The ultimate ranking of Interpol’s discography from worst to best. From the gloomy post-punk revival of Turn On the Bright Lights to the socio-political trip-hop of This Mirror Weighs a Ton, discover where your favourite Interpol albums have ranked.
Table of Contents:
- Turn On the Bright Lights (2002)
- Antics (2004)
- Our Love to Admire (2007)
- Interpol (2010)
- El Pintor (2014)
- Marauder (2018)
- The Other Side of Make-Believe (2022)
- This Mirror Weighs a Ton (2026)
#8
Marauder (2018)
Marauder was produced by Dave Fridmann, who is known for producing albums by psychedelic bands like The Flaming Lips, MGMT and Tame Impala, but you’d have no idea, as this album sounds as plain as any other post 2000s Interpol albums. The first two tracks (which were both singles) are decent (if not inessential), but the album falls off hard after those two songs. The two interludes are absolutely pointless.
6/10
Highlights: If You Really Love Nothing, The Rover
#7
Interpol (2010)
This was Interpol’s last album with Carlos Dengler, who was already checked out before recording even finished. The production here is quite uninteresting and the band sounds bored, but there’s at least a few good songs. The cover artwork (which shows an exploded Interpol logo) is terrible, but at least it tells you what to expect.
6/10
Highlights: Success, Lights, Barricade
#6
The Other Side of Make-Believe (2022)
The Other Side of Make-Believe is an improvement over Marauder and Flood’s production works well, but it’s still mostly Interpol just going through the motions. The singles are all fairly strong here, but the album really starts to drag by the back half.
6.5/10
Highlights: Toni, Fable, Gran Hotel
#5
El Pintor (2014)
Interpol’s best album between 2010-2022, with some of their more exciting guitar-playing. Like their eponymous album, the production was handled by themselves, so it pales in comparison to some of their other albums in that regard, but the songs themselves are mostly strong. Not quite the return to form that many fans claimed it to be, but it’s far from a bad album and has an interesting album cover.
7/10
Highlights: All the Rage Back Home, My Desire, My Blue Supreme, Everything Is Wrong, Tidal Wave
#4
This Mirror Weighs a Ton (2026)
Interpol’s most recent album is their most inspired and exciting work since Our Love to Admire. The band doesn’t really experiment or branch away from their trademark sound all too much, but they do dip their toes into some electronic sounds here and there, making for their most unique album in a long time. Paul Banks’ melodies are also quite memorable, with excellent choruses throughout. It doesn’t top their earlier records, but it was a welcome return to form after more than a decade and a half of diminishing returns.
8/10
Highlights: This Mirror Weighs a Ton, See Out Loud, Iron City, Wings on Fire
#3
Our Love to Admire (2007)
The last “great” Interpol album and their only one not on the Matador label (until 2026’s This Mirror Weighs a Ton). Paul Banks went sober for this album and the band began to play with some new sounds, like piano, making for a more polished and refined album than their first two. The last couple of tracks are a bit of a slog, but most of the album is gold, with some of Banks’ best melodies.
Highlights: Pioneer of the Falls, No I in Threesome, The Heinrich Maneuver, Mammoth, Rest My Chemistry
#2
Antics (2004)
Like with The Strokes’ Room on Fire, Antics also suffers from feeling like a (slightly) inferior version of their debut album, but it does enough different to not feel quite like a retread of Turn On the Bright Lights (nor is it as dark), and still features plenty of classic Interpol songs.
9/10
Highlights: Evil, Narc, Slow Hands, Public Pervert
#1
Turn On the Bright Lights (2002)
Unlike The Strokes or Arctic Monkeys, who would go on to create albums that topped or at least matched their classic debut albums, Interpol never surpassed their first album, which is really just a testament to how perfect it is. The band had been building up to this album for about half a decade as they honed their craft and refined the songs, making for an album of all killer, no filler, with plenty of memorable riffs, lyrics and melodies.
Turn On the Bright Lights is one of the best albums of the 2000s and one of the greatest debut albums of all time — everything lined up perfectly here, from Paul Banks’ streetwise poetry, to Carlos D’s Peter Hook style basslines, to Daniel Kessler’s incredible guitar work and Sam Fogarino’s dynamic drumming. An essential listen and one of the defining post-punk revival records.
10/10
Highlights: Every song