Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Make Another World - Best Idlewild album since 100 Broken Windows, 5 Mar 2007
Idlewild return with a fresh and energetic new sound that is reminisent of a cleaner sounding "Hope Is Important" mixed with the more heavily daring tracks from "The Remote Part."
Album opener "In Competition For The Worst Time" brings the band back to your speakers with a cherished pace and sound that fans of older Idlewild will adore. It's also a trendsetter for nearly the whole album, with the immediate following track, "Everything (As it Moves)" even more jump-worthy and bound to be a live classic.
Roddy Woomble's completely unmistakable vocals are still as mature with such great presence as ever, even more so than his recent solo record, "My Secret Is My Silence." Idlewild fans may or may not be pleased to hear that this album sounds nothing like the solo project, which is probably one of the resulting factors in Woomble's need to pursue his quieter songwriting spirit.
"Make Another World" is a return to genius for Scotland's best band. Singles "If It Takes You Home" and the infectiously catchy "No Emotion" are stunning grabs but it's the entire album that keeps you listening, never skipping a song. Songs like "Future Works" and "Once In Your Life" instantly seem like experimental tracks but they are so fitting and a mark of absolute clarity from a band that have been fighting with their sound since "Warnings / Promises" received mixed reviews. Both of the above mentioned tracks are rare gems in music, brave and different, yet extremely familiar and in tune with what Idlewild do best.
The album's greatest moment is in "Everything (As It Moves)" which gets my vote as the best rock song of the last two years and hopefully the next single.
Simply put, "Make Another World" is Idlewild back at their best. It's a close contender for their best album yet, perhaps just behind "100 Broken Windows" but only ever so slightly, and it is bound to get better with age. A wonderful album, released the same day as the eagerly anticipated Arcade Fire album "Neon Bible" but twice as good and ensuring that the Canadians don't grace the CD player for a long time yet.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not a return to form, as they'd never "lost" it in the first place..., 16 Mar 2007
Now 5 albums old, Idlewild are still unfashionable to a music press long since passed the point of attempting cartwheels upon the release of their albums. Added to which, the band themselves have happily slipped off a 'major' label to the "yes, our audience is more selective" home of Sequel.
Still, listening to "Make Another World" you get the sense that these issues don't trouble the band. Infact, rather than trying to consciously move in a new direction, or revert back to their earlier punkish roots, the band have instead cut another melodic, well crafted album that plays to their strengths and sits comfortably with the rest of their canon.
However, as opener "In Competition For The Worst Time" proves rather pointedly, on this album the band's spirit is clearly a bit more energised. The guitars are frequently notched up to create a sound and perspective they've been edging away from in recent releases. To underline that things are now more focused the record finishes at a snappy 35 minutes. It's a record with a dynamic built much like a live set, and so not a moment feels wasted. Songs range from thrashy noise-pop of "If It Takes You Home", to the slightly New Order-ish current single "No Emotion".
That Idlewild have never had mainstream success is not an issue, as they don't appear to have courted it either. It's hard to assess whether "Make Another World" will win them many new fans, but it's a great record and so ensures that Idlewild deserve not to lose any old ones.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic return to form!, 6 Mar 2007
Being an old school idlewild fan I am absolutely thrilled by this new offering from roddy and co. Although warning/promises had its moments it struggled to deliver the passion and raw enegy that its predecessors remote part and 100 broken windows did.
This album sees idlewild ditch the folk tinged MOR sound that was theme of the last album and turn up the amps and get back to the energetic rock sound that orginally made me a huge fan. Roddys melodic voice and mature and intelligent lyrics compliment the cruching guitars brilliantly.
Get roddys fantastic debut album if you are a fan of the slower idlewild stuff
Immediate highlights for me include the album opener in competition for the worst time, Everthing, If it takes you home and Ghost in the arcade
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