Yeah Yeah Yeahs Album: “It's Blitz [Deluxe Edition]”

I'm a recent convert to Yeah Yeah Yeahs, so I will state outright that I have no preconceptions as to what they "should" sound like. It can be difficult to deal with change in a favorite band/group, but it is essential to the band's survival that they change their style over time to keep from becoming stale.

That is what I see this newest album as, a shining star in Yeah Yeah Yeahs already remarkable journey. I have since picked up their other two major releases, their self titled EP and the EPs, "Machine" and "Is Is." Well worth it to pick them all up!

This album, "It's Blitz!," has become my go-to because of the many moods it conjures up. It speaks of building self-confidence, depression, rekindled love and loss.

It begins upbuilding with the two most synth-heavy tracks, Zero and Heads Will Roll, with bright, poignant vocals and guitar riffs with the steady drumbeat that holds it all together.

The album becomes much more sober as it hits Soft Shock and Skeletons, and appears to delve into failing relationships and the emotions associated with them. Skeletons especially makes extremely good use of simple lyrics to convey a great deal of emotion. If you liked "Maps" from Fever to Tell, you will most likely love this song.

The album fires back up for a bit with Dull life, which is quite similar to their older work, with Karen's vocals and the Nick's guitar fiercely revving up throughout the song. I've heard it is actually a song they've played numerous times in live shows, but never really recorded. Shame and Fortune has a defiant tone, similar to Dull Life, an effective and enjoyable follow up overall.

Runaway is another somber tune, speaking of uncertainty on the part of one person in a relationship, while the other is controlling, even dominating to the point the other requires their help to go on. This is shown by the lyrics, "want you to be my prize," and, "not so strong without these open arms." Quite depressing, but it works well with the rest of the album. Overall, a sad, but beautiful song.

Dragon Queen brings another synth song into the mix, adding to the variety of what could possibly be a depressing end of the album. It's a dance/disco style song, with Karen's voice more subdued.

Hysteric follows on this style, but Karen is more fired up. Hysteric is being called one of the best songs on the album by more than one critic, as it is their most effective "pop like" song. It's very different from their older work, but a great song nonetheless.

The last song on the album (not the bonus songs) is Little Shadow, a beautiful and hopeful song, showcasing Karen's versatility. It's another song with a feeling hope in the lyrics. A fitting end for an album I know I will continue to enjoy for years to come, perhaps my whole life.

As a nice bonus on the Digi-pack, there are acoustic versions of Soft Shock, Skeletons, Hysteric and Little Shadow. They are all very easy listening - Karen's voice is melodic in it's softness and beauty, something early fans would possibly be shocked by. We all know Karen is one of the most talented female vocalists out there though, so it shouldn't come as much of a shock. :)

Anyway, if you like accoustic at all, the deluxe pack is a no brainer, as these are some of the best accoustic transformations I've ever heard.

Overall, I highly recommend that anyone who likes good lyrics, great guitar and, in my opinion, the best vocals so far this year. I just can't get enough of this band.

If you've been stalking this album before it came out, you kinda knew what to expect. On their website the YYYs said that it was unlike ANYTHING they've done before. Frightening but exciting news. Then Zero came out and I peed my pants (nt rly). Yes it's synthy (a word I'll use a lot to describe the songs) and dancey but I figured my YYYs would show em how it's done, so I kept my faith. The day I opened the album, I scanned the song titles and I was a little frightened. The titles sounded awesome, but the instruments listed were cello, piano, trumpet, and saxophones. Automatically I thought "WHITE STRIPES GET THEE BEHIND ME!!!".

Now for the review :)

Zero: Probably the best choice for single because it's mid tempo and the song has a of a little bit of something from each song in it. 5/5

Heads Will Roll: From the moment you hear Karen yell "Off with your head!" like she's the friggin Queen of Hearts, she's gotcha. About the same tempo as Zero but with a heavier, almost disco beat. Another dance track. This is what Show your bones would sound like if it joined us in '09. It's hard, but contained.

Soft shock: Slow, but not too slow. Rhythm reminds me of Way Out. As Karen softly sings, I kind of think of Brian's work as the heartbeat of the song. 5/5

Skeletons: starts of with one simple synth fairy + sincerely singing Karen, which then evolves into Karen plus space synths that sound like when you set your keyboard on Galaxy setting. The last minute-ish of the song are pretty much just drums and space synths. Pretty, but unless I plan on listening to the album as a whole, or feeling contemplative, not one I see myself going to. 3/5

Dull Life: If you've heard of KT Tunstall's single Hold On, I think of this song as Hold On's crazy younger sister (not the lyrics though, just a few minor similarities in melodies and rhythm). Starts of slow as well with just Karen and a light strummings of Nick then Brian joins, then it's a good ol party. This and the next track are the only time you get all members of this band do what they each do. 5/5

Shame and Fortune: Hmm. This one is strange to me. It's like how Fancy didn't quite fit into ShowYourBones. I just skip this one cuz I very vaguely remember it. All band members are on this one as well. 1/5

Runaway: Also starts off slow. Just Karen and a clean basic piano melody. This one is kind of multi layered in sound. After the intro, you get your synthy sounds, but you also hear Nick faintly playing a few brooding notes in the vackground. On top of the moody guitar you get the layered synth sounds which for some reason which make me feel distant. Then the drums march along toward the middle-end.I really like this song the lyrics are very touching and the sounds are genius. 5/5

Dragon Queen: Oohh yes. Time to get on the dance floor. Definitely disco baby. Unfortunately, the music is louder than Karen on the chorus, but it's not like I'm not used to imagining what they're saying (or what their songs mean). 5/5

Hysteric: synth n' drums. slow but happy. Perhaps the most radio friendly track. Not that any radio station I know plays yeah yeah yeahs but you know what I mean. 3/5

Little Shadow: Another simple slow start with Karen + acoustic guitar. Reminds me of Runaway with it's layered synths but not as spacey or exciting to my ear brain. But Karen's voice has the raw sound of that bonus track off of Fever2Tell who's title I can't recall right now. Quite touching. 4/5

Acoustic tracks: All the acoustic tracks are brilliant and whoever Gillian Rivers is, thank you. The thing is, not only are the tracks acoustic, but they have violins and cellos. Sometimes, they do sound a little Chinese restaurant-esque, but it's still good. 5/5

Ahh. We've danced, we've cried, but twas a good time. The instruments weren't as bad as I thought they'd be because they've been mechanized (?) so that fear is gone. I felt like Fever showcased Nicks awesome guitar, Bones was Brian's turn to shine a bit, and this one belongs to Karen and Nick (who either helped produce/fully produced all the tracks). Plus I needed this to wash away the weird taste of the Killers Day and Age (wtf!!!killers). This will hold me until No Doubt comes back lol! (all my bands are coming back yeah!)

I've been a fan of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for quite some time and I have to say that when I got this CD I almost could not believe it was them. They went out of their classic elements to create some new tunes that are simply beautiful. The acoustic songs have some special uniqueness that almost make you cry when you hear them. Trust me, once you hear the CD a couple of times, you'll be hocked. This is a new side of the yeah yeah yeahs, indie at its best.

i mean, my god.. are you all really that narrow minded that you want them to write the same album over and over again? have you heard of progression? if you want to hear a band that writes the same album over again for 30 years, listen to that sorry excuse for a band, AC/DC. you must be the same people that stopped liking Pearl Jam after Vitalogy because you wanted them to write albums that sounded exactly like Ten for the rest of their career.

"it's not hard enough" and "she doesn't scream once"...wow. are you all slow? do you understand that music is art? look at what Tom Waits achieved by making different types of music. but oh i forgot.. none of you that gave this album 1 and 2 stars even knows who Tom Waits is.. pity.. i bet you're all nickelback fans..

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have grown to become bigger and better. They are still the same band, watch em play any of these songs in concert live...see if you think that they lost their edge.

This album is nothing but brilliant. End of story.