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Intimacy | 
 enlarge | Artist: Bloc Party
Label: Polydor
Category: Music
List Price: £16.99
Buy New: £4.39
You Save: £12.60 (74%)
New (23) Used (2) from £4.39
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 90
Format: Enhanced
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Running Time: 48 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
EAN: 5055036261852
ASIN: B001G4ZANG
Release Date: October 27, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Ares | | • | Mercury (Original Mix) | | • | Halo | | • | Biko | | • | Trojan Horse | | • | Signs | | • | One Month Off | | • | Zephyrus | | • | Talons | | • | Better Than Heaven | | • | Ion Square | | • | Web Link |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
Bloc Party fans have awaited the arrival of Intimacy, the band's third studio LP, with a mix of excitement and trepidation. Where their debut Silent Alarm (produced by Paul Epworth) was universally touted as a modern classic, 2007's follow up A Weekend in the City, produced by Jacknife Lee, was equally flamboyant yet patchier. Intimacy is helmed by both Lee and Epworth and the brittle contours, mish-mash of influences and semi-awkward lyrics are quintessential Bloc Party. Mixing up everything from micro-house and dub-step to indie rock and electro pop, there's a willful energy here reminiscent of the band's debut, though the spikier elements remind more of AWITC. Opening cut "Ares" sets out the band's stall with a bombastic brew of high-energy drums, preening guitars and urgent sirens, while upbeat lead single "Mercury," employs a quirky astrological motif. These prove to be the most charged tracks on the record as elsewhere the band indulge in choral-chanting and strings ("Zephyrus"), angsty art-rock ("Halo") and a surprisingly uplifting finale in the shape of "Ion Square". Intimacy, as we should have guessed, is predictably unpredictable: knowingly difficult, defiantly angular yet eminently likeable. --Danny McKenna
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Rushed Intamacy leads to Fumbled Mediocrity December 2, 2008
Man Without a Soul (London)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I'm in danger of falling out of love with Bloc Party - they can call their new album Intimacy, Tender Kisses, Big Snogs from Kele and the Boys, whatever - the simple fact is this clumsy fumble of an album feels rushed.
This third album of course follows the less than spectacular 'A Weekend in the City' - a hugely ambitious album that fell short of the band's lofty aspiration to create a cultural snapshot of modern London life as experienced by your average young 20 and 30 somethings. It did however have some good moments and I am loath to completely slate a band for trying too hard. At the very least it felt like the band had sat down and recorded a set of songs thematically linked, with a common tone and that even had some sort of story arc running through them.
In stark contrast this sounds like a random selection of tunes slapped onto disc and pressed as quickly as possible as an excercise in - well, what exactly? Why are this band in such a rush? Was 'A Weekend...' such a disaster that the record company demanded this be released as soon as humanly possible? Do the band believe they are creatively on fire and can release an album every 12 months? Or do the band want to distance themselves from their previous work? Is this how Bloc Party believe they can best please their fans?
Whatever the answer this is the album they released and it is pretty average. The first track 'Ares' sounds like Damon Albarn, Dizzee Rascal and the Ting Tings shoved into a blender and the result is...erm, not very palatable. 'Mercury' continues the processed electronic sound and is a grower so persevere - it is a bit like 'The National Anthem' off Radiohead's Kid A and some people will hate it. A case of musical Marmite. 'Halo' is a good old school Bloc Party tune that has zero in common with the two opening tracks and the change in sound is abrupt and disconcerting. You soon work out that this is in fact the pattern of the album and you will just have to live with these jumpy transitions.
'Biko', 'Talons' and 'One Month Off' are all harmless enough but nothing new - Kele has some vocal melodies he tends to fall back on time and time again on the more average material. 'Zephyrus' needed more work and now sounds like an abandoned rehash of 'Where is Home?' while the glitchy 'Trojan Horse' also sounds distinctly under cooked. 'Ion Square' is a bit of a non song but sounds pretty enough.
'Signs' and 'Better Than Heaven' are perhaps the two best songs on the album, the former being a beautiful ambient soundscape of glockenspiel and bells, and the latter a trademark 'Silent Alarm' style song with real depth and texture to the sound.
New material from a band is always welcome and Bloc Party are nothing if not prolific. Is this constant production line of music coming at the expense of true quality and a worthy follow up to 'Silent Alarm' or have the band just levelled out into sustainable mediocrity after an initial spurt of hyper creativity? I hope the answer is the former and that the next time the band enter the studio they take their time in producing something really special - I'd wait an extra 12 months for that.
 Fantastic November 19, 2008
Euan (London, UK)
When I bought Bloc Party's new album 'Intimacy' I was very sceptical. I didn't particularly enjoy 'A Weekend In The City' but I loved 'Silent Alarm'. The latter was much more energetic and interesting whereas AWITC felt a bit sterile in places (particularly 'Flux')
However, upon the first listen I knew that this would be my favourite Bloc Party album and several listens have only confirmed that. This time around the electronics feel much more natural and make the music so much more interesting. The high tempos and excitement of 'Silent Alarm' are much more present this time; particularly in the opener 'Ares', 'Halo' and 'Talons'. The slower numbers in this album however are the real masterpieces, 'Biko', 'Signs' and 'Zephyrus' are amazing. Each has a fantastic anthematic quality and creates a nice contrast between the other songs. 'Mercury', the lead single, is the most "electronic" track on the album and while it is nowhere near the best it does well in grabbing your attention.
The album isn't perfect however; 'Better Than Heaven' is quite simply a bad track and is obviously filler. Which is a shame because it completely loses your attention whereas the rest of the album really kept you on hold wondering what was going to happen next etc. In fact, if you listen to the album as a whole (as I often do) you may miss out on the last track, which is superb. But, while this is annoying, it can be overlooked as the quality of the rest of the album completely over-rides this fault. Totally worthy of 5 stars and completely worth your money.
The Perfect Blend - It's evolution. November 7, 2008
Murray (UK)
OK I love Silent Alarm as well. It's one of my all time favourite albums and It gets a run out on the iPod at least once a week. Having said that, bands need to evolve and the fans need to evolve with them. Intimacy is the perfect blend of old and new Bloc Party. Classic BP tracks like "One Month Off" and "Ares" are mixed in with tracks such as "Mercury" and "Biko" that reach almost electronica levels. The combination of old and new means this is, by far my favourite Bloc Party album so far. Ion Square is a 6 minute masterpiece and would be worth the money on it's own. Please get past the Silent Alarm hang-ups and give this superb album a play - it will not let you down.
Silent Alarm
 Some satisfaction November 3, 2008
T. Biffen (England)
Ive come to the conclusion that this is actually a really good album with some solid tracks. After the release of AWITC i lost a bit hope in Bloc, but this album really delivers with a good variety of songs- the outstanding tracks being 'Halo' Trojan Horse' and 'Better than heaven'. This one mixes up both previous albums and chucks out both relaxing and energetic tunes which are very listenable to all fans of Bloc Party; does however take a bit of growing, but you wont regret the purchase.
The only track i dont like is 'Zephyrus' its basically just a crapper version of 'Where is home' but the rest- thumbs up :)
Top notch! November 3, 2008
The Mews (Notts, England)
Best album to date. Not an easy conclusion to come to, but this doesnt have the one or two weaker tracks that silent alarm had e.g. compliments (WITC is very good, but a bit low-key to compete i think).
At first I thought that 'Ares' was pretty poor, but its really grown on me. It sounds a bit Chemical Brothers and is really high energy.
I really respect the fact they have moved on from what was a very popular and lucrative style and expanded into different styles without losing the plot.
There are songs that will appeal to silent alarm lovers Talons, Halo, Trojan Horse and Zepherus, but even these have a much more electronic sound.
Im trying to pick a standout track, and Halo would be the easy answer on first listen, but the more i listen the more difficult it becomes.
This is an album for the car, the gymn, the bedroom and the party; buy it!
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