Track Listing

1. Dance
2. Take the long road and walk it
3. Human
4. Truth is no words
5. Float
6. Turn out the light
7. People
8. Getaway
9. Disco
10. Too high

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2963 in Music
• Released on: 2002-09-02
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Music, the much-touted quartet of schoolmates from Kippax, Leeds, signal their self-titled debut album's intentions straight from the off. Opener "The Dance", with its psych-rock swirl intro, a Beatlesque "yeah yeah yeah", and then a crashing, impatient chaos of guitars, drums and dubby effects, with Robert Harvey howling Robert Plant-ishly about "angels", is a ridiculous blast of unrestrained noise. The Music are not about subtlety or coffee-table good taste.

The Music gives a sideways nod to baggy beats and the Stone Roses' Second Coming, but is mainly a wild, almost desperate mix of Led Zeppelin blues-metal histrionics, and the stadium end of 1980s alt-rock, particularly the Chameleons, the Cult and U2. The lyrics are little more than excuses for Harvey to howl and wail, but the constant twin-guitar invention of Harvey and Adam Nutter, taking in everything from bluesy riffs through funky wah-wah to Edge-ish atmospherics, keep you endlessly guessing and enthralled by their sheer recklessness. Put simply, it's a breath of fresh air to hear a British "indie" band who are so unafraid to rock, so blatantly uninterested in choirboy self-pity, and so almost comically in thrall to chest-beating Big Rawk. --Garry Mulholland

CD Description
'The Music' is the the eponymously titled debut album by the Leeds indie quartet. Their sound has been described by critics as being somewhere between The Stone Roses and The Verve. The singles, 'The People' and 'Take The Long Road And Walk It', are both included.

Customer Reviews

Innovation Is The Key
There's been a lot of retro lately. Too much if I may say so, some good, mostly though, bad. Re-hashed riffs, ill-advised facial hair, and of course the growing word of the word...'The'. The Strokes, The White Stripes...so you might be fooled into thinking that 4 boys from Leeds who call themselves simply 'The Music', are of a similar variety. Well to a certain extent you would be correct, but to the rest of the extent, you'd be thinking cobblers. There is a distinct retro feel about The Music's self-titled debut, but the difference between The Music and The Who-Gives-A-Toss-It's-Rehashed-Stones-Riffs, is that The Music actually add something different...

As someone who's not too much into dance music, or much towards electronica either, I was quite pleasantly surprised by this album, for its sheer experimentalism, into combining fine rock with good riffs and hooks, with dance music with terrific beats and making the word 'dance' be acceptable in the same sentence as 'music'. This is indeed a much coveted and widely failed genre, if you will, to try to actually penetrate, as the only bands who have done it fairly successfully are Primal Scream, and Jane's Addiction, who you have to say The Music do have more than a passing resemblance to, particularly in the vocal department; a cross between Led Zeppelin's charismatic Robert Plant, and more so Jane's Addiction's even more charismatic front man Perry Farrell, who is also a big fan of the band. Indeed I am sure that many Jane's Addiction fans would actually like The Music's debut, particularly tracks such as 'Take The Long Road And Walk It', the terrific, 'Human', the rousing single, 'The Truth Is No Words', the chanting 'The People' and a mass assortment of others. But this album really does that most coveted of all music, by combining dance with rock, and making it work and work well.

You could even call The Music progressive, the genre is that wide open on them. Despite this bouncy attitude throughout, they know when to stop for a minute or two on the final track, 'Too High' which is a fine slower piece, proving that behind those layered dance beats, synthesisers and God knows what else, there really is a fine band, that at times is unfortunately covered up. If you listen hard enough, you can hear some absolute gems of riffery, which is then ironically contradicted, when what in my opinion is the best track on the album, 'Getaway' kicks in, with absolutely massive beats, electronica, huge guitars, soaring vocals and is simply irresistible, whether you like rock or dance, it's certainly a floor-filler.

They certainly don't scrimp on quality at all either, you can tell that these are certainly talented musicians, and have taken their time. As you weave through, catchy melodies, high pitched vocals, textured beats and layered guitars, you'll see why, particularly on the singles released from this, still the bands debut.

And for a debut, this is quite simply astounding and contains top quality music made by top quality musicians who have actually cared to put out a good record. I'd much prefer this over a rehash any day, because at least The Music add their own sense of originality to the mix, and that's something that a lot of bands seem to distinctly miss. They wouldn't call themselves 'The Music' if they weren't different or didn't deserve such a moniker now, would they?

4 Stars.

Obvious, but brilliant!
I have followed The Music for at least a year having been impressed with the Stone Roses-esque sound of the original 'Take the Long Road and Walk It'. Ever since then, with The People Ep for example, they have shown steady progress, which gradually increased my expectations for the album.

I was not disappointed. The Music have got a perfect blend of instruments in their tracks. 'Take the Long Road and Walk It' is a very 'funky' song, which exudes their potential and overall 'coolness' as a band. 'Turn Out the Light' is at the other extreme, providing a more introspective look at the band and what they want to say.

Many have said that the lyrics are sometimes confused and not clear. However, with instrumental skill as good as this, this simply adds to The Music's charm. Harvey's voice is as if it is another instrument, and moulds into the overall sound of the tracks.

My one disappointment was that some tracks like 'Let Love be the Healer' and 'Alone' for example have been left off the album, it just seems a waste not to include such great songs onto their debut album.

Despite this, The Music's debut album is a triumphant success. Those who like Led Zeppelin and the Stone Roses should try this band out, they have equal potential in my opinion, and similar sound, which makes it great for fans of the bands mentioned.

Who said indie was dead?
This, along with the recent Interpol album, is one of the best guitar albums of recent years.

Befor I go on, I should stress I have a bit of a soft spot for anything with a psychedlic twist and a dancey beat. Not that this should put you off. I at first thought The Music were a bunch of pretenders - enthusiastic, earnest, but lacking the touch of class necessary to do the business.

How wrong I was. This album starts well and just gets better. Take the Long Road and Walk It, The Truth is no Words and Too High are all fantastic tracks, but even the slow ones such as Human and Turn Out the Lights show a real sophistication in the song structure, and ultimately, a sense of melody far in excess of anything else being done at the minute. The way Disco moves from big bluesy riffs to a funky house just makes you grin from ear to ear.

If you want comfy three minute pop songs about how the world doesn't understand you, go buy a Coldplay album. You probably don't have the attention span to appreciate this album.

Otherwise, let us rock.