10 Years Later: A Look Back on LCD Soundsystem’s ‘This Is Happening’
Review by Austin Sher
Can you believe it? This past week, one of the finest electronic dance-punk albums to ever be recorded, was released. May 17th, 2010 is the day LCD Soundsystem put out their genre defining album, This Is Happening.
As influential and close to equally amazing 2007’s Sound of Silver was, in my humble opinion, This Is Happening, was a step above, if that’s even fathomable. The record kicks off with the 9-minute thriller, Dance Yrself Clean, and if that drop around the 4 minute mark doesn’t make the hairs all over your body stand up, go ahead and exit out of this review. I consider that drop to be one the best of all time, and the reason being that it’s so out of left field, yet so perfect at the same time. Showing a non-fan the song is another story, as they tend to get bored around the 3-minute mark, but you tell them “wait, wait, wait, it gets better”, and then it does, and then you’ve changed your friends.
Riding the high from the album opener comes the string of greatness, also known as, the run from Drunk Girls to One Touch to All I Want. If you’re not sweating from dancing in your chair in the office or just straight up dancing in normal life, you’re doing something wrong. The percussion bumps through and through and it’s almost as if you’re asking for a strained neck by the end of the record honestly. A strained neck in the best way possible.
A personal favorite of mine, I Can Change, is a track that throughout the years gets heavy playlist play and is a hit with the non-fans. It’s danceable, relatable, and overall just such a solid groove from start to finish. I’d consider it to pair perfectly with a solo drive along the highway, just you and your thoughts.
If I Can Change didn’t make you catch your breath, we can pretty much guarantee the 9 full minutes of You Wanted A Hit aren’t going to help. As much as I listen over and over, as much as the song might not traditionally be a hit, it’s totally a hit. James Murphy knows it too and so do the rest of the band. The fans asked and damnit, LCD Soundsystem delivered in a big way!
Perhaps the “lowlights” of such a stellar album, Pow Pow and Somebody’s Calling Me are really just the tiniest bit of a breather before the massive closer hits. I honestly really do like these songs, but when you’re up against some of the band’s greatest songs in their discography, it’s perfectly fine to think that these two songs aren’t the end all be all of dance music. They certainly have a place and they most definitely will never get skipped in a full album relisten.
Wrapping it up though, let’s talk Home! The everlong battle of what song is better off This Is Happening always comes down to Dance Yrself Clean and Home. I can never really decide and ultimately I don’t really need to. A perfect album opener and closer to finish off one of the best albums of the 2010’s, you can’t really complain. However, I do think 2019’s Electric Lady Sessions version of Home edges out the original 2010 version. Am I wrong here? Please let me know. Really though, any version of Home is my favorite version, because it’s just that perfect. If you’ve made it this far in the article, congrats, now it’s time to go and take a re-listen!
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