Only God Was Above Us (studio album) by Vampire Weekend

This album is beautifully crafted. Each track brings something fresh while staying true to a strong central theme. The mix of orchestral production and sharp, witty guitar riffs creates a captivating atmosphere. While some songs stand out more than others, the overall quality is impressive. It perfectly reflects the band's journey and where they are at this point in their lives.

Their finest release. Pushing the lyrical content with political tinges to the forefront. Would need to vary more melodically to be a classic, but that doesn't keep it from being a very good album. Very relaxing and nicely performed. 9/10!

Such a unique sound that VW continue to develop… felt some of the material wasn’t as strong or catchy as previous offerings but think this one could be a grower…

From AlvaroIesus 07/04/2024 20:37

Since their beginnings, I've been a big fan of their music. I found "Contra" to be exceptionally creative, and "Modern Vampires" solidified their reputation as a standout band. "Only God Was About Us" is another example of Koenig's meticulous artistry, though it doesn't captivate me enough to listen to the album repeatedly. In conclusion, it's another album from a band that consistently delivers, so it doesn't come as a surprise or evoke much excitement.

The overall sound of the album is good, but many songs disappoint in their attempt to evoke the classics of "Modern Vampires" or the self-titled album.

--

Desde sus inicios, he sido un gran seguidor de su música. Consideré que "Contra" era excepcionalmente creativo, y "Modern Vampires" consolidó su reputación como una banda destacada. "Only God Was About Us" representa otro ejemplo del meticuloso arte de Koenig, aunque no me cautiva lo suficiente como para escuchar el álbum repetidamente. En conclusión, es otro álbum de una banda de la que no se puede esperar menos, y por tanto no causa mucha sorpresa u emoción.

El sonido general del album esta bien pero muchas canciones decepcionan en su intento de crear reminiscencia a clásicos del Modern Vampires o del homónimo .

Great album, I can recommend it to anybody

This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.

Really pretty and delicate in parts. Some songs are really enjoyable, but some of it is generic in my opinion. Overall it’s an album worth listening to, but it doesn’t feel memorable.

The usual quirkiness and they are clearly way above the usual run-of-the-mill releases that the masses will be consuming. Overall it didn't really grab enough of my attention.

It's a fantastic album made by a band with a unique, very personal, very creative sound.
One of my favorite bands

When Vampire Weekend reformed and released Father of the Bride in 2019 I was just glad that my favourite band in my teenage years could still produce fun and exciting music, even if the output was a bit less consistent in quality than the stuff I'd grown to love years earlier. Only God Was Above Us is a different prospect altogether, we're back to a shorter 10 track structure with each of these brimming with ideas and none having the throwaway quality of some of FotB's worse tracks. There's something else though, I've always found something very warm and reassuring in the band's earliest records and I'm finding it here as well, the baroque pop of Capricorn or Connect feels like the natural next step from Don't Lie and Everlasting Arms. It's a tough quality to completely describe but there's an effortless feel to these tracks, as though they simply grew from the emotions of the band members and the city setting. Maybe losing the pressure of delivering for a big comeback album has helped the band out or maybe they've just fully adjusted to Rostam's departure, either way they really feel back to their full powers here.

Through their early records, the improvements in the lyrics really charted the band's overall progress. The self-titled's sometimes anxious commentary on campus life gave way to something more emotionally resonant on Contra, before Modern Vampires of the City took the elaborate lyricism that the band were known for and twisted it into something strangely evocative and profound. Only God Was Above Us comes in at a similar level, there's lots of lines that I couldn't totally explain to you, but I could tell you how they made me feel. It's strong musically as well, the quirks in each of the tracks still hold close to the overall feel of a track and never feel like they were thrown in to try to make a song more interesting. None of the tracks stand out quite as much as Classical, where the multiple tracks of percussion, warm keys and wilder guitars & brass blend in this beautiful way. Ezra's vocals, reaching that mournful but not hopeless place he's so good at getting to, really wrap it all up as one of the band's best ever songs. There's no stand-out bad or even lacklustre tracks across the rest of the record, but it doesn't reach this level again. I'm also not always 100% sure about some of the more dissonant elements on some of these tracks, the final moments of Capricorn are especially guilty of this, as one of the better songs here starts to fall apart under the weight of the sound. Still, these are pretty minor points to make about an indie band which has had to adapt to so many changes in the musical landscape while either on hiatus or between albums. As a teenage Vampire Weekend obsessive I think I built myself up for the release of Modern Vampires of the City more than I have for any album before or since, I got a pleasant surprise with these subsequent two releases where I held much less of an interest in what was coming prior to their release, but with this I've really taken notice again and will be glad to be back on the VW hype train when it next rolls into the station.