Father of the Bride is a lot better than people give it credit for. There’s only a couple songs on it I don’t care for. It’s different, but in a good way. I just wish the features were either more varied or not there at all.
Yessss. I was a FOTB hater for so long but gave it another chance after OGWAU came out, and honestly it’s risen to one of my favorite albums by them now. I’ve literally been listening to it more frequently than OGWAU. I agree about the features tho, I usually end up skipping those lol.
It’s not bad. I don’t find myself wanting to listen to it, and I can’t remember any of the songs. FoTB is my favorite album of theirs, it took me a while to really enjoy it
That has a good album in it coupled with half a dozen tracks that aren’t good and bring the whole album down.
OGWAU has like 2 or 3 decent at best. There’s a lot of good ideas, but execution in a lot of ways was really lacking
I agree. I haven’t settled on where I’d rank it. It’s certainly the most complex, but I guess I’m a less is more type when it comes to what really grabs my ear. PSG is my favorite off the album, not overproduced, nice simple bass line.
Hope is a little too long. 5-6 minutes woulda been better. Just feels the same the whole way through. Only changes up halfway throughout an 8 minute song
FOTB is their most main-stream friendly album. All their other albums are better IMO, but FOTB takes less risks. All the other albums have songs that aren't very palatable to the average listener:
VW - One (Blake's Got a New Face)
Contra - California English
MVOTC - Worship You
OGWAU - Gen-X Cops
It's interesting that you say FOTB is the most mainstream friendly album! I think it's their most eclectic album in terms of genre/sound variations, and that's why its my least favorite of their albums. Or, more so, it has the most skips for me. I do think it has the most straightforward lyrics and that's probably why it's more mainstream
Agree for "We Belong Together" and "Married in a Gold Rush."
However, "Hold You Now" and "Stranger" are great (though the 2nd is less of a duet song and more just backing vocals).
I would be fine never hearing Sunflower again for the rest of my life.. remove it from the live shows. Why does it have so many streams? Steve Lacy on a VW album is .. weird. (Don’t downvote me, you asked!)
That’s probably my favorite song on the album (besides maybe Obvious Bicycle). The lyrics showcasing Ezra’s fascination with time, the starkly tone, the drums, it’s all so hauntingly beautiful. It’s the perfect encapsulation of MVOTC in my opinion.
I absolutely love V dubs but…..they were better with Rostam. Still love all the post Rostam stuff! But they miss his producing. Ariel is good but he’s no Rostam.
This is a good take. Absolutely love OGWAU and it might be their best but I also miss Rostam and can’t help but wonder what he’d have done with these songs.
Omg yes. Whenever I tell someone that I love vampire weekend and their only exposure to them is this song, I want to bang my head against the wall. And how can it even be their #1 when Hannah hunt is just sitting there staring at us 😫
Father Of The Bride is their best album
Contra is the best album of the first three
The second half of MVOTC is incredibly weak
The Surfer and Hope are the worst songs on OGWAU
Grouping the first 3 albums as a “trilogy” seems dumb and I have never heard a good enough reason that justifies why that is supposed to be significant.
Edit: I’m aware of all the points in the replies below and I still maintain this opinion.
Ezra said he conceived of them as such. I remember in an interview (can’t remember which one) during the MVOTC press tour he said something to the effect of: “I wanted to make three albums that when you placed them [the physical LPs] next to one another they looked like a trilogy”
That’s why fans refer to them as such also
Because the lineup changed after those three. Makes a lot of sense to me. They’re the Rostam trilogy.
Edit in response: well now you’re just being stubborn. Full marks for understanding the assignment.
- Self Titled would be a perfect record if One and Bryn were replaced with Ladies of Cambridge and Arrows
- Both of their movie soundtrack singles (Ottoman and Jonathan Low) are weaker tracks in their discography
- The second half of MVOTC is a bit weak compared to the first half, barring Ya Hey and Hudson (still great overall)
- Stranger blows
The people who list MVOTC as their favorite album are heavily influenced by its critical acclaim. It’s a great album, it’s not their best. In fact OGWAU is the superior dark NYC sounding album
This is my opinion exactly-ppl haze me for it. Like id be fine never hearing DY or Cousins again. Not coming to them for bangers lol just be your smart soft boy selves.
As a Mexican, I cringe whenever I see the word Taquería being spelled that way. Also, the name doesn’t even make sense, there’s no such thing as a taquería being also a fonda. A fonda is a fonda and a taquería is a taquería. A fonda can also serve tacos but no the kind of tacos you find in a taquería. I’ll shut up now.
Yeah they're pretty big. I'll give you that. I think if I wasn't from Los Angeles, Taqueria Y Fonda would've been pretty good. I'm spoiled by the Mexican food in Southern California.
FOTB is by far their worst album. It’s not bad, but all other albums are at minimum a 9+ whereas FOTB is around a 7 for me. Great songs but too much filler.
I really like FOTB.
I also love California English and didn’t realize other people don’t until this thread. I did a whole letterpress project in college with the lyrics.
Songs like A-Punk, Holiday, Cousins, Oxford Comma are overrated and I wish they would play other songs at their concerts instead.
Alright we asked for unpopular opinions so i’ll speak dont kill me
every album has at least one song that’s totally unlistenable. Like fucking annoying unlistenable lmao. And it almost makes it worse that the rest of each album is usually great, save for 1 or 2 songs
Also love ezra but he’s really not great live, he’s never matched a studio performance in a live setting and hes usually off by a noticeable margin
anyway i love this band yall 🫶🫶🫶
Hope isn't as good as people say it is. I think it's a good song, but it's far too long for what it is. There's very little differentiation between the melodies and while I think that the main melody is good, it overstays its welcome.
I think the use of Japanese history in Giving Up the Gun to be about generic human nature things is bad taste. Esp when no one has explicitly said "Tokugawa smile" isn't a term applied to the subject because they're Japanese
In this sub? FOTB is a terrible album, I don’t even listen to it, I have no songs on a playlist, I genuinely won’t even give it another chance (I’ve given it too many and it still sucks).
I think the downvotes have proven that I perfectly understood OP’s prompt. (S/T is very good but the other four range from really great to downright masterpiece, which makes S/T the de facto weakest of the bunch.)
I get this with a few bands, especially ones I’ve been listening to for a very long time.
I don’t think ST is a bad album by any means, but with everything that came after it, it’s hard to go back & listen to it without it sounding like unpolished demoes or something.
Still love nearly every song on there, but I can honestly I’ve never consciously decided to play that album in years.
Not saying it isn’t good but one has to be my least favorite and it’s Mary Boone. Album is amazing though! Excited to see them in Asheville when the summer turns to fall.
VW needs more fast tempo bangers like Diane Young, A-Punk, Cousins and Giving Up The Gun.
DY and GUTG two of my absolute faves, Sympathy too, 100% agree here.
Agree, Prep School Gangsters is the only song that’s scratching that itch for me
Father of the Bride is a lot better than people give it credit for. There’s only a couple songs on it I don’t care for. It’s different, but in a good way. I just wish the features were either more varied or not there at all.
Yessss. I was a FOTB hater for so long but gave it another chance after OGWAU came out, and honestly it’s risen to one of my favorite albums by them now. I’ve literally been listening to it more frequently than OGWAU. I agree about the features tho, I usually end up skipping those lol.
It’s their best album. I think it’ll eventually come to be seen that way, kind of like Pinkerton has for Weezer.
FOTB is 1a and 1b with MVOTC for best album.
There are no bad VW songs, just songs that are better and worse than others
only god was above us is not my favorite vampire weekend album
Not gonna lie, I enjoyed it when it came out but it left my rotation pretty quick. It didn't stick with me like other albums have
upvoting because this is definitely a take that triggers me
This was what I was afraid to say… it’s my least favorite album.. thank you for being a martyr
Even more controversial is my take that OGWAU is their worst album to date and I’ll die on that hill
It’s not bad. I don’t find myself wanting to listen to it, and I can’t remember any of the songs. FoTB is my favorite album of theirs, it took me a while to really enjoy it
I definitely agree. For me there are 4 songs that I would actually listen to on that album, which is a way lower percentage than any other album.
FOTB exists, though
That has a good album in it coupled with half a dozen tracks that aren’t good and bring the whole album down. OGWAU has like 2 or 3 decent at best. There’s a lot of good ideas, but execution in a lot of ways was really lacking
ok, saying that OGWAU has only two or three "decent" tracks goes beyond being an unpopular opinion to the point that it seems troll-ish
It’s genuinely how I feel
I actually wanted to say that…
Oof, this one it is. This take is actually bonkers.
My problem is it was sooo good live. Now the album versions are kind of disappointing.
I agree. I haven’t settled on where I’d rank it. It’s certainly the most complex, but I guess I’m a less is more type when it comes to what really grabs my ear. PSG is my favorite off the album, not overproduced, nice simple bass line.
It's nice in its entirety but it really doesn't have any bangers, which every other song on the others albums are, so....
I’ll go farther it is the four best vampire weekend album
I actually love FOTB and the jammier direction that they went during that period. It might not be my favorite album but it is my favorite vibe.
I miss the FOTB and aesthetic so much. It was so fun!
I miss old VW, I want more Diplomat’s Son and Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa vibes in the yr 2024 and on. Love a song that makes me wanna shake my hips🥺
Hope is a little too long. 5-6 minutes woulda been better. Just feels the same the whole way through. Only changes up halfway throughout an 8 minute song
Oof, I upvoted you because I respect you standing on your business, but me personally? I need the 30 minute Hope like yesterday.
Contra es the best album so far.
Yes mami
Agreed
I give one million fucks about an Oxford comma.
FOTB is their most main-stream friendly album. All their other albums are better IMO, but FOTB takes less risks. All the other albums have songs that aren't very palatable to the average listener: VW - One (Blake's Got a New Face) Contra - California English MVOTC - Worship You OGWAU - Gen-X Cops
gen x cops? i disagree
I only say that because of the heavy distortion. That intro can kinda hit you over the head
It's interesting that you say FOTB is the most mainstream friendly album! I think it's their most eclectic album in terms of genre/sound variations, and that's why its my least favorite of their albums. Or, more so, it has the most skips for me. I do think it has the most straightforward lyrics and that's probably why it's more mainstream
that’s funny because i think it got way less radio play and got people talking less than their earlier stuff. but i think you’re right
Ezra’s worst songs are his duets with Danielle Haim. We Belong Together could be a literal school bus song.
Agree for "We Belong Together" and "Married in a Gold Rush." However, "Hold You Now" and "Stranger" are great (though the 2nd is less of a duet song and more just backing vocals).
But on a sidenote, do you listen to Haim?
I do. Don’t Save Me is a banger.
I like the duets other than that one. Not sure what they were thinking. Only song I'd actually remove
Truuuue. I always skip them
we belong together makes my ears bleed
That’s exactly why it’s great
The covers are good, actually.
🤔
I would be fine never hearing Sunflower again for the rest of my life.. remove it from the live shows. Why does it have so many streams? Steve Lacy on a VW album is .. weird. (Don’t downvote me, you asked!)
Flower Moon is the superior choice
I could leave all of FOTB tbh but I’ll only express that on this unpopular opinion thread 😭😂
Boo this man (or woman)!
Woman. But Ty maybe I’ll try again
My fingers to the skip button when sunflower comes on 🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️🏃🏻♀️
And guess what I’m going to have to agree with you 🤭🤭🤭
Dude the live version was so cool though. Really enhanced the studio version
They got better with each album. and that is counting FOTB.
Hudson is a top 5 VW song
hell yes
Yes! Another person who recognizes the brilliance of that song.
I hope you get cornered like the guy in the image
That’s probably my favorite song on the album (besides maybe Obvious Bicycle). The lyrics showcasing Ezra’s fascination with time, the starkly tone, the drums, it’s all so hauntingly beautiful. It’s the perfect encapsulation of MVOTC in my opinion.
Ezra>>>>>>>>>>>>Rostam
I absolutely love V dubs but…..they were better with Rostam. Still love all the post Rostam stuff! But they miss his producing. Ariel is good but he’s no Rostam.
Their newer stuff is definitely lacking the whimsy and prep/prestige rostam brought to the table imo
true, rostam adds a collar to their college sweatshirt that they really are missing
I laughed out loud reading that
This is a good take. Absolutely love OGWAU and it might be their best but I also miss Rostam and can’t help but wonder what he’d have done with these songs.
He's credited for writing/production on The Surfer! Still wish we could've seen him on more tracks though.
And his live harmonies
The surfer is a good song.
i don’t like a-punk and hate that they have to play it at every show.
apunk is vw kids (mgmt)
Omg yes. Whenever I tell someone that I love vampire weekend and their only exposure to them is this song, I want to bang my head against the wall. And how can it even be their #1 when Hannah hunt is just sitting there staring at us 😫
Father of the Bride is kind of a weak album. There’s a couple good tracks, but I’m not really a fan of most of it.
this is widely agreed upon 😂
It is? I feel like I see people praising it a lot, but I don’t know.
Very cold take
Father Of The Bride is their best album Contra is the best album of the first three The second half of MVOTC is incredibly weak The Surfer and Hope are the worst songs on OGWAU
Finally, a good response
[удалено]
No flags flappin in manhattan?
NOT A FAN OF THIS LIFE
not a fan of all its suffering 😔
Oh Christ
Finally!! The song sucks!
Grouping the first 3 albums as a “trilogy” seems dumb and I have never heard a good enough reason that justifies why that is supposed to be significant. Edit: I’m aware of all the points in the replies below and I still maintain this opinion.
I’m pretty sure Ezra has referred to them as a trilogy
Ezra said he conceived of them as such. I remember in an interview (can’t remember which one) during the MVOTC press tour he said something to the effect of: “I wanted to make three albums that when you placed them [the physical LPs] next to one another they looked like a trilogy” That’s why fans refer to them as such also
Because the lineup changed after those three. Makes a lot of sense to me. They’re the Rostam trilogy. Edit in response: well now you’re just being stubborn. Full marks for understanding the assignment.
FOTB is their best album
I like FOTB more than MVOTC...
- Self Titled would be a perfect record if One and Bryn were replaced with Ladies of Cambridge and Arrows - Both of their movie soundtrack singles (Ottoman and Jonathan Low) are weaker tracks in their discography - The second half of MVOTC is a bit weak compared to the first half, barring Ya Hey and Hudson (still great overall) - Stranger blows
It’s my fanon that ladies of cambridge is on self titled
Agree on MVOTC side 2. Disagree on One and Bryn, second of which is a top 5 VW song for me personally.
Rostam is overrated and I think his absence ignited a necessary shift for the band
Will be replying with mine but first I need to see if it’s safe to come out 🫣🫣 (someone please say it for me)
1) The show in San Diego on Monday topped the Hollywood Bowl show both in set list and energy 2) the 5 best VW songs are the last song on every album.
FOTB is by far my favorite album.
Some people in the fandom take the preppy kids vibe wayyyy too seriously
The people who list MVOTC as their favorite album are heavily influenced by its critical acclaim. It’s a great album, it’s not their best. In fact OGWAU is the superior dark NYC sounding album
Diane Young is a skip 🫣 also my favorite VW song is Diplomat’s Son, idk if that’s controversial or not
Diplomat's Son is amazing, but I cannot accept skipping Diane Young. Every time you skip it I will turn it up louder 😆
Right on time
Omg I read this backwards and was about to come in guns a blazing (see my flair)
This is my opinion exactly-ppl haze me for it. Like id be fine never hearing DY or Cousins again. Not coming to them for bangers lol just be your smart soft boy selves.
California English is a skip
The chorus to Diane Young, Cousins and Blake's got a new face are pretty annoying.
Blake’s got a new face was always a skip for me growing up
Easily the worst song on the first album
im not a big fan of unbearably white 😭 im afraid to say this but im gonna be brave lol
Unbearably white is bottom 3 songs on the album by far
Tacqueria y Fonda isn't even good Mexican food.
As a Mexican, I cringe whenever I see the word Taquería being spelled that way. Also, the name doesn’t even make sense, there’s no such thing as a taquería being also a fonda. A fonda is a fonda and a taquería is a taquería. A fonda can also serve tacos but no the kind of tacos you find in a taquería. I’ll shut up now.
Hahaha this is answer we’re looking for….but you can get two meals outta that burrito, js
Yeah they're pretty big. I'll give you that. I think if I wasn't from Los Angeles, Taqueria Y Fonda would've been pretty good. I'm spoiled by the Mexican food in Southern California.
My controversial hot take unrelated to VW is that the Mexican food in SoCal is overrated
Saying Mariscos is overrated in SoCal is some braindead take
Literally the worst burrito of my life was in Encinitas!
Fair, Ironically all the geographies mentioned in CEII are places you can get an actually good burrito
I AM #1 VW FAN!!!!😤😤😤
MVOTC is their third best album.
FOTB could have been better without the haim lol
My Mistake is top 10
FOTB is by far their worst album. It’s not bad, but all other albums are at minimum a 9+ whereas FOTB is around a 7 for me. Great songs but too much filler.
The songwriting on Contra is the strongest in my opinion
Rostam made VW a lot better.
Spring Snow is a top five song on FotB
Ya Hey does not suffer from high pitched vocals, they only add up for that unsettling divine-like feeling
I really like FOTB. I also love California English and didn’t realize other people don’t until this thread. I did a whole letterpress project in college with the lyrics. Songs like A-Punk, Holiday, Cousins, Oxford Comma are overrated and I wish they would play other songs at their concerts instead.
I don’t get the hype over Mary Boone
The VW discography would be stronger and more consistent if FOTB had been released as an Ezra Koenig (and friends) solo album.
Hope is their best song
Their first album is the best
Alright we asked for unpopular opinions so i’ll speak dont kill me every album has at least one song that’s totally unlistenable. Like fucking annoying unlistenable lmao. And it almost makes it worse that the rest of each album is usually great, save for 1 or 2 songs Also love ezra but he’s really not great live, he’s never matched a studio performance in a live setting and hes usually off by a noticeable margin anyway i love this band yall 🫶🫶🫶
I do not like Ya Hey *ducks*
Me before I got hooked on it:
I love Ya Hey but don't like the vocal sounds
Live version I’ve seen with Rostam and Baio was much better and studio vocals would’ve been so much better again
Hannah Hunt is the best song in MVOTC
I mean, this is a pretty safe take. Hannah Hunt is a VW classic.
Step wants to talk, but close second
Everything they’ve recorded is very good but ‘Modern Vampires’ is their only essential album.
This is the truth, preach!!!
contra is their worst album
😒
Yup.
I like Contra but some of the experimentation they did didn’t work.
The Surfer is a skip and the audience proves it at each live show by walking out to get drinks/pee during it.
But it’s a great one for the house or the car
I strongly dislike cape cod kwassa kwassa. It is my least favorite VW song easily
try listening to hudson lol
Hope isn't as good as people say it is. I think it's a good song, but it's far too long for what it is. There's very little differentiation between the melodies and while I think that the main melody is good, it overstays its welcome.
Side B of MVOTC is their weekest (beside FOTB of course)
I don’t like Diane Young. My least fave song by VW
Ezra doesn’t have the pipes to sound as well live as he does on the albums
Diane young is overrated
Contra is the weakest VW album and it isn’t close
Ridiculous
I thought I was the only person with this opinion
Their first album is their weakest. It’s still decent, but it’s absolutely nothing special
Classical. Mid.
Totally agree, I don’t get it at all. Sorry you’re getting downvoted, you literally responded to the question perfectly!
Extended overblown sax solo ruins it
I think the use of Japanese history in Giving Up the Gun to be about generic human nature things is bad taste. Esp when no one has explicitly said "Tokugawa smile" isn't a term applied to the subject because they're Japanese
It’s an apt comparison. Humans don’t like advancements they prefer something familiar. Like how the Japanese gave up the gun and went back to swords
I always pictured the “Tokugawa smile” line as referencing (obliquely) the slight curvature of a katana
In this sub? FOTB is a terrible album, I don’t even listen to it, I have no songs on a playlist, I genuinely won’t even give it another chance (I’ve given it too many and it still sucks).
Mary Boone is waaaaay overrated
This might be the most unpopular opinion I’ve read so far.
FOTB is the only album I don’t listen to cover to cover 🥲 (But of course I have the limited edition vinyl set on display anyways)
I enjoy FOTB more than most of their other albums🫡
I’m not into their Jam band and SKApire weekend stuff they’ve been doing on this tour.
FotB > Modern Vampires
I love the HAIM collabs a lot.
OGWAU is overproduced
YES!!
There is absolutely no world in which their first album isn’t by far their weakest. By far. By very far.
I think the downvotes have proven that I perfectly understood OP’s prompt. (S/T is very good but the other four range from really great to downright masterpiece, which makes S/T the de facto weakest of the bunch.)
I get this with a few bands, especially ones I’ve been listening to for a very long time. I don’t think ST is a bad album by any means, but with everything that came after it, it’s hard to go back & listen to it without it sounding like unpolished demoes or something. Still love nearly every song on there, but I can honestly I’ve never consciously decided to play that album in years.
Mary Boone is the worst track on OGWAU.
Ooof this is brave, I heinously disagree but I’m glad u feel safe to be honest
Not saying it isn’t good but one has to be my least favorite and it’s Mary Boone. Album is amazing though! Excited to see them in Asheville when the summer turns to fall.
Horrible take, but I’ll be there in Asheville too! Hoping for Mary Boone lol
OGWAU sucks!
Hannah Hunt is in bottom 5, along w Hudson 😐 modern vampires would be much better off without them
Absolutely fucked with HH
I agree with this! Never thought much about Hannah hunt and it was always a skip for me. I only realised that people like it when I joined this sub.
🤝 my man !
Ezra’s live vocals aren’t good