Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Entertainment Weekly	A−
Houston Chronicle
Los Angeles Times
NME	8/10
Pitchfork	9.5/10
Record Collector
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
The Village Voice	C+

Turn on the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by the American rock band Interpol, released on August 20, 2002. The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios in Connecticut, and was co-produced, mixed and engineered by Peter Katis and Gareth Jones. It was released on August 19, 2002 in the United Kingdom and August 20 in the United States, through independent record label Matador Records. Upon release, the record peaked at number 101 on the UK Albums Chart. It reached number 158 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, as well as spending 73 weeks on the Billboard Independent Albums chart, peaking at number five. "PDA", "NYC", "Obstacle 1" and "Say Hello to the Angels" were released as singles from Turn on the Bright Lights, and music videos were shot for all but the latter.

A remastered version of the album was released in 2012 to commemorate its tenth anniversary. It featured additional material including demo recordings of several tracks, the bonus songs previously available on international releases and a DVD of live performances and music videos. Interpol are to embark on a tour in 2017 celebrating the album's 15th anniversary, playing the album front to back.

The release of Turn on the Bright Lights was preceded by the marketing of the band's self-titled Interpol EP in June 2002, their first release for Matador. The EP contained three tracks: radio single "PDA", future single "NYC", and "Specialist". All three tracks later appeared on the album, with "Specialist" included as a bonus track in Australian and Japanese editions. Further promotion continued at the beginning of the following year, when the band played the 2003 NME Awards Tour alongside The Datsuns, The Polyphonic Spree and The Thrills.

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Wikipedia