So why is Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever To Tell on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
In revisiting Fever To Tell, I forgot how hard the Yeah Yeah Yeahs go on this one.
“Tick” is a perfect example – it reminds me of peak era Hives (which is slightly ironic in that The Hives have a song called “Tick Tick Boom”). It’s ferociously paced garage punk, yet meticulously crafted (ticking like a fine watch, one might say?), buoyant, and even danceable. All part of the band’s unique skillset.
The lush and slightly mysterious “Rich,” fronted by Karen O’s powerhouse vocals, prove that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are one of the very best bands to come out of the 2000s New York City rock scene.
“Cold Light” is a slower, more atmospheric track that features ethereal synths and a haunting melody.
Overall, Fever To Tell is consistently strong and exciting.
Also see: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!: #799 of best 1,000 albums ever
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever To Tell
In my research notes for this here best 1,000 albums project, I had noted as a funny little note to myself, probably late at night after listening to songs across hundreds of albums: “Yeah yeah yeah I like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.”
Which to me is its own little quick if dumb joke. But I also realized that it ties to a throwaway line from the classic low-ish brow campus comedy, PCU, starring Jeremy Piven, David Spade, and a bunch of other people.
Tom Lawrence (Chris Young) is a prospective college freshman and sort of point of view character for the antics at Port Chester University (“PCU,” get it?), and manages to get most of the campus furious at him due to an escalating series of accidents, such as knocking out the power at the computer lab so that the students lose access to their theses and such (this is pre-mainstream Internet and way pre-saving stuff to the cloud, kids).
Later in the film, when Piven introduces Tom to an irate crowd (who are furious about all manner of perceived slights and craziness that you have to watch the movie to understand), an incensed upperclassman responds, “Yeah yeah yeah, I f—ing met Tom!”
It’s a quote that people ranging from my wife to a group of guys I lived with at the “rugby house” back at Binghamton University will recognize to this day. So there you go.
Here’s some bonus PCU footage.
Some stats & info about Yeah Yeah Yeah – Fever To Tell
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock Music, Alternative Rock, Garage Punk, Dance Music, Punk Rock, New York Bands
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – #377
- All Music’s rating – 4 out of 5 stars
- When was Fever To Tell released? 2003
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #534 out of 1,000
Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever To Tell on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Fever To Tell that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
I got a date with the night, burnin’ down my finger.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.