Rings Around the World

It sounds like hold music. Good hold music, but hold music never the less.

Couldn't get into it.

You know what? I think I’m really at a 10.

It just clicked that nicely for me, and I’m really, REALLY impressed by the growth shown here in crafting a top-to-bottom flowing album compared to my original perception of these guys back on “Fuzzy Logic”. I might owe that album another attempt at a relisten, because I’m stunned it’s the same band. Obviously, part of it is the lean towards a mix of Radiohead’s more moody stylings on “Kid A”, though with less of a melancholic potency that seems to be depressed about the prospect of living, and with more of a Beatles-esque curiosity looking to answer all the questions that start with a “Why” with a smile. A track like “It’s Not the End of the World?” is obviously making a point that the status quo we live in is technically a better outcome than death & annihilation, but it begs the question of why we settle for that status quo. It does it with a bubbly Beatles-esque instrumental, and that dichotomy between the two is pervasive throughout this entire album. It’s a dichotomy I really, really enjoyed.

It’s also a dichotomy that exists in even more potent instrumental ways, perhaps most effectively done on “No Sympathy”, which is probably my favorite track on this entire album. The folksy ways in which he calmly & coldly sings “You deserve to die” struck a great chord, and the potently calm hatred that they (the song is gender neutral) learned to live with as a strength really made the first half pop. The way everything speeds up & shifts into folk-inspired dubstep for *2001* is fucking incredible, and the anger releasing itself in such a wild turn made for my favorite moment on the entire album. It comes out of nowhere, and the production work is really, really impactful. A lot of the production work throughout the album manages to make some kind of impact, & the way it’s all blended together with such a wide variety of styles from track to track just leaves me impressed as hell. It also helps that the writing has taken a clear step forward, as each track generally has a concise meaning. When it doesn’t, I happened to really like the sandbox each soundscape allows for.

Let me quote myself from my “Fuzzy Logic” review, as it seems like a review for an entirely different group at this point. I called that album “soulless music”, “chasing commercially successful sounds and aping other people’s styles” in a way that never found its own identity. It’s ironic, because I’ve praised this album for doing exactly the latter, yet I could not possibly describe this as “soulless” at all, and this album absolutely has an identity behind it. That was 586 days ago, so I probably owe “Fuzzy Logic” another listen with a more enlightened sense of who the Super Furry Animals are as a band. Either that, or it really does suck as a debut album, I dunno. 5 years can make a difference. Regardless, I’m just highly impressed by what’s here. The pacing is great, the lyrics are great, the vocal performances are good, & the production work just feels like it’s fully realized for 2001 in a way that makes this feel complete. It’s a great album, and for me, it really does feel like it’s worth giving a 10.

It's alright! It's interesting to hear them juggling so many genre influences and still coming out with a decently cohesive album. Paul McCartney apparently showing up to play a carrot and celery might lowkey be the most remarkable thing about it all.

Standouts: Sidewalk Serfer Girl • [A] Touch Sensitive • Juxtapozed With U • Run! Christian, Run!

Going back and forth on this one. Some of it is pretty good, but it changes too often with no clear throughline of music or emotion. Some folks will be really into this. I was hovering between a 2 and a 3 but then they started whistling x

An incredibly mixed bag. Turns out I didn't know at all what SFA sounded like. Some great, some shit!

I kindda like this, but nothing really exciting happens.

I was not familiar but enjoyed it a lot.

And i thought the last album i listened to was weird, Rings Around The World even managed to make that Devo album i listened to yesterday seem normal in comparison. This album feels like a really weird mix of Oasis, Radiohead and Gorillaz with it being a very alt-rock album on the surface but adding in loads of electronic elements to give it something to help it stand out. Unlike the Devo album with that being a mixed bag with it's weirdness, This album's weirdness did nothing but add to how good it was. Every song on offer feels incredibly creative and was an immense joy to listen to. I ended up really enjoying this album.
Best Song: No Sympathy
Worst Song: Miniature
Side Note: I loved that every song here had an accompanying music video and they were all really good

This one was a pretty good album. Honestly got no complaints with it other than I just don't think I'll ever go back to it.

I don't know if I just started noticing it in the second half, but the first half definitely felt like a 90's take on the Beatles, with the second half still having that quality, but also taking on a kind of Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips sound (Fragile Happiness very much feels like a Yoshimi song). Honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Flaming Lips were influenced by this album on Yoshimi.

But yeah, good album. Just not really something I'd find myself going back to.

More mid british music that made it onto this list for whatever reason? Wow, color me surprised. 3*
Rings around the world gave my right ear tinnitus

Another alright album. Nothing that really got me excited, but nothing I wanted to turn off.

Hmmm... A lot of background music vibes here, and that's the "good" part. Found myself ignoring a lot of this as I worked, forgetting I was even listening to anything. The times it got "interesting" enough to capture my attention was really only because it became insufferably annoying in one way or another. I don't think this music is for me.

Really enjoyed that. Cool mix of rock and bleeps.

No sé lo que he escuchado. No sé si es bueno o malo, a veces parecen Pink Floid, otras Blur y a ratos suenan modernos por el exceso de autotune. En general me he aburrido, creo que ha envejecido mal.

I feel like it times it had the right idea but was messed up by formulaic melodies and cringe lyrics. And I can't put my finger on it but his voice reminds me of a singer that I really can't stand.

How these lads have 2 albums on this list is crazy.

Its much better than the previous album but it feels forced, the death metal scream and the electronic drum and bass for example.

Its ambitious which deserves credit but it certainly doesn't land. I don't think theres a song I'd want to listen to again.

2/5.

Something about this album irritates me. Maybe it's the turn-of-millennium postmodern poly-stylism. Maybe it's the crypto-prog rock lurking beneath the sunny pseudo-psychedelia. Or maybe I just don't like indie pop. There's a small window of my life (age 15-17) I probably would have liked this album, but I think I would have soured on it by the time I went off to college.

It was.. just eh. Music was ok at timrs but damn that voice was annoying

It is hard to tell, but it almost sounds like the band wasn't held under house arrest and subjected to psychological deprogramming for a full year eating nothing but soybeans while practicing for this album.

I was surprised that I couldn't remember hearing about this band, and as far as I can tell I've not heard any of these songs before. It seems like the kind of thing that I should like but it felt disjointed and I couldn't get into it.