Boards Of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children

If anyone was wondering about the track "Roygbiv" and why it was named that, it is actually a common way to remember the order from top to bottom of the color spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green Blue, Indigo ,Violet).

A pretty important album for 90's electonic music. The retro theme here is very obvious. The artwork and overall sound of the album reflects that of being in the 1970's. I wasn't born until the 80's, so I can't say that I honestly get memories from listening to this, but I can certainly appreciate what Boards of Canada were trying to do. My personal favorite on here is track 14, Pete Standing Alone. You can feel the loneliness in this song. Also worth mentioning is the eerie The Color of The Fire, which has a small child's voice repeating "I love you". Sounds harmless enough, but it gives me goosebumps hearing it. All in all this album is a wonderful contribution to the electronica and IDM scene... This being the re-press version, the buyer gets a bonus track from BoC's Peel Session. What else could you ask for?

This album isn't for everyone. Despite the positive comments and opinions, I find this music very dull. The lack of anything remotely interesting makes it difficult for me to sit down and listen to. The sounds are there, floating around, with seemingly no purpose.

I realize I'm definitely in the minority here, but for me, Music Has The Right To Children is a considerably lacklustre affair. I think it's unfortunate when an album such as this reaches 'automatic classic' status; that point where so many people own it, and it's so frequently raved about, that its greatness is essentially presumed.

There are a few decent moments on this album, and I think BOC definitely took their music in a direction that had seldom been explored up until 1998. I guess my problem is that this just feels like a series of very simple compositions. Most of the pieces operate around three or four layer loops, often consisting merely of a sampled beat and a few treated keyboard riffs. At times the layers do waft and float about with a certain majesty, but in the long run I struggle to find a level upon which this can hold my interest.. Particularly for an entire sixty minutes. I understand the concept of minimalism, which has been explored countless times to stunning effect throughout the history of electronic music. I'm not sure if BOC would consider themselves minimalists, but even if you take a view of this album from that point, it simply doesn't amount to much.

Additionally, many of the beats sampled here are quite 'of their time', and don't leave much to the imagination. I can't help but feel that in ten years time, this album won't have aged particularly well at all.. And repeat listens or not, there really isn't a great deal more to be discovered. If anything, I feel that Geogaddi was the more rounded, complex and captivating product of this curious, yet ultimately shallow debut LP.

This release is THE perfect IDM album. Boards of Canada is an interesting band to discover and I really suggest to anyone who likes electronic music to listen, or even buy this album. Every tracks are perfect, and pretty minimalist, perhaps. If you want to know Boards of Canada, start with that release! It's a classic! Music Has The Right To Children deserve a 5/5 rate. I always listen to this album and never get sick of it. That's why it's my favourite album. ;)

I find it hard to believe that this was made only in 1998. It already feels like a timeless classic. This is the kind of music that makes me reflect on my life especially tracks like "turquoise hexagon sun", "olson", "open the light". Every time I reach the end of the album at "happy cycling" I somehow feel the need for it to transition to "yunx - thinking about your next move" thanks to countless listens to GU024. The best part of MHtRtC for me is I can find at least one thing I like about every single one of the 18 tracks, even the short tracks like "kaini industries" and "olson". My favorites include "roygbiv", "telephasic workshop", "olson", "pete standing alone", "smokes quantity", "open the light"...might as well include everything in the cd.

BoC has seemed to amaze us, especially with this album. MHtRtC has given us something very special...to its very high concentration of warped beats and drowned melodies&samples from 'Pete Standing Alone' to 'Roygbiv' or even to 'Smokes Quantity'. Some of the more popular tracks with these styles are 'Triangles & Rhombuses' and 'Turquoise Hexagon Sun'. This album is one of the best albums i have heard for a young artist approach, next to The Chemical Brothers, and Royksopp.

This is unlike any album really, so to compare it is impossible, so lets put it this way: if you enjoy messy beats, with strange and eerie melodies/samples give this a shot, and make sure you put on your 'non-jaded/nay-sayer' hat on =P.

P.S. Pete Standing Alone is amazing and belongs on this album...in fact it's my favorite track =D

This really is BOC's masterpiece. With the exception of track 14, each song is perfectly crafted as to create the album's main mood, which is melancholical. The addition of Happy Cycling at the end of the album makes this brilliant release even better.

Theres something strangley familar about the sound of this album.Like its always been around since the seventies but no ones noticed it before. For me this is one of those albums that demands your attention .A modern electronica classic.

I'm a little puzzled as to why no-one has mentioned the origin of their name- BOC is a reference to the National Film Board of Canada. Best known for it's documentaries, in the 70's and early 80's they produced some exquisite wildlife films. I was entranced (as I'm sure the BOC guys were too) as a young child when I chanced upon them on Irish network TV. No doubt a cheap schedule filler, these films were interspersed with the warm, fuzzy analogue tones you hear on this album. I was surprised upon my first listen to have flashbacks of caribou and melting tundra ice pop into my head! Lets say this delightfully pastoral album is'inspired by' the theme music of the NFB rather than use the crueller 'liberally sampled'. Not the piece of groundbreaking originality some claim but a wonderful evocation of wonder and nature just the same