The Music is the debut album by British rock band The Music, released on 2 September 2002. It was certified gold in Japan for 100,000 copies shipped in March 2003.[6]

The Music
Studio album by
Released2 September 2002
StudioJacobs, Farnham, Surrey, England
GenreIndie rock, alternative rock, dance-rock, psychedelic rock[1]
Length52:06
LabelHut
ProducerJim Abbiss
The Music chronology
The Music
(2002)
Welcome to the North
(2004)
Singles from The Music
  1. "Take the Long Road and Walk It"
    Released: 19 August 2002
  2. "Getaway"
    Released: 18 November 2002
  3. "The Truth Is No Words"
    Released: 17 February 2003
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic58/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blender[4]
Pitchfork4.7/10[5]
Rolling Stone 6 Mar 03

Background

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The Music was released on 22 September 2002, when all four band members had only recently turned eighteen years of age.[7]

Composition

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The album has been described as incorporating elements of psychedelia, dance-rock, post-grunge, electronica and hard rock.[5]

Reception

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The album received mixed reviews from critics. AllMusic wrote an enthusiastic review, calling the album "an incredible debut and a brilliant example of where rock could be headed", stating that it is more "stylish" than many of the band's contemporaries in the garage rock revival scene, namely the Hives, the Vines, and the Strokes.[3]

Several other publications, however, were more critical of the album. Blender dubbed the album as "one of the most hilariously overheated debuts in memory" and criticised the production, scoring the album a 2 out of 5.[4] Pitchfork also made similar complaints about the production, praising Harvey's vocals and several tracks such as "Take The Long Road and Walk It", "Too High" and "Float" but overall concluded that the album sounds "overproduced and underdeveloped" and was also lukewarm to the songwriting. They also ridiculed the band name, stating that it "makes them impossible to find on the web and the butt of any number of easy jokes".[5]

Track listing

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All tracks written by The Music.

  1. "The Dance" – 5:08
  2. "Take the Long Road and Walk It" – 4:53
  3. "Human" – 5:28
  4. "The Truth Is No Words" – 4:35
  5. "Float" – 5:21
  6. "Turn Out the Light" – 6:23
  7. "The People" – 4:58
  8. "Getaway" – 6:29
  9. "Disco" – 6:36
  10. "Too High" – 5:55

The UK release of this album also contains a track in the pregap called "New Instrumental", which plays upon rewinding from the start of "The Dance". A live version of this song also appeared as the B-side to "Take the Long Road and Walk It".

Personnel

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The Music

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  • Robert Harvey – vocals, rhythm guitar
  • Adam Nutter – lead guitar
  • Stuart Coleman – bass
  • Phil Jordan – drums

Production

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  • Jim Abiss – production

Charts

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Chart performance for The Music
Chart (2002–2003) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[8] 25
French Albums (SNEP)[9] 78
Irish Albums (IRMA)[10] 39
Italian Albums (FIMI)[11] 16
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[12] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[13] 4
US Billboard 200[14] 128

Certifications

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Certifications for The Music
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[15] Gold 35,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[16] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "The Music Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  2. ^ "The Music by The Music". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b "The Music - The Music | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b Lynskey, Dorian. "The Music The Music". Blender. Archived from the original on 20 August 2004. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "The Music: The Music". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  6. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2003年3月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. March 2003 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 522. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 13. 10 May 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  7. ^ "The Music". Discogs.com. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Music – The Music". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Music – The Music". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Irish album chart positions". irish-charts.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Italiancharts.com – The Music – The Music". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  12. ^ ザ・ミュージックのCDアルバムランキング、ザ・ミュージックのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE [The Music] (in Japanese). Oricon Inc. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Billboard 200: Week of March 15, 2003". Billboard. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  15. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2003 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  16. ^ "Japanese album certifications – The Music – The Music" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Retrieved 11 May 2023. Select 2003年03月 on the drop-down menu