Best album I've heard in years
921860
Best album I've heard in years. I was moved both emotionally and spiritually. I think I'm gonna listen to it again.
173087
This album is absolutely  incredible. I don't usually write reviews, but I felt I should. This cd is amazing. For once, real music from two premier artists. The production is tight and on point. I'm just lost for words.
3306403
Even though I've heard many of the songs from this album over the past 18 months, this is the first time since Depeche Mode's 'Violator' that I've listened to a new release from beginning to end about 20 times without skipping a single song.  This is a truly amazing album.  The vocal layering, the instrumentation, the timing, and the flow is all perfect.

I think we are witnessing the start of a brilliant career for this band.  Even though they have been buzzing in the indie scene for quite a while, the excitement is still there.  If you are a fan of great vocalists, you WILL love this album.  Dan Smith leads this group with foresight and savvy, and his last name even hints at some irony.

Buy this album, put on your headphones and get lost for a good hour.  Just make sure you have time to do it all again, immediately.
233679
i just bought this album and have listened to it in the car, carried it into work, and back out into the car for lunch, then back to work for 2 days now.  that is the mark of a great album to me; worth going through the pain of carrying it around with you.  i can't stop listening to it, and i mean the whole thing.  there is no need to skip around, just put it in a push play.  particular favs are "just might have her radio on", "hey batter, batter", and "one wing in the fire."  this is definately an album to buy and not just a song to download because "drunker than me" is not the only cut worth having.
4640333
Album of the year, at least mine.  The last time I was this impressed with an album was Daft Punks Random Access Memories and this one is even more enjoyable to listen through.  I've been a fan of Chromeo for a number of years, their tongue in cheek lyrics and cheesy yet absurdly catchy rhythms are something to behold. This album is by far their most polished effort to date.  An album that simply can't be missed.
2065698
Best record I've heard in years! Courageous songwriting, excellent production and inspired performances. I love it!
3943477
I'm not going to go through this album song by song.  Simply the best and most complete album I've heard in a long time.  "Gospel", to start the album and "Don't Take Long" to end it are the most emotive of all but they sandwich a collection of songs that have made all other music seem bland.
I hope that he continues exploring this vein for at least another album.  Trust me, you will LOVE this one!
1164965
This is the best album I've bought in a while; I've been listening to it pretty constantly. Each singer recruited for the project by Childs performs magnificently. I listened to Laura Nyro enough in those days that her performances remain fresh in my brain, though I haven't listened in many many years, and these singers hold up well to the standard, while making something new and beautiful.
1567328
Great, Great Album.  I cannot say enough how great this album truly is!! The sound and songs on this album makes me feel so alive, emotional and rocking so hard.  It's catchy, different although some have compared to a 90s sound but not quite.  It's different and brilliant.  Brilliant I say.  My...I can't stop saying how amazing this album is.  I come from the Classic Rock days like Led Zeppelin and Rush which are among my favorites and haven't heard an album so amazing since then.  Every song is so good.  It's akin to a Supernova exploding in slow motion!!  5 stars is max but I would give it an 11!!

By the way, there is a Japanese Press version of this album which have 3 bonus songs My Beerdrunk Soul Is Sadder Than A Hundred Dead Christmas Trees, Popinjay, Chwyrlio (welsh version of Whirring) which again are great!!  If you have not bought a cd of theirs I'd recommend the Japanese press because of those bonus songs.  With me, I got the regular cd and the Japanese cd.
803261
Incredible album. You should give it a listen!
1778425
I have to confess that I have always been a casual STP fan.  While I enjoyed the songs on the radio I never went so far as to buy any of their albums.  For some reason I was possessed to go get this one, and it is AMAZING.  It is the best album released by anyone in the last 5 years.  There are no bad songs on it, and they have so many different sounds.  "Coma" is Nine Inch Nails-esque, "Wonderful" and "Hello It's Late" are Oasis/Radiohead type songs, "Regeneration" sounds like Jane's Addiction.  These songs friggin ROCK.  BUY THIS ALBUM.  LISTEN TO IT OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
4434338
This album is faaaaabulous. It took about 12 listenings to finally get the feel of it the new sounds, but it was well worth it. Contrary to many comments, I think there are many "hooks" on this release that can lodge in your head for days. I think the highlights are the following: "When the World Ends" is one of the catchiest tunes. It's a sexy little number has an unforgettable R&B backbeat between the choruses (Stefan's bass is very prominent and awe-inspiring on every song). The imagery is riveting and the sheer fun of hearing the whole band go "Your legs don't work cuz you want me so, you just lie spread to the wall..." is worth the album price alone. Additionally, Dave's voice, which is smooth and has amazing range on every track, seems to morph into those of other distinctive singers throughout the album, and in this tune, at times his voice sounds a lot like the appealing drawl of Soul Coughing's M. Doughty. "The Space Between" is a classic and catchy love song that will probably appeal to people of all ages. Some of the lyrics are truly beautiful, like "The space between your heart and mine is the space we fill with time." "Dreams of Our Fathers" has a great opening riff, kind of power-rock Def Leopard (in a good way), driving, intelligent, rythmic lyrics a melodic chorus. In the middle at the "Rain on me" part, it seems as though Dave somehow channeled Eddie Vedder with all the awesome angst-ridden glory comparable to Pearl Jam's "Black." "What you Are" will surely please fans of "The Last Stop" and possibly "Don't Drink the Water" from BTCS. It's an epic and intense song with a middle eastern flair and a charged, gristly, occasionally erotic, chorus. "Sleep to Dream Her" is phenomenal and quite different from the other songs (they are all distinct, but this one especially so). The turns of phrase ("I know I'll miss her later. Wish I could bend my love to hate her. Wish I could be her creator. To twist her arms now")are not only clever, but they rhyme and are puntuated by Dave's tinny plucking of the electic guitar and Carter's interesting drumming pattern. The chorus on this song affords more instrumental meandering of LeRoi's gorgeous sax and Boyd's haunting violin. The whole song has an intriguing and vaguely evil-lullaby feel to it. "Everyday" is the old-school DMB song on this album. The acoustic guitar returns and the has an irrisistable beat and gospel influence that creates the happy feet, throw your hands up in the air and rejoice feel like "The Best of What's Around." I think it will be an incredible, tears-of-joy-jerking show closer and the song you're most likely to catch yourself singing in the shower.
1866938
Dear God, I am shocked.  Chicago II is the first album I've picked up outside of the Greatest Hits collections, and I can't believe what I'm hearing!  How could Chicago be one of the greatest PROGRESSIVE rock bands of all time and I didn't know about it?
I put this album on for the first time and didn't stop smiling over the course of its 23 songs.  The tunes on this album are so complex, so melodically rich, so creatively structured, and so full of soul and feeling that words can do them no justice.  How these songs were written, I can't even comprehend.
This group had talent to burn.  Lots of it!  Lamm, Kath, and Cetera all are FABULOUS vocalists and they all have a good go on this one, trading off on lead vocal and backing each other up with some of the smoothest, sweetest, richest vocal harmonies you'll ever hear.  Then there's the horn section, with its gorgeous, bright arrangements.  Then there's Kath, with his fabulous and often understated work on lead guitar.  Then there's flute and piano leads and all kind of little wonders.
Despite being a tremendous fan of 70s music (I lived through the decade as a child), I never realized just how good Chicago really was--I had never explored their individual albums.  I'm so happy I did--one listen to Chicago II has shown me how wondrous this outfit really was.  The music on this album is so ahead of its time it boggles the mind.
I can literally, say, with no exaggeration (with The Beatles and other greats in mind), this is one of the BEST albums I've ever heard in my life.
2583592
This album is excellent! I haven't heard an album this good in YEARS!  I'm hoping to hear a lot MORE from these talented and HOT ladies!
2806461
Simply put, this might be the best album I have ever heard in my entire life. When you listen to it the first time, you say hmm, good. Then as you listen to it again and again, it continues to grow on you until you realize the sheer genius behind it is unparalleled. Just buy this album: it's that simple. You'll be very glad you did.
2417451
In a time when so-called musicians as the Backstreet Boys and NSync rule  the music world (for whatever reason, I have no idea?), it's great to see  an album that stands true to originality.  NIN album "The  Fragile" is quite possibly the best album of the year, if not the  decade.  Each and every song flows in and out of one another, creating  intense and often disturbing moods.  Trent Reznor's lyrics are unmatched  and blend perfectly with the intrumentation.  No wonder it took him five  years to complete it, he wanted it to be perfect, and I feel he succeeded.  I think that every person can relate to atleast one or two of the songs on  this double album, if you don't think so you're just lying to yourself.  This will probably go down as one of the best albums that nobody has heard  about or one of the best albums to not go multi-platinum--all because of  that Britany chick and her boyfriends.  If you know someone who owns this  album, borrow it from them ASAP.  Even if you are not a NIN fan, you'll  appreciate a taste of something different.
1623337
What an absolutely excellent album. I picked this album up like many "bangers", as they were called then, as a sequel to the first Days album, and was totally surprised, and not entirely ready for what I heard. The original 'Days' was there, but this was clearly the singer and owner, Travis Meeks, throwing down what he wanted to throw down, popularity be damned.

This album is soulful, artful even. Beginning with the clapping of running horses, merging with typical Days guitar work, a foot tapping, rocking introduction to the rest of the album sets the tone. Synth, classical, world beat, and Celtic influences abound on this album, but with a consistent application of what made the first Days of the New album great: virtuosic guitar.

Some songs, Skeleton Key, for example, rely entirely on synth, other songs, The Real, for example, are more traditional Days of the New. As I mentioned, there is a heavy Celtic influence on the album, with the traditional Celtic drum, the bodhran, making many appearances on the album.

The musical complexity of this album is mind-blowing, and set the stage for me to move on to more complex artists like Chris Thile and Casey Driessen. The album was absolutely ahead of its time and it was on listening to a SBTRKT album that I was reminded of how much I loved this album and how much it impacted me.

Unfortunately, however, not everyone responded the way I did to this album, and many, understandably, were disappointed that this was not the Days of the New of the last album. The album sold poorly, Travis Meeks lapsed into addiction, and languishes in obscurity. And so it often is with artists who are ahead of their time.

Great album. Download it now.