Search - Wildhearts :: Must Be Destroyed

Best Album of 2003/2004

Lindsey Anderson | New York, NY USA | 01/30/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Bear witness with an open mind and an open heart. Some of you may be familiar with Plato's Myth of the Cave: People live in a cave, seeing the images on the wall cast by the light coming from outside. They believe all their lives they are seeing the actual object and not merely a shadow on the wall. The Wildhearts are the thing itself, what makes that projection from outside the cave. In the last two years, if I had a nickel for every time I read some bio/press release/review proclaiming X band as the saviours of rock and roll, I'd be on tour right now (I wish I'd have a nickel back for every time I was subjected to Nickelback! Arrrgh!).



If I will ever say it about anyone, I would reserve it for the Wildhearts with this album. "Nexus Icon" is a furnace blast in the face of music that's been frozen in carbonite for all too long. "Someone Who Won't Let Me Go" is pure power pop with a serrated blade. Vocals and harmonies are carefully crafted as if Ginger was the true spawn of John Phillips (and not those other, uh, things - ick). "Vanilla Radio" is the obvious hit, but not for no reason other than it's a well crafted song with hooks, rife with the guts of rock and the right combination of molasses and ire and radio-ready production. On the sweeter "One Love, One Life, One Girl", this could have easily come from Cheap Trick if Cheap Trick wasn't TRYING so hard nowadays to be Cheap Trick (but that's another rant altogether). "Only One Hell" is the track that grew on me the most over the 1000 times I listened to this album.



There is no posing. This is it. Not the shadow, but the thing itself. They are on "Top of the World" projecting a shadow on the rest of us. But being freed from the cave to be blinded by the light, I wonder if I shouldn't hang it up myself."

A+ offering from one of the rock world's hidden treasures

Nick M | Lawrence, KS | 10/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It seems that The Wildhearts can do no wrong, apart from breaking up every few years. "The Wildhearts Must Be Destroyed!" follows a string of Wildhearts releases that have all been top-notch, so the expectations for this one were high. We needn't have worried. Nothing but classic Wildies here. Songs that'll stick in your head after the first listen, ball-busting guitars that'll give you the best-sounding enema you've ever had. Also features excellent production, for once. The sound is crisp and clear on headphones, and will sound just as great blasted full volume in your car with all the windows down (as this album begs to be cranked).



This album is a bit more pop-oriented than their previous efforts, as they seem to be focusing on writing fantastic songs on this one, rather than seeing how many riffs they can fit into a song (not that that's a bad thing at all!). The Wildhearts have never been a band to stay the same, and I think this is a logical step in their progression. Enjoy it.



Long live The Wildhearts."