| Turn On the Bright Lights | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 19, 2002 | |||
| Recorded | November 2001 | |||
| Studio | Tarquin (Bridgeport, Connecticut) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 49:02 | |||
| Label | Matador | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Interpol chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Turn On the Bright Lights | ||||
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Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by Americanrock bandInterpol. It was released in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2002, and in the United States the following day, throughindependent record labelMatador Records.[1] The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and was co-produced,mixed andengineered byPeter Katis andGareth Jones. Its title is taken from a repeated line in the song "NYC".
Upon release, the record peaked at number 101 on theUK Albums Chart. It reached number 158 on theBillboard 200 in the United States, as well as spending 73 weeks on theBillboard Independent Albums chart, peaking at number five. The songs "PDA", "Obstacle 1" and the double a-side single "Say Hello to the Angels" / "NYC" were released as singles, with music videos being shot for all except "Say Hello to the Angels".
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In a brief interview about the fifteenth anniversary ofTurn On the Bright Lights, Interpol guitaristDaniel Kessler stated the album's opening track, "Untitled" was written specifically to open the band's live shows. Lead singerPaul Banks described the riff from the song as "signature Daniel".[2]
The release ofTurn On the Bright Lights was preceded by the marketing of the band's self-titledEPInterpol in June 2002, their first release forMatador. The EP contained three tracks:radio single "PDA", future single "NYC", and "Specialist". All three tracks later appeared on the album, with "Specialist" included as a bonus track in Australian and Japanese editions. Further promotion continued at the beginning of the following year, when the band played the 2003NME Awards Tour alongsidethe Datsuns,the Polyphonic Spree andthe Thrills.[3] The song "PDA" is featured as a playable track in 2008 video gameRock Band 2.[4]
In 2012 a remastered version of the album was released in order to commemorate its tenth anniversary. It featured additional material including demo recordings of several tracks, the bonus songs previously available on international releases and a DVD of live performances and music videos.[5] Many of the demo recording tracks had been previously released however the 10th Anniversary Edition also contains five unreleased demo tracks from what is dubbed "Third Demo".[6]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100[7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [8] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[9] |
| Houston Chronicle |  [10] |
| Los Angeles Times |  [11] |
| NME | 8/10[12] |
| Pitchfork | 9.5/10[13] |
| Record Collector | [14] |
| Rolling Stone | [15] |
| Slant Magazine | [16] |
| The Village Voice | C+[17] |
Turn On the Bright Lights was released to critical acclaim. The album holds a score of 81 out of 100 from the aggregate siteMetacritic based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[7] Contemporary reviews of the album often noted Interpol's influences and drew comparisons to several other acts.[5] Michael Chamy ofThe Austin Chronicle cited "melodicPeter Hook-like basslines; the divineshoegazer textures ofMy Bloody Valentine andRide; a peppy,Strokes-like bounce; and a singer who's a dead ringer forIan Curtis."[18] "It's almost as if Ian Curtis never hanged himself," beganBlender's review, with critic Jonah Weiner adding that Paul Banks' vocals channeled Curtis' "gloomy moan."[19]NME's Victoria Segal calledJoy Division comparisons "obvious and unmistakable, airbourne in the ashen atmospherics," while praising Interpol's take on the "grey-skinned British past".[12]Billboard wrote that Interpol had created an "homage to their particular vision of the '80s that stands proudly alongside the best of its idols."[20] Scott Seward, writing inThe Village Voice, remarked: "If I like them because they remind me of eating bad bathtub mescaline in the woods and listening toCure singles, well, that'll do. You might like them for completely different reasons."[21]
Noel Murray ofThe A.V. Club opined that Interpol's virtue "lies in the way its music unfurls from pinched openings to wide-open codas",[22] whileRob Sheffield ofRolling Stone wrote that their "sleek, melancholy sound is a thing of glacial beauty".[15] Eric Carr ofPitchfork argued that the band had forged their own distinct sound, "a grander, more theatrical atmosphere with lush production that counters their frustrated bombast", praisingTurn On the Bright Lights as "one of the most strikingly passionate records I've heard this year."[13] However,The Village Voice'sRobert Christgau, naming it "Dud of the Month" in hisConsumer Guide column, felt that Interpol "exemplify and counsel disengagement, self-seeking, a luxurious cynicism," downplaying Joy Division comparisons as "too kind".[17]Q's lukewarm assessment of the album described it as "predictably claustrophobic listening".[23]
At the end of the year,Turn On the Bright Lights featured on several publications' lists of the best albums of 2002, including those ofPitchfork, who named it the year's best album,[24]NME, who ranked it at number ten,[25] andStylus Magazine, who ranked it at number five.[26] The album placed at number 15 onThe Village Voice's year-endPazz & Jop critics' poll.[27]
Hailed as a seminal album of the 2000s,[28][29][30][31][32][33]Turn On the Bright Lights has been cited as an influence on manyindie rock bands, includingthe Killers,[34]Editors,[35][36]the xx,[37]the Organ,[38]She Wants Revenge,[39] and others to the extent that many of these bands have been disparagingly referred to as "Interpol clones".[40] Closely associated with9/11-eraNew York City,[41] the album has been seen as helping define 2000s indie rock, and Interpol have been cited as helping usher in the New York-bornpost-punk revival scene, along with contemporaries such as the Strokes,Yeah Yeah Yeahs, andTV on the Radio.[42] Summing up the album's impact in a review of its 2012 re-issue, Matt LeMay ofPitchfork wrote: "Suggesting that this album is simply a product of its time and place is no less naive than suggesting that anyone who has ever been in love could easily write, arrange and record an amazing love song. There were a lot of good bands in New York in 2002, but only one band made this record."[5] In 2017, the band embarked on a worldwide tour to celebrate its 15th anniversary.[43]
In a 2018 interview withVice, Paul Banks stated: "as far as ease of making it, we had years to write these songs. The longest writing period of any of your records is your debut. We formed in 1997, so it’s five years, and three-and-a-half/four of playing shows and trying out that material. So it went down smoothly in the studio, and then you have all the excitement of it being your first album. It was a good time in our lives."[44] DrummerSam Fogarino reflected on the album by saying: "we were very naïve, we didn’t know how to make a record together, and we were lucky to have a good snapshot taken of who we were at the time. And we got a little more confident with every record."[45]
At the end of the decade, the album has been featured on numerous lists:
| Publication | Accolade | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Pitchfork | Top 100 Albums 2000–2004 | 3[46] |
| Pitchfork | Top 200 Albums of the 2000s | 20[47] |
| Stylus | Top 50 Albums 2000–2005 | 6[48] |
| Stylus | Top 100 Albums of the 2000s | 20[49] |
| NME | 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade | 8[50] |
| NME | 500 Greatest Albums of All Time | 130[51] |
| Rolling Stone | 100 Best Albums of the Decade | 59[52] |
| Under the Radar | Top 200 Albums of the Decade | 3[53] |
| Beats Per Minute | Top 100 Albums of the Decade | 7[54] |
| eMusic | 100 Best Albums of the Decade | 9 |
| Lost At Sea | 2000–2009: Albums of the Decade | 13[55] |
| The Irish Times | Top 20 Albums of the Decade | 10[56] |
| Consequence of Sound | Top 100 Albums of the Decade | 35[57] |
| musicOMH | 21 Best Albums of the 2000s | 12 |
| The Guardian | 100 Best Albums of the 21st Century | 50[58] |
All tracks are written byPaul Banks,Daniel Kessler,Carlos Dengler andSam Fogarino.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Untitled" | 3:56 |
| 2. | "Obstacle 1" | 4:11 |
| 3. | "NYC" | 4:20 |
| 4. | "PDA" | 4:59 |
| 5. | "Say Hello to the Angels" | 4:28 |
| 6. | "Hands Away" | 3:05 |
| 7. | "Obstacle 2" | 3:47 |
| 8. | "Stella was a diver and she was always down" | 6:28 |
| 9. | "Roland" | 3:35 |
| 10. | "The New" | 6:07 |
| 11. | "Leif Erikson" | 4:00 |
| Total length: | 48:56 | |
Interpol
Audio engineers
Design
| Chart (2002–2003) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Hitseekers Albums (ARIA)[59] | 4 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[60] | 62 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[61] | 78 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[62] | 101 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[63] | 11 |
| USBillboard 200[64] | 158 |
| USIndependent Albums (Billboard)[65] | 5 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | — | 20,000[66] |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[68] | Gold | 138,000[67] |
| United States (RIAA)[70] | Gold | 522,000[69] |
| Summaries | ||
| Worldwide | — | 1,000,000[71] |
