By far LCD's worst effort yet. A sad recycling of the other albums. These lyrics are whack.

This guy wants so much being the new talking heads that it hurts.

"And all I want is your pity. Oh all I want are your bitter tears." Unbelievably so good. I've been following LCD Soundsystem since I heard "Losing My Edge" floating around in '02. Now I don't want to say "I knew that this would be it," but I want to say something along those lines to a less douchey and less foreboding extent. So: I'm happy LCD Soundsystem pulled through with their third album not only because of its quality--lyrically, musically, and in regards to its production--but because it connects so well to me and gives me an urge to dance and be all alive-like. It's real nice, check it out.… Expand

This Is Happening had the potential to be one of the greatest EPs of this generation. Instead, James Murphy has produced an album of three or four hits, intertwined with shameless time-consuming noise.

Along with Arcade Fire's The Suburbs and Josh Ritter's So Runs the World Away, this was my favorite album of 2010. I'd hate for this to be the last LCD Soundsystem album, but we'll always have "Home".

The best but last album of this great project by James Murphy gets to it's end with remarkable songs and different lyrics. Not as great as Sound Of Silver, but great at the same way, songs like "I Can Change" e "Drunk Girls" show us that mr. Murphy might be the creative genious we-ve been looking for.

Wow, this album is the extreme opposite of the last, which was amazing, except for "All My Friends." I think he let that song get to his head...this album is just so dull and one-dimensional. It really goes nowhere. People only love it because they're supposed to. It's really sad that he has to end it like THIS.

I guarantee you James Murphy is going to pull a Jay-Z and make 15 other albums.

Best dance album ever!!! Every track builds slowly and climaxes into audio splendor! Even better than Sound of Silver.

More of the same. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Brilliant!

Very great album!

"...it doesn’t take much to imagine the act becoming a tired gag a couple more albums down the line." Thannnk you Paste Magazine! Actually, James already hit rock bottom with this one.

Really really good.

This is an excellent album, I'd say better than Sound of Silver. I don't really feel like writing much more, but I could go on for a while.

I was worried Murphy was going to mess it up after the brilliance and success of Sound of Silver, one of the previous decade's best. Like that record, it starts well, with Dance Urself Clean, and Murphy, after stumbling with Drunk Girls and One Touch, really hits his stride with All I Want, a great Bowie homage. After that, its mostly great, with the exception of Somebody's Calling Me; You Wanted a Hit and Home are especially great. Shame its his last really.… Expand

The weird thing is, that allthough I hadn't heard these songs before, on first listen it felt so familliar. 'Pow Pow' has massive simillarities to 'I'm Losing my Edge', and 'Someone is Calling Me' to 'Sound of Silver'. I guess this kind of feels like an upgrade to their last album, everything is better here, but theres few areas explored that havent already been. Although this is mainly because Murphy hasn't left a stone unturned on his search for the right sound over his four studio albums. how this got a slighlty worse score than 45:33 I'll never know.… Expand

j. murphy et. al. are maturing. "derivative"?, nah, a lot of homage to best-of 80's dance pop and some of these tunes are ass shakers while others aint. innovative, memorable contributions from all the player's. i like it, i spent the $ & bough it, no regrets. actually is happening, actually a bit of a landmark.

At some point between LCD Soundsystem’s eponymous debut and their latest release, This Is Happening, their music went from poignant cultural criticism to trite vulgarity. Regardless of its simplicity, the first track in their catalogue “Daft Punk is Playing at my House” is a catchy, beguiling meta-song of sorts, venturing outside of itself to remind you that you are listening to music. Still, it manages to transport you to Murphy’s world, where only celebrities are good enough. That’s right, Daft Punk is playing at his house. On the only pop cut off This Is Happening, “Drunk Girls,” Murphy condescends to his cultural serfs to inject a deceitful bit of mockery onto the dancefloor. I can hear King James laughing from up high as his subjects celebrate their own pathetic image. Besides my rejection of the affront, any song designed as generic DJ bar fodder is enough to be scratched from my playlist. James Murphy attempts a daring balancing act when trying to be accessible with “Drunk Girls,” but then challenging the listener’s aesthetics with “Somebody’s Calling Me.” Although I have no problem with the avant-garde, John Cage was often annoying, but never so grating. Between the plodding pace, heavily modulated synths, and lyrics so boring they lose all meaning, this is the epitome of a throw-away track. “All I Want” is a decent enough ballad with a good progression for concise almost seven minutes, but the audience is more likely to sway with their lighters than dance. This Is Happening is not a total loss, though: LCD Soundsystem finally strikes a chord on the closer, “Home.” Built on a driving beat and pulsing synths, Murphy instructs us with his intelligent social commentary. And despite being kitschy, “Pow Pow” builds a polyrhythmic groove skyward to the shimmering, though short-lived, ceiling. Meanwhile, however, we are forced to endure Murphy’s neurotic ranting about his weekend travels, insignificant twitter feuds, and nonsense about perspectives and decisions. Following the fresh, post-punk genius of Sound of Silver, it’s hard to see This Is Happening as anything but a let down. Even at its best, LCD’s latest effort never approaches the building, churning, mutating balls of funkiness of three years earlier. Try as it might, many songs here are pitiful b-sides to a corollary on SOS: “Pow Pow” is a confounding revision of “North American Scum,” complete with chanting and pithy one-liners; “ “All I Want” feels like a tired, elderly version of “All My Friends;” while the embracing demonic, hedonist nature of “Get Innocuous!,” “One Touch” has an atonal, aimless composition; and with glassy synths and tender vocals, “I Can Change” recalls “Someone Great,” but lacks the delicate beauty of its predecessor. In many ways, This is Happening is a response to The Future Will Come by DFA second-in-command, The Juan MacLean, just as that album was a response to SOS, yet it never comes close the playful euphoria of, for instance, “Happy House.” Like the song titles, the album plays like a lame night out at the bars, from drunk dancing, to flirting, to fighting, to passing out. “You Wanted A Hit,” contains enough energy and melody to actually propel a crowd, although it sits idle for the first three minutes – the time it takes many songs to run their course. Single option #2, “I Can Change,” while being emotionally profound, is so dull it’s a mystery that it continues on for longer than that. While the This Is Happening is chock-full of wit, and there are bits of enjoyment to be had here and there, it is a fragmented work with insufficient highs to redeem the overwhelming tedium.… Expand

Enjoyable but not mind-blowing.

The album proclaims "You wanted a hit/Well maybe we don't do hits". If the charts were up to me, LCD Soundsystem would have had loads of hits by now.

Slightly disappointed with this album after the stellar Sound of Silver. Just a tiny bit too much balladry on here IMO. Still pretty kick-ass, though. Recommended.

Wow, I did not enjoy this at all! Way too slow and boring.

This is the best album of 2010!

LCD Soundsystem end on a good note. While this isn't as good as Sound of Silver, it's certainly better than their debut. I found this album to be a grower requiring multiple listens to really get into it.

Certainly the weakest of the LCD albums and yet very, VERY similar to his previous ones. It's probably for the best that he's calling it a day. There's nothing inherently bad about this album; it is in fact rather good. BUT, none of the songs on 'This Is Happening' are quite as good as those on 'LCD Soundsystem' or 'Sound of Silver'. This album shows that, after 3 albums, the LCD sound has now been stretched for as much as it's worth. I'm genuinely surprised it's metacritic score is as high as his others.… Expand

A hip, rocking album that puts other artists to shame, "Happening" has a lot of great jams and snyth tech beats, chugging along with LCD's off-beat lyrics its a must have for this year best music.

I can't stop listening to this album. The Dance Yourself Clean track is addicting. Please check it out this album. I love the genuine, and positive spirit and feel to the music and lyrics, you would have to quite thick headed not to percieve and appreciate this. Love it.

It is despicable that this is tagged with dance-punk so often, when this truly holds no regards to anything of the sort, especially in this day and age of electronic dominance within music. This sounds to be stuck in the late-seventies, drenched in horribly bland white-man's funk (read as: Talking Heads), with no appeal or impact of any regard to be had. A continuing trend for this band. Their 2007 album was less expressive than their debut. The good news is, they can't get any worse.… Expand

The album should've been revisited before release, although the most beautiful thing about this album is that it's actually fun to listening to, but some of the songs need some editing for run time.

They say it's better to quit while still on top, and this is LCD at it's best. May not be as good as the magnificent Sound of Silver but it certainly holds its own. Now LCD has released 3 great albums, enough to earn a distinguished place in music history.

Yep, Talking Heads + Enoesque sounds + a bit of Bowie (without the amazing voice). Starts fantastically with Dance Yrself Clean, and never reaches the same height again. Drunk Girls is very annoying and unlistenable. There's some good stuff like All I want and I Can Change, but doesn't do much for me. I don't see the genius. Bringing back old 80's sounds, and making them fresh again is admirable, but I think he is overhyped. -each of the first 5 albums by the talking heads is better.… Expand

This album is jumpin! groovy as hell. Funky electronic sounds, great beats, great drummer- he just fits with the music. Under some circumstances, it just sounds reminiscent of the 80's, but it is oh so fresh at the same time. Eclectic, cool, bright and interesting lyrics. Thick electronic bass lines, melody lines. The quality on the CD sounds amazing, well mixed and recorded, well put together with no gaps and no distortion or filler underneath, everything placed perfectly but perfectly wild for the creativity to leap out of the music. Needless to say, the songs aren't dull, this album will have bouncing.… Expand

This Is Happening was my favorite record from 2010. The LP has more of a rock sound than previous efforts, but still shows electronic flare. LCD Soundsystem will be missed.

When "New York I love you" I literally cried. Great album for a great band. I had the pleasure of seeing their final concert, I will never forget it

A very enjoyable record and a pity it's LCD's last. The opener Dance Yrself Clean is as good an album introduction as you'll ever here. Followed up by the single Drunk Girls keeps things flowing along nicely. The whole record has got a sound from another time - for some reason New York of the 80's comes to mind when I listen to it. That may just be me but this record definitely stands out amongst other releases of the year for sounding different to anything else. The records centre piece Can Change is a typical example and sounds like something Gary Numan would come out with.… Expand