Silent Alarm

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  Something horribly wrong with this pressing. This is my 2nd copy from Amazon with a third replacement on the way. Be very weary as it seems like this recent restock of pressings wasn't quality controlled at all. Such a beautiful album and this pressing is litterally unlistenable

This album, long forgotten, took me back to 2004-2007 era when it was in my daily music rotation. So much of it is still very fresh and relevant. Amazing guitar and drum work on this album, for sure. While I'm no longer as enamored with Kele's vocals, it's still a great listen overall.

Silent Alarm is one of the definitive UK indie records of the 2000's. A number of bands rose during this era (Maximo Park, Kaiser Chiefs, etc.), and most of them were flashes in the pan, yet the strength of Silent Alarm alone has prevented Bloc Party from being as forgotten. This was an era of war and confusion, and Silent Alarm channels the feeling of entering your 20's during unstable times. It is raw yet vulnerable, inspiring mosh pits with "Helicopter" and "Luno" while tugging at vulnerability on "Blue Light" and the closing "Complications".

This is possibly the most underrated album of the early aughts, and is close to a perfect album was a band can get. From the staccato stabs of Helicopter, the blown out drums in Like Eating Glads and the faux disco banger Banquet. It’s an amazing record, and essential for any British pop rock fan.

Hey, late 30s guy, been buying vinyl since the mid 90s. This is, no kidding, one of the best sounding LPs I've ever owned. It's mastered beautifully. The separation, EQ...just everything is great. One of the rare "sounds better than the CD" pressings of the digital age.

The first vinyl I received of this 2018 pressing had no scratches and no warps on it but was skipping constantly on side A. And despite an intensive cleaning there was still skipping on side A. Returned and got a replacement from Amazon which I cleaned before playing and the replacement copy plays perfectly with no issues. Really happy with this vinyl, sound quality is great and finally happy to have my hands on one of my all time favorite albums.

Every song on this album is awesome. I can listen from beginning to end and on repeat. Sheer brilliance.

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 haste and ease.

When Bloc Party was all the rage, I just could not get into their music. I saw them live, heard the hype and thought: "Why all the hubub and what am I not getting?". After just browsing a few sites on music in the 00's, I wanted to give them another try. Maybe it was just me being contrarian. It wasn't. I still don't get the hype. But what I did get was a genuine appreciation of this album. Although probably unnoticable for those of who only heard Helicopter on the radio, all of the songs on Bloc Party have some magnificent depth and layering to them. The bass and drum really push this album forward. I love it that I notice new, small, licks and tricks everytime I listen to this album with my headphones on. A great buy and I would recommend this album to almost anyone with a penchant for alternative music.

Initially I was extremely disappointed with this product to the point that I almost returned it. On playing this record skipped an awful lot. Cleaning with an antistat record cleaning brush did not work, and I could not get it to play through for ages until I cleaned it several times with a MoFi brush and distilled and deionised water. That's just side A. I haven't yet attempted to clean side B, because whatever is stuck in the grooves is a royal pain to remove and I haven't yet found the time. Despite that, once finally clean, side A sounds wonderful and has given me a new appreciation for this great album. Of all the wiry guitar albums of that time, this is the only one that has stood any test of time for me, and it sounds great in this format. It is a massive shame though that the vinyl comes with so much invisible filth. I am left to guess that this is the first case of the 'legendary mould-release compound' that you hear about with records, but which I have thankfully never encountered before. I hate the act of cleaning vinyl, and frankly when it's brand new I would expect not to have to do it!

One of the best albums of all time, once again made available in vinyl format so I don't have to pay silly money for the anniversary edition

One of the best new debut records from a guitar band when Bloc Party was a new band!

Originally bought this album for my brother as a clutch birthday present. I have now listened to this album as much as him.This album's a soundscape for the time it was made, can make you feel nostalgic for the mid-2000's even if you've never heard the songs before.