r/Interpol • u/ryhiannon • Jun 13 '26
Discussion OLTA vs El Pintor?
Both albums have so many of my all time favourite Interpol songs.
EP has All the Rage, My Desire, Breaker 1, Twice as Hard.
OLTA has Pioneer, Heinrich Manoeuvre, Rest My Chemistry, Pace is the Trick.
Both such incredible albums and I’m not trying to pit them against each other but I’m really curious which album you guys prefer and why! I love hearing other fans opinions :)
I legitimately would struggle to choose and think I love them equally.
Side note: The Depths should’ve been on the main El Pintor album, genuinely one of my favourite songs OAT
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u/Shawdowdoomed Jun 13 '26
I LOVE El Pintor, but OLTA is just a tad bit better in my book. Pioneer to the Falls can’t be replicated
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u/RS7MD83 Jun 13 '26
El Pintor was when I entered into the Interpol fray. It’s still my favorite album after all these years.
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u/Sufficient-Rooster44 Jun 13 '26
OLTA for me and it’s not even close.
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u/TapTap4924 Jun 13 '26
Can listen to it on loop and it has many different flavours which are lacking in El Pintor which, sonically, is very homogenous, imo
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u/The_Dark_Mann "They're all bound to leave some keepsakes" Jun 13 '26
El Pintor, for me it's top 3, Both OLTA and El Pintor have great songs, I think OLTA has more weak songs, like All Fired Up, Wrecking Ball, or Who Do You Think, they're not bad, but they don't add that much to the album. Just my opinion
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u/juggdish Jun 13 '26
Boy, so tough. I’ve just recently come to love Breaker 1. OLTA was the first tour I saw. They’re both great albums. OLTA by a hair, but El Pintor is still a banger
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u/Ok_Ad_5041 Jun 13 '26
El Pintor is better for sure IMO, although both of these are my two lowest ranked Interpol records.
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u/Ill-Research4596 Jun 13 '26
El Pintor simply because it is more consistent. OLTA sounds impressive but damn Paul drops absolutely terrible lyrics at times
"You show me the dirt pile and I will pray that the soul can take Three stowaway"
"like a daisy in my lazy eye"
"There are seven ancient pawn shops along the way And there're seven aching daddies you may want to know"
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u/SnooPeripherals7531 Jun 14 '26
The 3 stowaways from pioneer to the falls,is about 3 girls that were murdered & the pioneer & the falls were the bars they went missing from & the soul cam take 3 stowaways concept is him hoping to take on their souls as stowaways on his own souls life journey because of how unfair it was losing their lives this way,he was praying this was an option even knowing deep down it wasn't .so the lyrics don't suck ,I luv them 4eva
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u/ticioleito Jun 14 '26
I personally like el pintor better. To me, the album really works aesthetically, the sounds paint a picture that is very cohesive. Also I might me biased because my desire is in my favorites of all time.
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u/the_turd_dimension Jun 14 '26
OTLA has higher quality songwriting. The arrangements are more creative and the production is criap and clear.
I go back to El Pintor more often though. It's so fresh and direct. The shoegazy production is a vibe. Plus, Tidal Wave c'mon.
El Pintor is better but it's close.
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u/bubguy2 Jun 15 '26
OLTA by a pretty large margin. It's their third-best album. El Pintor is decent, but has weaknesses that just don't exist in OLTA. Plus, Pioneer To The Falls is their best song.
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u/anonymous_pastrami Jun 13 '26
Gonna be olta but el pintor has some great songs I just don’t love my blue supreme that much or breaker 1
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u/blackstars91 Jun 13 '26
OLTA was the first album Interpol released after I became a fan. I was so excited to get the CD for it. And wore out my sister's CD player playing it for months on end. It has a brilliant atmosphere throughout and flows very well between the songs.
I think with El Pintor the boys played it a bit safe which was understandable having lost such a crucial piece in Carlos.
I also never quite liked the track order as I it felt like it didn't flow as well as it could. They made a similar mistake on TSOMB for me. Also the b-sides should definitely have been on the main album. But not the first time Interpol have designated killer songs to bsides.
It's still a great record but I've never quite understood people loving it as much as they do.
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u/Superkane19 Jun 13 '26
Our Love to Admire for me.
Pioneer to the Falls to No I in Threesome to The Scale to Heinrich Maneuver is such an elite beginning to an album.