It's the album that Bloc Party always threatened to make, the one that, against all the odds, raises them to a whole new level.
Every note sounds young and lyric, inspired.
Not since Silent Alarm have Bloc Party sustained such vision, ideas and indeed quality over an entire record.
Even these slight missteps can’t diminish the power of Four, which reinforces that Bloc Party continues to be one of the most innovative, vibrant bands to emerge in the last decade.
The time off seems to have refocused and re-energized the band, which doesn’t simply reverse course, but pulls a screaming U-turn toward those long-lost art punk sounds first heard on its debut.
At its best it excels with a glut of sensitive pop tunes which, although no substitute for exhilarating, provocative post-punk, prove Bloc Party are still capable of depth.
Four is a commendable comeback, if you feel obliged to use the word.
Four sounds like an album created by a talented band that finally got back in a room together after a long time apart, and just seemed to put together all the various ideas they’ve all had without stopping to think too much about them.
Four conveys the experience of watching an athlete reliant on explosive physicality realize that his body is betraying him.
Unfortunately the album seems a victim of the rush to resurface.
Ultimately, though, the album suffers some of the worst adjectives any musician can hear: boring, forgettable, and embarrassing.
Four, like so much mediocre and failed art, goes through the motions of evocative composition but fails to generate any real visceral response.
After a 4 year hiatus, Bloc Party returns back to the studio to make an attempt to make an album that will please their longtime fans. Yeah... this didn't do it for me. There's a dizzyingly array of styles the band takes with every album release, which prevents the band from developing a consistent personality. Despite their sound's identity crisis, you can notice there are a few aspects that are reminiscent to the band's old sound on some tracks that you can hear from time to time, especially ... read more
An explosive, fun, vigorous return to good old indie bangers that Bloc Party have built their career off, and they are damn good at it. Turning all the guitars up to 11, it's a loud, catchy and extremely fun record that'll leave an impression for weeks and weeks after.
Favorite Jams: 3X3, We're Not Good People, Coliseum
Lest Favorite: Real Talk
So He Begins To Lie - 4/5
3 X 3 - 3/5
Octopus - 5/5 ❤
Real Talk - 3/5
Kettling - 3/5
Day Four - 4/5
Coliseum - 3/5
V.A.L.I.S. - 5/5 ❤
Team A - 4/5
Truth - 5/5 ❤
The Healing - 5/5 ❤
We Are Not Good People - 3/5
Very energetic and production is great. We are not good people is definitely the best song. What a closer to the album. That song is a 10 from me. (I may be a little bias cause this album and silent alarm were my literal childhood) very underrated album
I skipped Four originally because I wanted to check out the sleep walking disaster HYMNS from 2016, but now I wanted to return back and see if it was worth going back and listening to Four. Was it worth it?
I'd say so! The quality can waiver depending on each song, but at least it doesn't sound like the band drank themselves into a 2 week coma and then awoke and make a record in 24 hours.
The opener is great! I actually like it more than any song on Intimacy, the drums may be a bit too ... read more
1 | So He Begins To Lie 3:34 | 75 |
2 | 3 X 3 2:38 | 73 |
3 | Octopus 3:05 | 82 |
4 | Real Talk 4:13 | 66 |
5 | Kettling 3:41 | 67 |
6 | Day Four 4:11 | 69 |
7 | Coliseum 2:29 | 60 |
8 | V.A.L.I.S. 3:20 | 79 |
9 | Team A 4:36 | 70 |
10 | Truth 4:00 | 78 |
11 | The Healing 4:19 | 74 |
12 | We Are Not Good People 3:20 | 71 |
#44 | / | DIY |