Please do not place this vote for that reason.
1 Like
Yeah this is great so good live as well.
Phoenix are an easy 4 for me. WAP is the highlight but there is a lot to like on all their albums.
They just do great indie bangers. Always used to play either lisztomania or 1901 at my indie night and would be one of the most popular songs to get people dancing.
Stuff after WAP is still good tbh
1 Like
never got em, couple catchy tunes but mostly seem vv lifeless. WAP was probably my biggest shrug reaction to an acclaimed album in the P4K hype era
2/5
French, arenāt they? Thatās literally all I know about them.
If they are French, that is.
2 Likes
thanks, I will give this a go. Up to now I have always dismissed them as dilettante poshos, the French Mumford & Sons basically, but I suppose I should actually listen before jumping to conclusions.
1 Like
Thatās an utterly horrible thing to call anyone ffs! 
2 Likes
Not heard anything by them apart from Lizstomania which I think I have heard 100 or more times just from repeat watching the āMix with the Mastersā seminar/video where the dearly departed Phillipe Zdar goes through the his entire studio and then the entire mix track by track and then does a live mix explaining all the ins and out as he goes
Good track, great producer, sorely missed RIP
1 Like
They might be the best āsitting in a cramped radio studio doing stripped-back versionsā band in the world. This somehow probably trumps the original:
And this is also great craic:
Effortlessly cool, even as French people go.
Artist commentaries of my all time favourite songs like the following one for Love Like a Sunset should be mandatory. Iād pay good money to have more access to this type of material.
4 Likes
They have an unreal live drummer, really makes their show.
4 for me.
Show i recall the most was mid afternoon at Secret Garden Party, must have been around 2008 circa WAP blowing up. Keen to see them at Brixton later this year.
As I said. This performance really captures it!
1 Like
I only know WAP and itās quite good. I will be scoring Phoenix 4/5 just on that basis alone.
1 Like
So Phoenix were one of those bands that clicked for me immediately. I think I initially got into them through the Daft Punk and Air connections in the music press. Most French music up to that point in my life had been sung in French and Iād been a bit dismissive of it. I think at the back end of the 90ās I probably liked Daft Punk, Air and Phoenix in that order but their debut album always had a special place in my heart.
The next two albums were warmly received but never really stood out in a wider context. I really liked them a lot, even if my friends werenāt really digging them much. When WAP came out I think my obsession felt justified here was the album I honestly knew they were capable of because Iād heard that promise on previous albums. It honestly made me feel warm inside knowing they had made the album of their lives! It also came out at a time of a lot of change in my life so it soundtracked that year in many ways.
Since WAP they havenāt really hit the heights but Iāve liked their work and it still gets me excited when they release stuff. For me itās a big 5
10 Likes
I got into Phoenix (via the usual French associates and Jacques Lu Cont/Stuart Price) around the time United was released but Iām pretty sure I really started paying attention when they released Alphabetical, which I still consider their best album to this day. While United was a bit disco kitchen sink and directionless, Alphabetical felt laser-guided, capturing a burgeoning indie pop band at the height of their creativity but before the fame set in. Thereās a real joy to that album, only recaptured for the rightly lauded Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Itās Never Been Like That is a fine album but Iāve always felt it was bookended by its betters. Bankrupt is an odd one in that it sounds a lot like WAP but doesnāt have the songcraft and the title canāt help but come across as deeply ironic. Iāve heard stuff from Ti Amo but it seems like a continual downward trajectory from Bankrupt and Iāve largely ignored its existence. Perhaps unfair, but I think theyāre a better band than the one theyāve been for a decade now. I definitely donāt listen to them as much as I once did, but I always come back to Alphabetical.
4.
Also, it takes a great band to make something as ridiculous as this work:
4 Likes
4 from me. Pretty sure I first heard them on the soundtrack to Lost in Translation. Not massively into them but theyāre great live. Fairly sure I saw them at Primavera a few years ago.
I only listen to them in summer though. For me they are a summer band.
1 Like
Scoooooooooore
4 from me. When theyāre good, theyāre crafting some of the best indie-pop songs ever and playing them with serious panache. Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a solid gold smasher of an album and still stands up incredibly well. But thereās a fair bit of filler scattered over the other albums so I canāt give them a perfect five.
Phoenix score 3.24
1 Like
- Death Cab
- Laura Marling
- Phoenix
0 voters