Turn on the Bright Lights

Turn On the Bright Lights
Studio album by Interpol
Released	August 19, 2002
Recorded	November 2001 Tarquin Studios, Bridgeport, Connecticut[1]
Genre	Post-punk revival
Length	49:02
Label	Matador
Producer	Peter Katis, Gareth Jones
Interpol chronology
Turn On the Bright Lights (2002) Antics (2004)

Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by American post-punk revival band Interpol, released in August 2002. The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, and was co-produced, mixed and engineered by Peter Katis and Gareth Jones. It was released on August 19, 2002 in the United Kingdom and August 20 in the United States, through independent record label Matador Records. Upon release, the record peaked at number 101 on the UK Albums Chart. It reached number 158 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, as well as spending 73 weeks in the Billboard Independent Albums, peaking at number five.

"PDA," "NYC," "Obstacle 1" and "Say Hello to the Angels" were the singles from Turn On the Bright Lights, and a video was shot for each with the exception of "Say Hello to the Angels."

Promotion and release

The release of Turn On the Bright Lights was preceded by the marketing of the band's self-titled Interpol EP in June 2002, their first release for Matador. 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 2003 NME Awards Tour alongside The Datsuns, The Polyphonic Spree and The Thrills.^[2]

The song "Untitled" was used in the sitcom Friends, as closing music to the 9th season's finale, "The One in Barbados".

Track listing

All tracks written by Interpol.

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

Bonus tracks on Australian edition

• "Specialist" – 6:39

Bonus tracks on Japanese edition

Two different versions exist. One version has the following bonus tracks:

• "Interlude" – 1:02
• "Specialist" – 6:39

The other version has the following bonus tracks:

• "Hands Away" (Peel session)
• "Obstacle 2" (Peel session)
• "PDA" (video)
• "NYC" (video)
• "Obstacle 1" (video)

Bonus tracks on Mexican edition

• "Interlude" – 1:02
• "Specialist" – 6:39
• "PDA" (video)
• "NYC" (video)
• "Obstacle 1" (video)

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]
Drowned in Sound	(9/10)[4]
NME	(8/10)[5]
Pitchfork Media	(9.5/10)[6]
PopMatters	(9/10)[7]
Q	[8]
Robert Christgau	(C+)[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]

Interpol's debut album gained so much critical success that not only was it hailed as one of best debuts of 2002, but is considered by some to be one of the best all around records of the decade. Turn On the Bright Lights made several critics' Top 10 lists of 2002.

• Thee-O – #1
• Michael Azerrad – #1
• Chris Baldwin – #10
• Greg Beets – #2
• Eric Broome – #8
• Dana Buoniconti – #5
• Nick Catucci – #6
• Paul Clements – #4
• Dave Clifford – #4
• Ethan Covey – #8
• Corey du Browa – #8
• Cyndi Elliott – #7
• Norm Elrod – #3
• John Elsasser – #7

The rest of the list is located at The Village Voice.

Awards

• #1 – Pitchfork Media: Top 50 Albums of 2002
• #3 – Pitchfork: Top 100 Albums of 2000–2004
• #20 – Pitchfork: Top 200 Albums of 2000s
• #5 – Stylus: Top 20 Albums of 2002
• #6 – Stylus: Top 50 Albums 2000–2005
• #13 – Stylus: Top 100 Albums of 2000s
• #10 – NME: Albums of 2002
• #8 – NME: Top Albums of the 00s
• #59 – Rolling Stone: 100 Best Albums of the Decade

Personnel

• Paul Banks – lead vocals, guitar
• Daniel Kessler – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Carlos D – bass, keyboards
• Samuel Fogarino – drums, percussion

Chart performance

Chart (2002)	Peak position
UK Albums Chart[11]	101
U.S. Billboard 200[12]	158
Chart (2003)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Independent Albums[12]	5

References

1. ^ "Matador Records - Interpol Biography". Matador Records official website. http://www.matadorrecords.com/interpol/biography.html. Retrieved 13 December 2009. 
2. ^ Kershaw, Richard (14 February 2003). "Review / Interpol @ Astoria, 9/02/03". Drowned in Sound. http://drownedinsound.com/gigs/658/reviews/6069-interpol-at-astoria-london-sun-09-feb. Retrieved 6 December 2009. 
3. ^ Kellman, Andy. "Interpol: Turn On the Bright Lights > Review" at Allmusic. Retrieved 11 September 2011.
4. ^ Frankowski, Andy (16 August 2002). "Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights". Drowned in Sound. http://drownedinsound.com/releases/3034/reviews/4605-. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
5. ^ Segal, Victoria (12 September 2005). "Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights". NME (IPC Media). ISSN 0028-6362. http://www.nme.com/reviews/interpol/6645. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
6. ^ Carr, Eric (18 August 2002). "Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/reviews/albums/4113-turn-on-the-bright-lights/. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
7. ^ Powers, Devon (30 August 2002). "Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/i/interpol-turn.shtml. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
8. ^ Q: p. 137. August 2010. "5 Stars - Classic - '…No one does icy existential detachment better in modern rock…'" 
9. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Interpol". robertchristgau.com. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=interpol. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
10. ^ Sheffield, Rob (14 August 2002). "Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/turn-on-the-bright-lights-20020814. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 
11. ^ Rogers, Simon (19 November 2009). "NME's top 50 albums of the decade: how high did they get in the charts?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/nov/19/nme-top-albums-decade-noughties-strokes. Retrieved 13 December 2009. 
12. ^ ^{a b} "Turn On the Bright Lights - Interpol". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/artist/interpol/447165#/album/interpol/turn-on-the-bright-lights/542915. Retrieved 13 December 2009. 

External links

• Turn on the Bright Lights at Metacritic