The Underside of Power

The Underside of Power is the second album by American experimental band Algiers. The album was released through Matador Records on June 23, 2017.[2] The album was produced by Adrian Utley of Portishead and his frequent collaborator Ali Chant. It was also the band's first album to feature drummer Matt Tong as a full-time member.

The Underside of Power
Studio album by
Algiers
ReleasedJune 23, 2017 (2017-06-23)
RecordedJune–October 2016
StudioArgot Studio, New York
Figure 8, New York
Goat Farm, Atlanta
Real World, Bath
Rex Studios, London
Strange Weather, New York
Walker Studios, New York[1]
GenreGospel, post-punk, industrial, punk blues
Length44:24
LabelMatador
ProducerAdrian Utley and Ali Chant
Algiers chronology
Algiers
(2015)		 The Underside of Power
(2017)		 There Is No Year
(2020)

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?8.2/10[3]
Metacritic86/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Alternative Press[5]
The A.V. ClubA[6]
Financial Times[7]
The Irish Times[8]
The Observer[9]
Pitchfork5.8/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Uncut7/10[12]
ViceA−[13]

The Underside of Power received widespread critical acclaim from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 86, based on 21 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[4]

In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote that, "Algiers ultimately turn doomsday on its head unexpectedly. On The Underside of Power, they assert that even amid violence, darkness, and horror, that the human spirit is affirmed through witness and resistance, leading not only to solace but to redemption."[1]


Accolades

According to the website Acclaimed Music, The Underside of Power is the 23rd most acclaimed album of the year and the 190th most acclaimed of the decade.[14]

Publication Country Accolade Rank
American Songwriter US American Songwriter’s Top 25 Albums of 2017 15[15]
Magnet US Top Albums of 2017 24[14]
PopMatters US The Best Indie Rock of 2017 1[16]
Spectrum Culture US Top 20 Albums of 2017 17[17]
Under the Radar US Under the Radar’s Top 100 Albums of 2017 36[18]
The Village Voice US Pazz & Jop 2017 29[19]
Gigwise UK Gigwise's 51 Best Albums of 2017 26[20]
MusicOMH UK musicOMH’s Top 50 Albums Of 2017 13[21]
The Quietus UK Quietus Albums Of The Year 2017 24[22]
State Ireland State's Albums of 2017 24[14]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Walk Like a Panther"3:10
2."Cry of the Martyrs"4:03
3."The Underside of Power"4:12
4."Death March"4:31
5."A Murmur. A Sign."3:43
6."Mme Rieux"3:34
7."Cleveland"3:46
8."Animals"2:33
9."Plague Years"2:52
10."Hymn for an Average Man"4:10
11."Bury Me Standing"2:25
12."The Cycle/The Spiral: Time to Go Down Slowly"5:25

Personnel

All personnel credits courtesy of AllMusic.[1]

Algiers

  • Franklin James Fisher – cello, double bass, drum programming, guitar, keyboards, percussion, piano, sampling, synthesizer, tambourine, vocals, wurlitzer
  • Ryan Mahan – bass, drum programming, guitar, baritone guitar, sampling, synthesizer, backing vocals
  • Lee Tesche – cymbals, guitar, harmonium, loop, music box, percussion, prepared guitar, prepared piano, saxophone, synthesizer, backing vocals
  • Matt Tong – chimes, drones, drums, glockenspiel, guitar, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musicians

  • Ashiya Eastwood – backing vocals
  • Jessica Upton Crowe – backing vocals
  • Travis Ono – backing vocals

Technical

  • Adrian Utley – producer, drum machine, guitar, moog bass, synthesizer
  • Ali Chant – producer, guitar, backing vocals
  • Alex Weston – engineer
  • Ben Greenberg – additional production, engineer
  • Chris Kyles – engineer
  • Jason Ward – mastering
  • Macks Faulkron – engineer, guitar, percussion
  • Oli Jacobs – engineer
  • Patrick Phillips – engineer
  • Paul Reust – engineer
  • Randall Dunn – mixing
  • Will Smith – mixing assistant

Charts
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[23] 69
gollark: I am annoyed by how hard Amazon makes it to get the ebooks I bought (realistically, bought a license to legally) out of their walled garden and onto Calibre in some sort of actually standard format. Apparently I can't get any sort of usable files off the Android app, and I've lost my actual Kindle hardware, so I've had to download some ancient version of their Windows client and run it in Wine.
gollark: Yes, this does seem to go against the previously established thing of only Ennesby being able to do that.
gollark: It's Australia. It's probably an actual kraken.
gollark: It *would* reduce the habitat available to the many, many very horrible animals there.
gollark: What, the whole island?

References
  1. Jurek, Thom. "The Underside of Power – Algiers". AllMusic. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  2. "The Underside Of Power". Matador. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  3. "The Underside Of Power by Algiers reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  4. "Reviews and Tracks for The Underside of Power by Algiers". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  5. LeRoy, Dan (June 23, 2017). "Algiers: The Underside of Power". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  6. O'Neal, Sean (June 20, 2017). "Algiers' The Underside Of Power is the album 2017 needs". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  7. Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (June 23, 2017). "Algiers: The Underside of Power — 'a fierce yowl of outrage'". Financial Times. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  8. Jones, Chris (June 22, 2017). "Algiers: The Underside of Power – an electrifying stew of post-punk and hollering Stax soul". The Irish Times. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  9. Mongredien, Phil (June 25, 2017). "Algiers: The Underside of Power review – righteous, intelligent rock". The Observer. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  10. Pearce, Sheldon (July 1, 2017). "Algiers: The Underside of Power". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  11. Dolan, Jon (June 23, 2017). "Review: Post-Punkers Algiers Find New Way to Mangle the Blues". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  12. Pattison, Louis (July 2017). "Algiers: The Underside of Power". Uncut (242): 23.
  13. Christgau, Robert (August 25, 2017). "Robert Christgau on the Soul and Fury of Hamell on Trial and Algiers". Vice. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  14. "Acclaimed Music". www.acclaimedmusic.net. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  15. "American Songwriter's Top 25 Albums of 2017: Presented by D'Addario « American Songwriter". American Songwriter. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  16. "The Best Indie Rock of 2017". PopMatters. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  17. "Top 20 Albums of 2017". Spectrum Culture. 2017-12-20. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  18. "Under the Radar's Top 100 Albums of 2017 | Under the Radar - Music Magazine". undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  19. "Pazz & Jop: It's Kendrick's and Cardi's World. We're All Just Living in It". www.villagevoice.com. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  20. "Gigwise's 51 Best Albums of 2017". www.gigwise.com. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  21. "musicOMH's Top 50 Albums Of 2017 | Lists". musicOMH. 2017-12-22. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  22. "The Quietus | Features | Quietus Charts | Quietus Albums Of The Year 2017, In Association With Norman Records". The Quietus. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  23. "Swisscharts.com – Algiers – The Underside of Power". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
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