Tyranny (The Voidz album)
Tyranny is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Voidz (marketed as Julian Casablancas + The Voidz), recorded at Labyrinth, NYC and released on September 23, 2014 through the Cult label.[5] The first single from the album, the 11-minute track "Human Sadness", was released on September 2, 2014. The music video for the second single "Where No Eagles Fly" was directed by guitarist Jeramy "Beardo" Gritter.[4] On September 19, Tyranny was made available to stream on the websites of Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.
Tyranny | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 23, 2014 | |||
Recorded | 2013–2014 | |||
Studio | Labyrinth, NYC[1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 62:25 | |||
Label | Cult | |||
Producer | Shawn Everett | |||
The Voidz chronology | ||||
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Alternate album cover | ||||
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Singles from Tyranny | ||||
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The album was placed 50th in NME's "Top 50 Albums of 2014" list.[6]
Reception
editAggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 66/100[7] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [8] |
Clash | (7/10)[9] |
Consequence | Favorable[10] |
Drowned in Sound | (9.75/10)[11] |
Exclaim! | (8/10)[12] |
The Line of Best Fit | (6.5/10)[13] |
NME | (6/10)[14] |
Paste | (6/10)[15] |
Pitchfork | (4.9/10)[16] |
Rolling Stone | [17] |
The album received generally positive reviews, though outlets often expressed mixed opinions. Rolling Stone gave the album 3.5 stars, calling it "the sound of a man shedding his skin. Not pretty, but more compelling for it."[17] Paste gave it 6.0,[15] while Exclaim! gave it 8 out of 10, calling it "a seriously sad album...compelling."[12] Lucas Villa of AXS awarded four out of five stars, writing, "Casablancas continues to exercise his experimental muscle in the most raucous ways with The Voidz in tow."[18] Benji Taylor of Clash gave the album 7/10, calling it "a weirdly wonderful mesh of awkward time signatures, unconventional song structures and, in general, unbridled madness".[9] Pitchfork was among the most negative of the reviewers, giving the album a 4.9 and calling it unlistenable and a failure.
GQ printed in a 2014 interview with Casablancas entitled, "Julian Casablancas Is Done Trying to Save You",
The record's called Tyranny, and that's sort of what it's about, Casablancas says: rapacious oil companies and a not-so-free press and environmental depredation. Money. Health care. Nightmares. The moon. "It's not very sexy to talk about these things, especially in a place like America, where things are, like, the best. But it just feels like we’re inside that Versailles bubble, you know?"[19]
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Julian Casablancas, except where noted[5]
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Take Me in Your Army" (Jake Bercovici, Casablancas) | 4:20 |
2. | "Crunch Punch" | 4:50 |
3. | "M.utually A.ssured D.estruction" | 2:31 |
4. | "Human Sadness" (Alex Carapetis, Casablancas) | 10:56 |
5. | "Where No Eagles Fly" (Bercovici, Casablancas) | 3:44 |
6. | "Father Electricity" | 7:23 |
7. | "Johan Von Bronx" | 5:58 |
8. | "Business Dog" (Casablancas, Jeramy Gritter) | 2:35 |
9. | "Xerox" | 5:01 |
10. | "Dare I Care" | 6:07 |
11. | "Nintendo Blood" | 5:53 |
12. | "Off to War..." | 3:17 |
Total length: | 1:02:25 |
Personnel
edit- Julian Casablancas – vocals
- Jeramy "Beardo" Gritter – guitar
- Amir Yaghmai – guitar
- Jacob "Jake" Bercovici – bass guitar, synthesizers
- Alex Carapetis – drums, percussion
- Jeff Kite – keyboards
Production and others
edit- Shawn Everett – production, mixing
- Ryan Fagman – additional engineering on "Dare I Care", "Xerox", "Nintendo Blood" and "Crunch Punch"
- J. P. Bowersock – guru for "Crunch Punch", "Human Sadness" and "Take Me in Your Army"
- Mike Bloom – additional guitar on "Dare I Care"
- Brian Gardner – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering, LA
- Dave Kutch – additional mastering at The Mastering Palace, NYC
- Emily Lazar – additional mastering at The Lodge, NYC
- Warren Fu – artwork
- Liz Hirsch – artwork
- Sam Adoquei – "The Visit of Govindu" artwork
- El Teneen – "Chessboard" artwork
- Richard Priest – management crew
- Lysee Webb – management crew
- Jack Rovner – management crew
Charts
editChart (2014) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] | 176 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] | 128 |
French Albums (SNEP)[22] | 90 |
US Billboard 200 | 39 |
US Billboard Alternative Albums | 2 |
US Billboard Rock Albums | 10 |
References
edit- ^ Casablancas, Julian (2013). "Labyrinth, NYC (making of Tyranny)"". Julian Casablancas Official Website. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
- ^ a b Patterson, Adreon (January 23, 2018). "Listen to The Voidz's First New Single in Nearly Four Years, "Leave It in My Dreams"". Paste. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
- ^ Beauchemin, Molly (September 2, 2014). "Julian Casablancas and The Voidz Share Eleven-Minute "Human Sadness", Tyranny Tracklist". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Camp, Zoe (September 9, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+The Voidz Release "Where No Eagles Fly" Video, Awesome Single Artwork". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ a b "Tyranny - Julian Casablancas,Julian Casablancas & the Voidz". AllMusic. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ "NME's Top 50 Albums of 2014". NME. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
- ^ "Tyranny – Julian Casablancas & the Voidz". Metacritic. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Phares, Heather. "Tyranny - Julian Casablancas+the Voidz". AllMusic. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Taylor, Benji (September 30, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Clash Music. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Roffman, Michael (September 18, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Consequence. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Loucaides, Darren (October 14, 2014). "Album Review: Julian Casablancas & the Voidz - Tyranny". Drowned in Sound. Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Simpson, Scott (September 23, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Bull, John (October 16, 2014). "Tyranny by Julian Casablancas+the Voidz". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Perry, Kevin (October 13, 2014). "NME Reviews - Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". NME. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Cosores, Philip (September 23, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Paste. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Fitzmaurice, Larry (September 25, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ a b Hermes, Will (September 23, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
- ^ Villa, Lucas (September 27, 2014). "Album review: Julian Casablancas+The Voidz's 'Tyranny' is a hell of a statement". AXS. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018.
- ^ Baron, Zack. "Julian Casablancas Is Done Trying to Save You". GQ. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Julian Casablancas %2B The Voidz – Tyranny" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Ultratop.be – Julian Casablancas %2B The Voidz – Tyranny" (in French). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Julian Casablancas %2B The Voidz – Tyranny". Hung Medien.