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Actor - St. Vincent
User Score
9.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 46 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 46
  3. Negative: 1 out of 46

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  1. Yema
    Oct 18, 2009
    10
    I can't believe this doesn't have a higher metacritic rating. The critics who gave it scores as low as 60 are wrong! I can listen to this album the whole way through and it never gets old. Truly a masterpiece and it deserves to be in every Top 10 list this year!
    • 1 of 1 users said yes
  2. hydrawithears
    Oct 3, 2011
    8
    St. Vincent’s second record is much darker than its predecessor and, what’s naturally more rewarding, much better. Despite the album’s background (it was written using the GarageBand application), the arrangements are more complex. Actor opens with The Strangers and the obsessive mantra Paint the black hole blacker / Paint the black hole blacker. From this moment on you know that everything it’s going to be even more peculiar. Like on Marrow, a quiet storm of a song which explodes during Annie’s plea. Or The Bed, a very “cinematic” track on which St. Vincent narrates: We’re sleeping underneath the bed / To scare the monsters out / With our dear daddy’s Smith and Wesson / We’ve gotta teach them all a lesson. Lyrics have always been Clark’s trump card. Besides, the whole thing sounds like a soundtrack to St. Vincent’s very own film: scary but riveting.… Expand
  3. HelenB
    May 6, 2009
    10
    I loved Clark's debut - "Marry Me", and "Actor" was even more compex, lyrical and darker. I enjoy her experimentation with this sort of clashing between sweet orchestral arrangements with the dark crazy distorted feature of the guitar. She is lethal on the guitar and I love it. Definitely a contender for top album this year.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  4. ClifC
    May 7, 2009
    9
    Amazing all the way. Go girl!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. BlueMeanie
    Oct 4, 2009
    9
    Ignore the cover. It's studiously naive like a Talking Heads photo. Like them, this is revolutionized pop as well. Way better than what I expected.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. Jack
    May 5, 2009
    10
    She's evolved, same beautiful voice, but has found the sound where the voice belongs. The ties to Sufjan are more evident. But how can that be a bad thing. Amazing, do yourself the favor and check it out!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. ChristianP
    May 6, 2009
    9
    so so so impressive in so so so many ways.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. EvanS
    May 8, 2009
    7
    On first listen I was mesmerized - the work is inspired with beautiful layers of familiar sounding lead-ins (the first track does a fun tease of "Bye Bye Blackbird" and then takes you to an entirely different spot. This album leaked air when I read an interview with Annie Clark who described her fascination with combining a Disney soundtrack with "knarley" guitar work. It kinda spoiled the discovery for me and the music should speak for itself. Still, this album is captivating and Annie Clark is an incredible talent who is just beginning to lift off.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  9. LaurenceB
    May 8, 2009
    10
    Incredible album - the stage is set for St. Vincent to storm the top 5's of innumerable end-of-year lists.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  10. John
    May 9, 2009
    10
    Masterpiece. Nothing else needs to be said.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  11. AidanW
    Jun 11, 2009
    9
    Great from start to finish. A great synthesis of late 80s indie rock and St. Vincent's own energy. Varied, and captivating!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  12. Aaron
    Jul 5, 2009
    10
    This record deserves a top 5 position on most critics end of year lists for sure.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  13. michaelm
    May 5, 2009
    10
    Vicious and gorgeous.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  14. JeremyF
    May 5, 2009
    10
    Marry Me is a bit better in my opinion, but Actor proves to be a nearly pitch-perfect follow up. From the pulsating beat of "Actor Out of Work," to the swirling instrumentals of "The Party," to the emotional crack in her voice when she says "Tomorrow's some sort of stranger who I'm not supposed to see" in the brilliant "The Neighbors." I think "the Sequel should have been kept off, as "Just the Same but Brand New" is actually a perfect and slightly inconclusive ending. But even so, a terrific work.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  15. MW
    May 6, 2009
    10
    Wonderful.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  16. AndrewB
    May 6, 2009
    10
    Like a love child between Audrey Hepburn and Frank Zappa.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  17. DannyT
    Jun 16, 2009
    10
    Brilliance. Visionary.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  18. YemaL
    May 31, 2009
    10
    An amazing album that gets better every time you listen to it. I can't stop listening!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  19. SimonD.
    Jul 18, 2009
    10
    Perhaps the most spot-on pop album of the decade. I agree with the commenter who called it visionary: Annie Clark is redefining what pop music should be. Truly, truly stunning.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  20. Tubie
    Nov 3, 2010
    10
    It is incredible that this album can be better than her first but it is. St. Vincent managed to make an even better album this time around and it's great I love almost every song and the best songs in this album are probably among the best of 2009.
  21. Vampire25
    Jun 15, 2011
    10
    Annie Clark has one of the most elegant, riveting, soft voices I've ever heard. It's just beautiful. Actor is an amazing record. It starts off with the track "The Strangers" which is an amazing opener and every track after that seems to get darker, funnier, and just wickedly great to hear. You can really relate to this album. All In All, Actor is an impressive and important album that absolutely needs to be listened too. A… Expand
  22. lbarajas723
    May 15, 2012
    10
    The perfect album. I barely discovered this album 2 weeks ago. I previously listened to Strange Mercy, which is good and much different from this. Actor is by far Annie's best album. She succeeds in every way possible and more! The tracks that really captured my heart in this album were Save Me From What I Want, Black Rainbow, Actor Out Of Work, Marrow, Laughing With A Mouth Of Blood, and two of my now, all time favorite songs ever, The Party, which will take you to places you've never been before, and Just The Same, But Brand New which is incredibly written lyrically and instrumentally. This album gets a PERFECT 10 out of 10 in my book .… Expand
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Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Blender
    80
    Her second album is rowdier and less well-behaved, and thus better, although the template is the same: breathy coos and lush strings intermittently blown apart by distorted guitar blasts.
    Read full review
  2. musicOMH.com
    80
    On first listen it feels like the musical equivalent of doodling a massive cock-and-balls on a Rembrandt, but eventually this reveals itself as the first moment of compositional brilliance on an album packed full of them.
    Read full review
  3. No Ripcord
    80
    Quite eponymously, the album is a grand performance, and one whose stagecraft is the sole work of a brilliant ringmaster in Clark.
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