Turn On the Bright Lights

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Turn On the Bright Lights
Studio album by Interpol
Released	August 19, 2002
Recorded	Tarquin Studios, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Genre	Post-punk revival Indie Rock
Length	49:02
Label	Matador
Producer	Pete Katis, Gareth Jones
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Austin Chronicle link BBC (favourable) link Blender link Drowned in Sound (9/10) link Pitchfork (9.5/10) 19 Aug 02 PopMatters (favorable) link Robert Christgau (C+) link Rolling Stone (favorable) 5 Sep 02 Stylus (B+) 1 Sep 03
Interpol chronology
Interpol EP (2002) Turn On the Bright Lights (2002) The Black EP (2003)

Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut album of New York City rock band Interpol. It was released in 2002 on Matador Records to a great deal of critical acclaim and sold exceptionally well for an indie release; it has sold 464,000 copies so far. It also ranked highly on the yearly lists of many music critics, and has to date sold 86,000 in the UK despite only charting as high as #101.

Musically, many have pointed out the similarities between Turn on the Bright Lights and the bands Joy Division and The Chameleons.^[1]. "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". "Leif Erikson" was named for Leif Ericson. The track "Untitled" also appeared in Season 9, episode 24 of the US Television show, Friends.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Bonus tracks on Australian edition 1.2 Bonus tracks on Japanese edition 1.3 Bonus tracks on Mexican edition 2 Releases 3 Critical reception 3.1 Awards 4 Personnel 5 Charts 6 References

[edit] 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

[edit] Bonus tracks on Australian edition

• "Specialist" - 6:39

[edit] 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)

[edit] Bonus tracks on Mexican edition

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

[edit] Releases

Year	Region	Format	Label	Catalog number
August 19, 2002	United Kingdom	LP	Matador Records	OLE5451
August 19, 2002	United Kingdom	CD	Matador Records	OLE5452
August 20, 2002	United States	LP	Matador Records	OLE5451
August 20, 2002	United States	CD	Matador Records	OLE5452
July 16, 2003	Japan		Toshiba-EMI	TOCP 66206
2005		CD	Ales	2034

[edit] Critical reception

Interpol's debut album gained so much critical success that not only was it hailed as one of best debuts of 2002, but was also considered by many to be one of the best all around records of the year. Turn on the Bright Lights made several critics' Top 10 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 Village Voice.[1]

[edit] Awards

• #1 - Pitchfork: Top 50 Albums of 2002
• #3 - Pitchfork: Top 100 Albums of 2000-2004
• #5 - Stylus: Top 20 Albums of 2002
• #6 - Stylus: Top 50 Albums 2000-2005
• #6 - Rate Your Music: Top Albums of 2002
• #10 - NME: Albums of 2002

[edit] Personnel

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

[edit] Charts

Year	Chart	Position
2002	Billboard 200	158
2002	Top Independent Albums	5
2003	Top Heatseekers	4

[edit] References

1. ^ allmusic ((( Turn on the Bright Lights > Overview )))

v • d • e Interpol Paul Banks | Daniel Kessler | Carlos Dengler | Sam Fogarino Former members Greg Drudy Albums Turn on the Bright Lights | Antics | Our Love to Admire Extended plays Demo Tape | Fukd ID #3 | Precipitate EP | Interpol EP | The Black EP | Interpol Remix EP | Live in Astoria EP Singles "PDA" | "NYC" | "Obstacle 1" | "Say Hello to the Angels" | "Slow Hands" | "Evil" | "C'mere" | "NARC" | "The Heinrich Maneuver" | "Mammoth" | "No I in Threesome"