THE NEWS
TV On The Radio’s *Return To Cookie Mountain* turned 20 on July 6, 2006 — the album that expanded the Brooklyn trio into a five-piece and nearly topped the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll the following year *. It lost to Bob Dylan’s *Modern Times* by just 14 points, finishing 1109 to 1123, and the controversy around that poll’s cover illustration became its own ugly footnote *. The album featured David Bowie on “Province” and opened with “Wolf Like Me,” a track that took 18 years to go gold *.
THE LEGACY
- Released in the UK and Europe on July 6, 2006, one week before the fifth anniversary of 9/11 in the US *
- Expanded TV On The Radio from a trio to a five-piece with the addition of bassist/keyboardist Gerard Smith and drummer Jaleel Bunton, both originally guitarists *
- Featured David Bowie on the album track “Province” *
- Finished second in the 2007 Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll with 1109 points, losing to Bob Dylan’s *Modern Times* by 14 points *
- “Wolf Like Me” took 18 years to achieve gold certification *
- The band’s follow-up album reached number one on the Pazz & Jop poll *
WHY IT MATTERS
This was the album that proved TV On The Radio could scale up without smoothing out — adding two members and signing to Interscope while keeping the density and strangeness intact *. Twenty years later, *Return To Cookie Mountain* remains the sound of a band refusing to choose between ambition and integrity.