Review Summary: Silver has never sounded this good
The intro piece is "Get Innocuous", a nu-disco take on Kraftwerk-tinged krautrock, which lasts almost eight minutes. Starting off with an instrumentation that builds up at a moderate pace which leads to the main portion of the song, it features some rather hypnotic vocals and an electro-disco groove over krautrock drums. Then comes "Time to Get Away", a bit of an awkward, almost minimalist track. It starts off small with simple drums, James Murphy talking about how "it's time to get away" and how "next time, we'll talk it over", and a groovy bass, all leading up to an alt-dance jam with a more complex instrumental.
The almighty not-so-anti-American track "North American Scum" starts off side B. Featuring an incredible dance-punk and electroclash instrumental that contains some mad guitar riffs and irresistible hi-hats, it is about, of course, North America and the American lifestyle. From American history, to the kids in America, to late-night parties, to "fat American Christians" that might "disagree", even featuring a cameo of the Canadians, it is overall a great track. One of the two more "emotional" tracks, "Someone Great" comes here at the end of side B. It has been thought of as a breakup song, and it might sound like one, too, but it is mainly about someone important in your life passing away. Great lyrical content backed by an incredible synthpop/indietronica instrumental pulled straight out of the third part of LCD Soundsystem's 45:33 composition, it's no surprise that this song has been regarded as one of the best songs of the 00's decade.
The other "emotional" track on the album comes here, starting side C. "All My Friends" is a piano-led art rock and krautrock track that still manages to keep some of the alt-dance groove that LCD Soundsystem are known for. Mainly about life and aging, lyrically, it also talks about friends, partying, the past, and also feeling disconnected from everyone. It's a pretty sad-sounding song, but that doesn't stop it from being the top highlight of Sound of Silver. With all the emotion out of James Murphy's system, it's back to the LCD's norm of dance-punk with "Us v Them". It's an eight-and-a-half minute song that's almost a progressive punk track. Oh yeah, it also features some crazy cowbell. I guess I wouldn't mind listening to this "over and over again".... get it?...... okay, fine, I'll stop.
The final three tracks. Side D starts off with "Watch the Tapes", which is supposedly about getting "high on lemon sips". Although it's the shortest track on Sound of Silver, it's still a great, driving post-punk revival track. Next up is the title track, which is my least-favorite song on the album, but I still find it a pretty good track. This is one of those tracks "that you should listen to while high", as they say. A progressive electronic (and almost psychedelic) track with a weird instrumental and limited vocals, it's slightly repetitive (especially with the vocals) and it kinda drifts away from the rest of the album. Again, I really like this song, but it just doesn't really belong here. It feels like something cut from the final version of 45:33 (which I talked about earlier). Finally, we have the album's closer, "New York, I Love You but You're Bringing Me Down". It's a mouthful to say, but it is a helluva good closing track. Starting off small with somber vocals from James Murphy over some piano, and eventually, some small drums, it slowly builds up to a jam with a full band. Afterwards, the song, and the album, too, is finished with a real somber ending, complete with the piano, drums (of course), slight guitars, background violins, and this spacey synth sound. Truly a fitting ending for an absolutely amazing album.
Sound of Silver is simply excellent. It features variety without drifting too far away from its central sound of dance-punk and indietronica. The instrumentals are done perfectly, James Murphy provides excellent lyrical content with a great vocal performance, and in the end, it's not the sound of silver, but instead, it's the sound of perfection.
