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Tyranny
Studio album by Julian Casablancas + The Voidz
Released	September 23, 2014
Recorded	2013–2014
Studio	Labyrinth, NYC
Genre	Electronica progressive rock
Length	62:25
Label	Cult
Producer	Shawn Everett
The Voidz chronology
Tyranny (2014) Virtue (2018)
Alternate album cover
Singles from Tyranny
"Human Sadness" Released: September 2, 2014 "Where No Eagles Fly" Released: September 9, 2014

Tyranny is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Voidz (marketed as Julian Casablancas + The Voidz), recorded at Labyrinth, NYC and released on September 23, 2014 through the Cult label. The first single from the album, the 11-minute track "Human Sadness", was released on September 2, 2014. The music video for the second single "Where No Eagles Fly" was directed by guitarist Jeramy "Beardo" Gritter. On September 19, Tyranny was made available to stream on the websites of Rolling Stone and Pitchfork.

The album was placed 50th in NME's "Top 50 Albums of 2014" list.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	66/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Clash	(7/10)
Consequence	Favorable
Drowned in Sound	(9.75/10)
Exclaim!	(8/10)
The Line of Best Fit	(6.5/10)
NME	(6/10)
Paste	(6/10)
Pitchfork	(4.9/10)
Rolling Stone

The album received generally positive reviews, though outlets often expressed mixed opinions. Rolling Stone gave the album 3.5 stars, calling it "the sound of a man shedding his skin. Not pretty, but more compelling for it." Paste gave it 6.0, while Exclaim! gave it 8 out of 10, calling it "a seriously sad album...compelling." Lucas Villa of AXS awarded four out of five stars, writing, "Casablancas continues to exercise his experimental muscle in the most raucous ways with The Voidz in tow." Benji Taylor of Clash gave the album 7/10, calling it "a weirdly wonderful mesh of awkward time signatures, unconventional song structures and, in general, unbridled madness". Pitchfork was among the most negative of the reviewers, giving the album a 4.9 and calling it unlistenable and a failure.

GQ printed in a 2014 interview with Casablancas entitled, "Julian Casablancas Is Done Trying to Save You",

The record's called Tyranny, and that's sort of what it's about, Casablancas says: rapacious oil companies and a not-so-free press and environmental depredation. Money. Health care. Nightmares. The moon. "It's not very sexy to talk about these things, especially in a place like America, where things are, like, the best. But it just feels like we’re inside that Versailles bubble, you know?"

Track listing

All tracks are written by Julian Casablancas, except where noted

Personnel

• Julian Casablancas – vocals
• Jeramy "Beardo" Gritter – guitar
• Amir Yaghmai – guitar
• Jacob "Jake" Bercovici – bass guitar, synthesizers
• Alex Carapetis – drums, percussion
• Jeff Kite – keyboards

Production and others

• Shawn Everett – production, mixing
• Ryan Fagman – additional engineering on "Dare I Care", "Xerox", "Nintendo Blood" and "Crunch Punch"
• J. P. Bowersock – guru for "Crunch Punch", "Human Sadness" and "Take Me in Your Army"
• Mike Bloom – additional guitar on "Dare I Care"
• Brian Gardner – mastering at Bernie Grundman Mastering, LA
• Dave Kutch – additional mastering at The Mastering Palace, NYC
• Emily Lazar – additional mastering at The Lodge, NYC
• Warren Fu – artwork
• Liz Hirsch – artwork
• Sam Adoquei – "The Visit of Govindu" artwork
• El Teneen – "Chessboard" artwork
• Richard Priest – management crew
• Lysee Webb – management crew
• Jack Rovner – management crew

Charts

References

1. Casablancas, Julian (2013). "Labyrinth, NYC (making of Tyranny)"". Julian Casablancas Official Website. Retrieved June 2, 2021.
2. ^ Patterson, Adreon (January 23, 2018). "Listen to The Voidz's First New Single in Nearly Four Years, "Leave It in My Dreams"". Paste. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
3. Beauchemin, Molly (September 2, 2014). "Julian Casablancas and The Voidz Share Eleven-Minute "Human Sadness", Tyranny Tracklist". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
4. ^ Camp, Zoe (September 9, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+The Voidz Release "Where No Eagles Fly" Video, Awesome Single Artwork". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
5. ^ "Tyranny - Julian Casablancas,Julian Casablancas & the Voidz". AllMusic. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
6. "NME's Top 50 Albums of 2014". NME. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
7. "Tyranny – Julian Casablancas & the Voidz". Metacritic. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
8. Phares, Heather. "Tyranny - Julian Casablancas+the Voidz". AllMusic. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
9. ^ Taylor, Benji (September 30, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Clash Music. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
10. Roffman, Michael (September 18, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Consequence. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
11. Loucaides, Darren (October 14, 2014). "Album Review: Julian Casablancas & the Voidz - Tyranny". Drowned in Sound. Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 19, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
12. ^ Simpson, Scott (September 23, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Exclaim!. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
13. Bull, John (October 16, 2014). "Tyranny by Julian Casablancas+the Voidz". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
14. Perry, Kevin (October 13, 2014). "NME Reviews - Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". NME. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
15. ^ Cosores, Philip (September 23, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Paste. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
16. Fitzmaurice, Larry (September 25, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
17. ^ Hermes, Will (September 23, 2014). "Julian Casablancas+the Voidz - Tyranny". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
18. Villa, Lucas (September 27, 2014). "Album review: Julian Casablancas+The Voidz's 'Tyranny' is a hell of a statement". AXS. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018.
19. Baron, Zack. "Julian Casablancas Is Done Trying to Save You". GQ. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
20. "Ultratop.be – Julian Casablancas %2B The Voidz – Tyranny" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
21. "Ultratop.be – Julian Casablancas %2B The Voidz – Tyranny" (in French). Hung Medien.
22. "Lescharts.com – Julian Casablancas %2B The Voidz – Tyranny". Hung Medien.

• 2014 debut albums
• Cult Records albums
• The Voidz albums