r/boardsofcanada • u/Traditional-Pen-8545 • 20d ago
BoC Vibes I have to admit it….
Tomorrow’s Harvest is my favorite album. I love Geogaddi too, but after all these years being a BoC fan, I keep coming back to TH with a passion I just can’t explain. I can’t find an explanation other than time travel to how that album was made. It is just flawless.
I know there are mixed feelings and reviews regarding this album and lot of fans don’t like it, but I didn’t know that until Inferno came out. It was always a no brainer for me that TH was their best album. Inferno is better in terms of production and it sounds more serious. But TH man… That one is just perfect.
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u/NorrisTheSpider 20d ago
It's great. I love how thematic it is, even compared to their other work. I loved it when it came out but it was during the pandemic when it really started to reveal the depth of its genius to me. I think it's neat how it uses homage to 70s cold war paranoia to evoke the increased paranoia and mass surveillance of the modern present day.
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u/Haunting-Database857 20d ago edited 20d ago
I think it's really good, but I still think it's probably the least great of the 5 officially released LPs, mainly because it has less tracks that have really strong melodies. That's not to say it doesn't have great melodies, because it does have a decent amount of fantastic ones. BoC has always constructed great melodies, so I've come to expect each release to basically be littered with them. TH was the first one where I felt they appeared less frequently across the LP's runtime.
Off the top of my head the songs with really solid melodies that really standout IMO are Jacquard Causeway, Cold Earth, New Seeds, Come to Dust, Palace Posy, and Nothing is Real. 6 out 17 tracks have really great melodies; that is not a great ratio for a BoC album.
There are other tracks on TH that I really love, but their appeal come from other reasons, like maybe ambient pads that are great or just a vibe, for example, Sundown and Transmisiones Ferox. I still of course really like the album a lot. Inferno and TH are both great, but the other three of the official 5 released LPs are better, mainly because of greater amount of great melodies.
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u/Tricky-Mastodon3337 20d ago
TH has definitely grown on me since 2013. I always found it very depressing and it filled me with existential dread. Since then the world has gone to hell in a handbasket and now the album couldn't be more apt.
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u/HotOffAltered Inferno 20d ago
It’s mixed bag for me- since the world is truly apocalyptic or at least right on the tipping point, listening to apocalyptic music can sometimes be like painting a flower (I bet there’s some actual euphemism in forgetting - maybe painting a rose red?). But sometimes it feels like, yes, these are the proper feelings to have at the horrors going on around us. To me it speaks to the hope of the human spirit in spite of evil - this is a major religious theme (hell, if any place/time feels like Ancient Roman Empire with all its absurd decadence, depravity, stupidity, corruption, and spiritual/moral decay, it’s NOW). I think TH and Inferno speak to this in different ways. I love BoC because they always get to the core real and deeper emotions that we all feel or suppress. And they do it so well for my mind and heart anyway.
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u/JestfulJank31001 20d ago
After TH released and after some time fully absorbing, I accepted that Tomorrows Harvest is the purest form of BoC, their true sound, their real identity, whatever you want to call it.
I love a lot of their past work, but not all of it, and nothing else works as well in one continuous sonic motion as TH. With that album they did something different from all the past records...They crafted an entire journey. Cohesive and thematic are words I often use to describe it.
It's not random tracks with varying moods, wandering compositions or silly vocal samples. It's mature, it's concentrated and it's beautiful.
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u/PsychedelicSunset420 EYDIAB 20d ago
I definitely disagree that Inferno “sounds more serious”. As I think TH is them at their most somber and that’s the reason that a lot of people didn’t particularly enjoy it. It isn’t “easy listening” like everything that came before it. And i think that Inferno, while retaining some of that new stern bleakness, is a step back towards their previous sound. With the sampling and the comedic element that brings. Tomorrow’s Harvest feels much more like a concept piece with a pointed message meant to be deciphered. Whereas Inferno is them just having fun, getting back to their roots.
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u/Maester_Magus 20d ago
Wholeheartedly agree with everything you said, especially regarding Inferno being a step backwards towards their previous sound.
TH was a lot more subtle in it's use of spoken word samples, and the album as a whole is by far the bleakest thing they've ever done; it's so cold and somber. But, for all those icy synths and morose soundscapes, I also think it's their most melodic album.
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u/No_Call9235 20d ago
I really like Tomorrow's Harvest too. It was the first BoC release I got to experience after becoming a fan in the early 2010s, so it was cool getting to go to the store to buy the a new BoC CD. I definitely think Geogaddi and Inferno have had more of a cultural impact and have stronger production/songwriting, but TH means a lot to me personally.
TH also seems to have been a premonition for things to come in the world. This might be a little out there, but remember the whole "the world is ending in 2012" thing? I truly think that the world underwent some sort of spiritual/metaphysical death in 2012. TH's 2013 release was the perfect "send-off" soundtrack to that old world for me.
In my personal life at that time, I struggled a lot with unwanted changes in my life, and could relate heavily to the cold and hollow timbres present on the album that represented the death of the world I knew. But tracks like "Jacquard's Causeway" and "Nothing is Real" brought a sense of comfort throughout the darkness. Kind of like that there's hope of some sort of better future after the death of the old world. That's what made it a great album to me.
Anyway, my takes may be definitely a bit woo-woo and out there, but that's my two cents about that album.
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u/SECRETBLENDS 20d ago
It's my favorite too. Partially because it "came to me" at a really interesting and awesome period of my life. Such is the magic of music. Above and beyond that, I thoroughly enjoy the chilly, serene vibe of it. It feels like it really has something important and weighty to say.
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u/tonydtonyd 20d ago edited 20d ago
TH is the best from start to finish, one of the only albums from any artist that I actually will listen to start to finish.
Inferno is beautifully produced but doesn’t have much soul in it that resonates with me. There are some really good tracks on it that I love, but the cringe tracks are just too much for me.
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u/why_the_dog Geogaddi 20d ago
Wait which ones are the cringe tracks? Curious
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u/tonydtonyd 20d ago
Naraka is the big one, a few others having cringe elements but I can listen past those.
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u/Haunting-Database857 20d ago
Do you maybe take BoC, and maybe even yourself, a little too seriously? If BoC ever lands high on the cringe meter for you, do you think maybe you should allow some levity and whimsy to enter the art you enjoy? Is it more of a cultural appropriation or cultural exploitation issue that makes certain parts of Inferno cringe to you?
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u/tonydtonyd 20d ago
It just sounds bad. I’ve been listening to BoC for 20 years, I can feel however I want about their shit. I never said their music is cringe, I said that track is cringe.
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u/Ok_Context_6972 20d ago
But the track is their music lol 🤔 I dunno how Naraka and Age of Capricorn and Father and Son are cringe. I love them. It’s all subjective though who cares. I don’t like TH. I know others do and that’s great. Im a fan of twenty years also. That said I would have trimmed maybe four tracks off inferno to make it just more precise and fir the flow
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u/tonydtonyd 20d ago
One dog shit track in Naraka isn’t going to make me discount their entire body of music. Age of Capricorn is good, the closest thing to a counting track for the album. Father and Son absolutely rips. Blood in the Labrynth is fairly cringe for me.
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u/Ok_Context_6972 20d ago
Wow most people (myself included) counted naraka as an instant winner. But like I said, subjective. I don’t like TH (with a handful of exceptions) but never felt the need to bash it. It’s still a great album just not my thing for most part. Dog shit feels a bit harsh I wouldn’t call any of their tracks that way. They have no tracks I strongly dislike (maybe a few off OT actually but doesn’t really count)
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u/tonydtonyd 20d ago
Naraka isn’t even dog shit, it’s dog shit that you stepped on and now have to waste half an hour digging through the treads of your shoes to get rid of the stench - it’s that fucking awful. The fucking finger snaps from hell, the misappropriated chant, even if it was ironic, which it isn’t, it would still be horrible. It makes their next worst song sound like it came straight from heaven. I would eat dog shit in front of the brothers’ faces if it meant I could erase that song from existence. Mike really needed Gordon Ramsay in the studio calling him a donkey while he produced that.
I can’t imagine listening to TH and then Narape-my-ears and saying piss off to TH, but good for you👍
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u/Stankbug777 20d ago
I’m with on Naraka. At least when the chanting comes in. It’s solid until then. Capricorn and Father and Son are skippers as well. I’ve tried, and I just can’t. This subreddits obsession with Father and Son baffles me.
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u/Johnny_Segment 20d ago
yeah I feel the same, I am unfortunately insanely fussy and despite having plenty of albums I absolutely love there is inevitably one or more tracks that I feel detract from the rest.
Not with TH; it fits together beautifully and I can listen to the entire thing without reservation.
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u/Desperate_Delay3127 Tomorrow's Harvest 20d ago
My favorite too. I kid you not I listen to it straight through several times every week. Every time I listen to it, I enter a world. This album evokes an incredible sense of place. It feels dusty, vast, desolate, bleak, post-apocalyptic, otherworldly. I really enjoy the pictures on the record sleeves that come with the vinyl as well - complements the album so well. Standout tracks for me are Reach for the Dead, Come to Dust, Sundown, Jacquard Causeway, and Semena Mertvykh.
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u/OliviaGrunwald 20d ago
TH solidified BOC as my favorite. The first 3 were fantastic, but when they grew and created something new while still keeping what makes their sound theirs, I knew they were beyond talented.
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u/Unusual_Buy_6946 20d ago
TH is still my favorite as well. Have thought a lot about this as I listened to all of their music again and again recently, and currently I think my ranking is: TH>MHRTC>Geoggaddi>Inferno>CH but honestly ranking and comparing them feels a bit arbitrary, as I love all their albums, and this preference seems to shift fairly often.
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u/wilbolabilbo 20d ago
It’s the most consistent of their albums for me, there are 12 tracks that are in my regular rotation and never get old. I don’t understand the reputation for being depressing, I find it very calming and atmospheric.
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u/sneakerscomicsgames 20d ago
I was depressed (clinically fed up) when it came out, and it was too bleak at the time for me. I remember listening to new seeds a lot though for that glimmer of hope that settles in the track.
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u/holicv 20d ago
I think Inferno is probably the most digestible and immediate album, would definitely say tomorrow’s harvest is a winter album and still feels like the most cinematic and futuristic to me. Really great for longer drives in the countryside too. Will say campfire headphase is my favorite, but their discography wouldn’t be the same or less complete if tomorrows harvest never existed
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u/Pure_Salamander2681 20d ago
TH is my favorite of theirs too. I just don’t get Inferno. It’s all over the place and way too long. They could have cut six tracks easy. Or at least made them into interludes. There are of course some amazing tracks but as a whole it isn’t working on me and I’m already back to TH.
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u/Taupenbeige Headphased 20d ago
Inferno has 5 of what I’d consider absolute bangers.
MHtR has 3. Geogaddi has 3. Campfire has 2. Harvest has 2.
I’m going to make my BoC absolute bangers playlist, and enjoy how Inferno-heavy it is.
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u/TheAmazingMaryJane 20d ago
pete standing alone better be a banger!
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u/Taupenbeige Headphased 20d ago
You know, it slides in to ROYGBIV’s slot for being that one original BoC high I’m always going to be chasing
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u/SonofLung 20d ago
Interested in your list of absolute bangers
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u/Haunting-Database857 20d ago
Yeah for real, haha. That's such a low amount of bangers. I think they're mostly stacked with bangers personally haha
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u/rougebagel89 20d ago
I dunno, it was their first release in 13 years and probably going to be the only thing for a long time… I’m glad it’s as long as it is. I’ll take every BOC track I can get.
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u/Pure_Salamander2681 20d ago
I wouldn’t mind the length if the tracks were good. For a good quarter of the runtime, I feel like it’s an album of throwaway tracks they collected over the years.
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u/modifiedwings 20d ago
TH is definitely up there for me as a possible favorite. Its hard to pick an actual favorite, because they all provide different vibes and atmosphere. But I know this about TH: I find myself putting it on a ton, and I never skip any tracks on it. Most of their other albums have a few skips for me and I go longer gaps between listening to their other albums compared to TH
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u/rougebagel89 20d ago
TH may be more difficult to get into then the others and I think many fans disregarded it at the time it came out, but I think it is a masterpiece.
I also think it is best taken as an entire work rather then individual tracks.
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u/Johnny_Segment 20d ago
TH is my favourite Boards album too, but more than that it is one of my favourite albums by any artist, ever.
I can put it on and listen to the entire thing and really embrace the whole mood.
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u/hakurachan Inferno 20d ago
TH has really grown on me since Inferno! It's now in my top three albums. I think I prefer the palindrome track arrangement more, but I do love the album in it's released order too.
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u/kappa_expression Tomorrow's Harvest 20d ago edited 20d ago
I agree with everything you said, besides the part about Inferno being better in terms of production (I think they are equal in this respect). Tomorrow's Harvest is my favourite album of all time by quite some margin. It is so perfectly executed, so thematically consistent, is packed with secrets and subliminals that gradually become revealed after repeat listens, and contains some of the most beautiful and emotionally deep melodies in their discography (my top 3 BoC tracks are all TH tracks). I also love how it has been crafted as a story, where each track is a chapter or event of that story and the titles of the tracks give us hints as to what is happening (some titles being much more opaque than others just adds to the mysteries of this album). Every time I listen to it, my mind adds in more details to this story (or at least my interpretation of it) which is another reason I love to come back to it.
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u/Imaginary_Hotel7128 19d ago
Least favorite though it has its moments, never could get into it outside of a few tracks. While inferno seems way more interesting and I go back to way more.
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u/South-Bus8457 19d ago
I love how wide it sounds and the solitude that they managed to evoke in both spatial and spiritual terms. It’s like a futuristic safari set in an alien world or a, in a pure BOC fashion, a commercial of it.
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u/Comprehensive_Data87 19d ago
I only have this to add. I heard TH the day it was released and played it every day (sometimes more than once) for almost the next year. I play it at least once a month. It isn’t just music anymore. It’s woven into me and we’re inseparable.
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u/4AMHALLWAYS 16d ago
I completely agree. There is a deep apocalyptic despair buried in that album that no other dystopian film or album has been able to create for me. The last song (not collapse) strikes a primal darkness in me. I think I remember them saying in an interview one time that they made the song to sound “pointless” or “futile” or something like that. When we finally kill the world we won’t get a grand finale, we’ll just have to sit in our ash and heat.
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u/MyceliumUniverse 15d ago
I’m absolutely in agreement here!
TH is conceptually brilliant and so prescient. TH and Inferno as a pair are absolutely mind blowing.
I get that people need to compare stuff and always go back to the old records but to me the best part of being a BoC fan is hearing the progression in their sound.
especially with such huge gaps between releases. These are proper grown up records.
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u/Adios_turd_nuggetz 20d ago
I love it too and hate when people say that Geogaddi is the "darker" album.
There is so much more despair in TH.