Review of Recoil: Liquid

October 2025

By Alain Dupuis

Would we recommend?
Influence us and our tastes?
Overall?

3.5

Review of Recoil – Liquid

This month on The Sonic Collective, Alain’s album choice has us exploring Recoil’s fifth album, Liquid (2000)—a chilling, experimental work born from Alan Wilder’s near-death experience. Wilder, best known for his years with Depeche Mode, crafts a sonic labyrinth that feels less like an album and more like the soundtrack to your darkest fever dream.

Liquid rejects pop conventions, weaving drum and bass textures with electronic soundscapes, spoken-word fragments, and unsettling samples. Distorted whispers and eerie effects lurk beneath the mix, daring you to question your own senses. It’s an album designed not just to be heard, but to be felt—deeply, and perhaps uncomfortably.

Not for the faint of heart, Liquid rewards those willing to listen actively and surrender to its enigmatic pull. A perfect choice for an October review—if you dare.

Alain and The Sonic Collective Team

Overall Scores

Recommend: 3.5
Influenced: 3.5
Overall: 3.375

Darren Scott
Recommend: 2
Influenced: 2.5
Overall: 2.5

Scott Coates
Recommend: 3.5
Influenced: 3
Overall: 2.5

Alain Dupuis
Recommend: 4
Influenced: 5
Overall: 4.5

Scott Gregory
Recommend: 4.5
Influenced: 3.5
Overall: 4

Next album

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It’s Blitz!
Selected by Scott Gregory

This month on The Sonic Collective, member Scott Gregory takes us into the electrifying world of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs with their third studio album, It’s Blitz! Released in 2009, this record marked a bold shift in the band’s sonic identity, moving away from their raw, garage-rock roots toward a more polished, synth-driven sound. This is a band evolving its art and voice, and that is what piques Scott’s interest with this album selection.

Scott challenges us not only to listen to It’s Blitz!, but also to the band’s earlier studio releases, so we can get a better understanding of how the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have changed in their approach to music.

Does It’s Blitz! compare to the gritty energy of their earlier releases? Does this transformation enhance their legacy or challenge what fans loved about them?

Join us as we dig into the textures, influences, and risks behind this pivotal moment in the band’s career. Whether you’re a longtime fan or discovering them for the first time, this review promises a fascinating look at a band’s reinvention in modern rock.