Silent Alarm is the debut studio album by British indie rock band Bloc Party (pictured). Recorded in Copenhagen and London in mid-2004 with producer Paul Epworth, it was first released on 2 February 2005 in Japan, with Wichita Recordings as the primary label. The record peaked at number three on the United Kingdom Albums Chart. In the United States, it entered the Billboard 200 at number 114 and the Billboard Top Independent Albums at number seven. The double A-side "So Here We Are/Positive Tension", "Banquet", and "Pioneers" were released as singles. Silent Alarm went on to achieve worldwide sales of over one million copies. Bloc Party aimed to create an album that appealed to followers of different musical genres. Building on the arrangements in their demo songs recorded in 2004, the band members moulded tracks largely through live takes during the Silent Alarm studio sessions. The compositional focus was on rhythm and the drum and bass parts, while lyricist Kele Okereke's writing examined the feelings and hopes of young adults, including views on global politics. Following the album's completion, Bloc Party embarked on promotional tours before its release. Silent Alarm garnered widespread critical acclaim and has received accolades throughout the music industry since its release.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Alarm

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1912:

The Piltdown Man: At a meeting of the Geological Society of London, amateur British archaeologist Charles Dawson claimed that he had been given a fragment of a skull that was discovered at a gravel pit near Uckfield, East Sussex, England, which later turned out to be a forgery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man

1916:

The French defeated German forces around the city of Verdun-sur-Meuse in northeast France, ending the longest battle and one of the bloodiest in World War I. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Verdun

1958:

The United States launched Project SCORE, the world's first communications satellite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_SCORE

1966:

Epimetheus, one of the moons of Saturn, was discovered, but was mistaken as Janus. It took 12 years to determine that they are two distinct objects sharing the same orbit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimetheus_%28moon%29

2009:

The Copenhagen Summit on climate change ended with the drafting of the non-binding Copenhagen Accord. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_Accord

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

poltroon (n): An ignoble or arrant coward; a dastard; a mean-spirited wretch http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/poltroon

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible. --Paul Klee http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paul_Klee