Released on 2 February 2005, "Silent Alarm" was the debut studio album by British rock band Bloc Party. Recorded in Copenhagen and London in mid-2004 with Paul Epworth as producer. The album peaked at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart. In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at No. 114, the album spawned four singles "Helicopter", "So Here We Are/Positive Tension", "Banquet" and "The Pioneers".
Arrived during a transitional period for rock music in a time where the likes of Mäximo Park, Kaiser Chiefes, Arctic Monkey, Art Brut and of course Franz Ferdinand, debut and thrived the world of music, it was the perfect moment for Bloc Party for shared their style based in chopped guitar chords, an analog production, and a trendy style that make them look and feel different. Bloc Party aimed to create an album that appealed to followers of different musical genres. Building on the arrangements in their demo songs recorded in 2004, the band members moulded tracks largely through live takes during the Silent Alarm studio sessions.
The compositional focus was on rhythm and the drum and bass parts, while lyricist Kele Okereke's writing examined the feelings and hopes of young adults, including views on global politics, when they wrote about the Iraq War, the end result was a song literally called "Price Of Gasoline". Lissack and Okereke wrote a harmonized guitar riff that recreated the Wagon-Wheel Effect and called the song "Helicopter" for that reason alone. "Positive Tension" is a far more accurate description of what Bloc Party do, "Blue Light" was meant to soundtrack a first kiss, the nebular twinkles of "So Here We Are" a first love, "This Modern Love" a first heartbreak.
The leading song, "Like Eating Glass", was inspired by a remix of The Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" Okereke heard in 2002. "Helicopter" has a quick tempo of 171 beats per minute, while "Positive Tension" begins with a solitary bassline and builds up pace, first with a rhythmic drumming pattern, and then with a guitar solo towards its conclusion. "Banquet" involves lead guitar and rhythm guitar playing in syncopation, while "Blue Light" has a slower tempo and a crescendo towards the end. During the studio sessions, "This Modern Love" begins minimally with panned vocals before the rhythm section enters the mix and the song intensifies.
The second half of Silent Alarm includes more studio effects. "Pioneers" opens with a series of delayed guitar harmonics, while "Price of Gas" is driven by a marching-like sound created by Moakes walking in the studio with planks of wood strapped to his feet. "So Here We Are" is the only track on the album to not include vocal overdubbing. The song contains layered audio tracks of guitar and is followed by "Luno", which begins with 32 bars of bass guitar and drums. "Plans" has a slower tempo and uses a synthesiser and effects such as flanging during the chorus. The final track, "Compliments", incorporates an electronic drum kit and the use of reverberation.
About the lyrics, the album does not contain a solitary lyrical centre and simply observes people's lives. Okereke wanted to leave individual listeners space to make their own conclusions, but has admitted that the record "operates in the realm of cultural politics". Much of the songwriting is inspired by the style of confessional poetry authors like Anne Sexton and musicians Thom Yorke and Björk. In general, the album tries to make clear an existential pointlessness in life. With hindsight, Okereke noted themes of "helplessness and weariness" because of the album's focus on how he was feeling between the ages of 18 and 20.
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