In February 2005, the band released their debut album Silent Alarm. It was critically acclaimed and was named Indie Album of the Year at the 2006 PLUG Awards and NME Album of the year which both honour indie music. That year, the record was also certified platinum in Britain. The band built on this success in 2007 with the release of their second studio album, A Weekend in the City, which reached a peak of number two in the UK Albums Chart and number twelve in the Billboard 200. In August 2008, Bloc Party released their third studio record, Intimacy which entered the UK Albums Chart at number eight and number eighteen on the Billboard 200. The band went on a hiatus in October 2009 to focus on side projects. They reunited in September 2011, and shortly thereafter released their fourth album, Four, which entered the UK Albums Chart at number three. In 2013, Bloc Party released their third EP titled The Nextwave Sessions in August; the band then began an indefinite hiatus to continue with their respective side projects. The band's fifth studio album, Hymns, the first to involve Harris and Bartle, was released on 29 January 2016. Their sixth studio album Alpha Games was released on 29 April 2022. Bloc Party have sold over 3 million albums worldwide.[1]
Russell Lissack and Kele Okereke first met in 1998 in London. Lissack had attended Bancroft's School, while Okereke attended Ilford County High School, then Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green for sixth form. They bumped into each other again in 1999 at Reading Festival and decided to form a band.[2] Bassist Gordon Moakes joined after answering an advert in NME, and drummer Matt Tong joined after an audition.[2] After going through a variety of names, such as Union, The Angel Range, and Diet, the band settled on Bloc Party in September 2003, a play on block party.[3] The band has said that the name was not intended to be an allusion to the Soviet Bloc or the Canadian political party Bloc Québécois. However, Moakes said on the group's official Internet forum that it was more a merging of the eastern "Blocs" and the western "parties", in the political sense. He also notes that the name was not explicitly driven by politics, but rather it "looked, sounded, seemed fine so we went with it."[4]
Bloc Party Four Album Download Rar
Bloc Party's debut album, Silent Alarm, was released in February 2005 and was met with universal critical acclaim.[12] It was voted 'Album of the Year' for 2005 by NME,[13] and reached number 3 on the UK Albums Chart before being certified platinum.[14][15] The first single from the album, "So Here We Are/Positive Tension", made the top 5 on the UK Top 40 chart.[14] Further singles "Banquet" (which reached number 13 in NME's 'Top 50 Singles of 2005'), "Helicopter", and "Pioneers", whilst failing to repeat this success, still managed to reach the UK top 20.[14] The animated video for "Pioneers," made by the Shoreditch-based Minivegas design agency,[16] was top of the NME video charts for four weeks. NME tagged them as "art-rock" at that time but the band felt it was too limited.[17]
Bloc Party's second album, A Weekend in the City, was produced by Garret "Jacknife" Lee.[26] It was released in February 2007,[27] although it was leaked in November 2006.[28] It became available for download on the UK iTunes Store before the physical release, and reached the number 2 spot on the UK Albums Chart.[29] The album also reached number 2 on the Australian and Belgian charts,[30][31] and debuted at number 12 in the Billboard 200, with 48,000 copies sold.[32] The first single, "The Prayer", was released on 29 January,[33] and became the band's highest charting single in the British Top 40, reaching number 4.[34] In the buildup to the release of the album, BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe aired a live set by the band from Maida Vale studios on 30 January 2007, featuring a mix of old and new songs.[35] On 1 February 2007, A Weekend in the City was made available to listen to for free through Bloc Party's official MySpace page.[36]
"Mercury" was released as the first single from Bloc Party's third album in August 2008.[52] Again produced by Jacknife Lee and Paul Epworth, Intimacy was rush-released later that month, with the album available to download 3 days after an announcement in August 2008. Later in the month the band played second on the bill at the Reading and Leeds Festivals[53] before headlining the Hydro Connect Music Festival in Argyll, Scotland.[54]
During the autumn of 2008, the band went on a short tour of North America, which included an appearance at the Virgin Festival in Toronto, as well as the band's first ever American college show at Syracuse University and an appearance at the 2008 edition of MTV Video Music Brazil, their first concert in South America, which was negatively received due to the band choosing to mime their performance.[55] They made their live return to the UK on 30 September 2008 with a special gig in London as part of Q Awards: The Gigs. They also played the Glasgow date of MTV2's and Topman's "Gonzo on Tour" on 19 October 2008.[56] A follow-up single, "Talons" was released in October 2008. The song was not part of the pre-order album, but did feature on the full album CD release[57] and was made freely available to people who already purchased the download-only album.[58] An album of remixes of all tracks on Intimacy, Intimacy Remixed, was released in May 2009.[59]The band undertook their first UK tour since December 2007 in October 2009,[60] dubbing it "Bloctober".[61]
In July 2009, Okereke stated that the band did not have a current recording contract and had no obligation or pressure to release a new album in the foreseeable future; he went on to suggest that the release of a fourth album was on an indefinite timescale.[62] A new single, "One More Chance", was released in August 2009. The song did not appear on Intimacy and was produced by Jacknife Lee. After this, the group went on a hiatus, with the members unsure as to whether they would carry on.[63]
Bloc Party started writing material for a fourth album in 2011,[72][73] but decided not to play live.[73] In the meantime Okereke finished an EP titled The Hunter.[74] The group stated they intended to release a new album in 2012.[75] In May 2012, Bloc Party announced Four,[76][77][78] which was released on 20 August 2012, after being made available to stream in its entirety for over a week preceding release. The album was recorded with Alex Newport, who had previously worked with At The Drive In and The Mars Volta, in New York City. Bloc Party released "Octopus" that July and later released another single entitled "Day Four".[79] The band released "Kettling" on 12 November 2012, followed by "Truth" on 25 February 2013. Four peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart and at number 36 on the Billboard 200.[80]
On 23 November 2021, Bloc Party released the first single "Traps" off their sixth studio album Alpha Games. The album was released on 22 April 2022.[105][106] A second single "The Girls Are Fighting" was released on 26 January 2022 and the responding music video was released on 28 January 2022.[107] On 25 February 2022, the third single "Sex Magik" was released.[108] A fourth single "If We Get Caught" was released on 24 March 2022.[109]
With the release of "Flux", Bloc Party's style became even more diverse with the inclusion of electronic music.[127] "Mercury" saw Bloc Party distance themselves even further from the traditional guitar band set-up by experimenting with dark electronic sounds and a brass section inspired by Siouxsie and the Banshees.[128][129] The band's third album Intimacy also features synths, processed drum beats and loops, vocal manipulation, and choral arrangements.[130] Even though the album was influenced by electronic music, the band still had not lost their feel for guitar music. For example, in an interview, Okereke said that the band was starting to miss their more traditional sound, and confirmed that may have been the way fourth album was headed.[131] However, Tong contradicted this, stating: "There's every chance we might go back to more orthodox arrangements or things that resemble a traditional band but I don't think we'll ever write songs like we did on Silent Alarm again."[132] A 2009 Vice Records mix lists the following songs Bloc Party are influenced by: Eagle Boston's "Wild Wild Ost", Pylon's "Working Is No Problem", Delta 5's "Mind Your Own Business", John Foxx's "Underpass", Prince's "I Would Die 4 U" (also covered live), Sonic Youth's "Youth Against Fascism", Dinosaur Jr.'s "Freak Scene", La Roux's "Quicksand (Nightrunners Edit)", and Bruce Springsteen's "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)".[133] 2ff7e9595c