Silver received widespread critical acclaim and holds a score of 86 out of 100 on the review aggregation website Metacritic, based on 41 reviews, signifying "universal acclaim." [16]
Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian praised the "devastating emotional punch" of "Someone Great" and "All My Friends," describing the album as "dance-rock for grown-ups: extraordinary." [20] Andy Kellman of AllMusic noted that Sound of Silver, compared to LCD Soundsystem, was "less silly, funnier, less messy, sleeker, less rowdy, more fun, less distanced, more touching." [17]
Ann Powers of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Murphy "succeeds by stretching in two directions—finding a new musical center and showing his humanity beyond the laughs." [21] Mark Pytlik of Pitchfork commended Murphy's production expertise and the album's "deep, spacious, and full-blooded" sound, concluding, "It's an absolute joy to listen to, for every possible reason, not the least of which is because, these days, those epiphanies feel like they're coming fewer and farther between." [23]
Tim Jonze of NME wrote that while "Murphy's wise enough never to let his showing off spoil the fun, he can't avoid investing these songs with heart and soul ... that's what'll keep you hooked long after the beats have worn you out." [27]
John Mulvey of Uncut stated, "Murphy's talent is to proudly flaunt his influences, and to mix them up with belligerence, an exhilarating grasp of rock and dance dynamics, and a powerfully snarky sense of humor." [28]
Robert Christgau, writing for MSN Music, remarked that the album featured "one song so irresistible it makes you think the other tracks are songs too, which sometimes they are." [29] He later awarded it a two-star honorable mention rating. [30]
By the end of 2007, Sound of Silver was ranked by Metacritic as the tenth best-reviewed album of the year. [31]
Commercial
James Murphy stated that he wanted the album to be in the top 40 on the U.S. Billboard charts. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 46. [32] As of January 2016, the album had sold approximately 225,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Of those, around 123,000 were physical copies, and about 101,000 were digital copies. [33] The album reached number 28 on the UK charts.
Accolades
In December 2007, Sound of Silver was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album, eventually losing to We Are the Night by The Chemical Brothers. [34] The album was also nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Prize, where it lost out to The Reminder by Feist.
It was also named album of the year by The Guardian, [35] Uncut [36] and Drowned in Sound. [37] Pitchfork named two of the album's tracks ("Someone Great" and "All My Friends") in the top ten tracks of 2007 [38] and the album itself was named the second best album of 2007. [39] Entertainment Weekly and Rolling Stone [40] both ranked it as the 7th best album of 2007. [41] In 2008 Entertainment Weekly ranked it as one of the top 50 albums of the last 25 years. In January 2008, it was named the album of the year in both the 2007 Village Voice Pazz & Jop and Idolator Pop '07 polls. [42] Time magazine named "All My Friends" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #4. [43] The album placed fifth in The Wire's annual critics' poll. [44]
In 2009, Pitchfork named the track "All My Friends" as the second best song of the decade, [45] while a month later Sound of Silver was ranked at number 17 in the website's list of the best albums of the 2000s. Rhapsody ranked the album at number five on its "100 Best Albums of the Decade" list. [46] It was also named the twenty-third best album of the decade by Resident Advisor . [47]
In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 395 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. [48] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . [49] [50]
In 2019, The Guardian ranked the album at number 5 on its list of 'The 100 best albums of the 21st century'. [51]
On October 27, 2022, the song "New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down" was the final song played on WNYL Alt 92.3 before flipping to a simulcast of heritage all-news radio station WINS.
LCD Soundsystem is an American electronic rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy, co-founder of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy, Nancy Whang, Pat Mahoney (drums), Tyler Pope, Al Doyle, Matt Thornley, and Korey Richey. They have been signed to DFA since their inception, and also signed to Columbia Records in 2016.
DFA Records is an American independent record label based in New York City.
LCD Soundsystem is the debut studio album by American rock band LCD Soundsystem. It was released on January 24, 2005, jointly through DFA and Capitol Records in the United States and EMI elsewhere. The album encompasses genres that range from dance-punk to electronica to indie rock to dance music. The album was critically acclaimed upon release and was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album. Many singles were released to promote the album, including the band's breakout "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House", which reached number one on the UK Dance Chart in March, 2005.
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James Jeremiah Murphy is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His most well-known musical project is LCD Soundsystem, which first gained attention with its single "Losing My Edge" in 2002 before releasing its eponymous debut album in February 2005 to critical acclaim and top 20 success in the UK. LCD Soundsystem's second and third studio albums, Sound of Silver (2007) and This Is Happening (2010) respectively, were praised by several music review outlets. Both albums have also reached the top 50 in the Billboard 200.
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"All My Friends" is a song by American rock band LCD Soundsystem. It was released as the second single from their second studio album Sound of Silver on May 28, 2007 and was written by Pat Mahoney, James Murphy, and Tyler Pope. The song received acclaim from critics and has appeared on many year-end and all time lists. It peaked at #41 on the UK Singles Chart. B-sides for the single include covers of the song by Scottish indie rock band Franz Ferdinand and former Velvet Underground member John Cale. The song was featured in the trailer for the 2024 movie IF.
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