UP is my favourite of theirs, probably. But Monster would be close, as would Green and Out of Time. Lyrically, I don’t think Stipe was ever better than on UP. Beautiful, evocative, insightful and bitterly honest. Reveal was a great follow-up to that sound in my opinion. A shame they “went back to basics” with Around the Sun.

Daysleeper, Suspicion, The Apologist. All of these are masterclasses in mood, lyricism and the insight of the best of the 1970s singer-songwriters. Interesting that their most loathed work, in UP and Reveal are objectively the farthest from the lazy “Dad Rock” accusation – something which is incidentally as random a criticism as any, and is more a sign of the individual’s need to defend personal taste as having some intrinsic rockin’/credible worth – for the beauty of these two LPs are not anywhere near trying to rock out!

They are in the slow moving/winding melodies, the foot in electronic mood making, and lyrics that hit home in unusual and original ways. Feel similar ways about By the Way. They were genuinely mature attempts to make some beautiful records, without a care for how they appeared. (Still think Lotus rocks pretty hard though).

It’s a largely arbitrary line that defines credibility with bands like this, but you are definitely going to be shot down if you have the audacity to suggest that you may actually be producing some good stuff past the point when the spruced up hipsters thought you were at the bleeding edge, or some other such shit.

Their last album was a good one. Nice to go out on it.

Rob

Thomas.x