Anniemal - Annie
Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. 100
    It excels at that classic pop trick of combining the euphoric with the melancholy. [Apr 2005, p.108]
  2. If you come expecting a great album full of hit singles, you won't get it. If you come with an open mind, what will greet you is the opening chapter of a tale about a girl living through music, remembering through music, exploring her art and herself, starting out to create something special and different.
  3. As cunning as it is, Anniemal is also deeply affecting.
  4. 90
    Annie is to Kylie Minogue as Kasabian is to Primal Scream: same song, different packaging. [#16, p.97]
  5. Not since the days of The Tom Tom Club, Bananarama, and "Lucky Star"-era Madonna, has dance-pop been this fun, this bouncy, this unabashedly optimistic.
  6. This all-star team of Northern European electro-house producers infuses the record with often low, rumbling bass, twitchy synths, and an oddly high-altitude light-headedness-- like floating, high on oxygen, just above a dancefloor.
  7. 80
    [Annie] masterfully fus[es] synth-pop rhythms with her own feline coos. [Jun 2005, p.108]
  8. 80
    Annie explodes with a white-hot teen spirit that shames 99% of what passes for pop in America today. [Jun 2005, p.76]
  9. If you have even the teensiest taste for the guilty charms of Kylie, the 'Babes or Girls Aloud, this album is a must.
  10. As much as the album may be a breath of fresh air, it still resembles what the Britney's on our side of the Atlantic are putting out, closer than many would like to admit.
  11. Annie the songwriter is breathless and unsure of herself, her voice barely registering above a church-wafer-thin whisper for most of the record.
  12. One of the stronger debuts released this year.
  13. Annie has a breathy wisp of a voice, and her vocal range is limited; but there is charm in her deadpan delivery, and her songwriting is full of the flair for melody for which Scandinavian pop is famous. [2 May 2005]
  14. This sugar rush of an album proves Mom right yet again: Candy is best consumed in moderation. [10 Jun 2005, p.107]
  15. What makes Anniemal such a strong pop effort is its refusal to drop its high standards for production, melody, and hooks.
  16. Sounding mainstream but thinking indie, Anniemal comes packed with both instant surface fizz and quirky finesse that sustains repeated listenings.
  17. Annie has delivered a solid pop record that does a lot of things well, but -- and this is the important thing -- that's what we should expect from all of our pop records.... Anniemal isn't a high-water mark; it's a benchmark.
  18. If much of Anniemal isn't vibrant enough to move physically or resonant enough to move emotionally, its peaks suggest a worthy midway state.
  19. 70
    Kylie Minogue for hipsters. [#10, p.70]
  20. And though a few of the tracks are downright painful... the end product is certainly something to chew on. [24 Jul 2005]
  21. "Anniemal" is a textbook pop album – with all the passion that entails (i.e. none).
  22. Anniemal is pleasant enough to listen to; when I played it in my car while I was stuck in traffic, it helped take the edge off. It reminded me of music heard in malls, peppy and buoying, but not so compelling as to distract you from the clothes.
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 61 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 47
  2. Negative: 3 out of 47
  1. RicardoC
    8
    Though is not excellent its great, and the best pop album in the last years. It is not full of hits, but its smooth and solid (Unlike trashy-easy-katyperry-pop). Full Review »
  2. Josh
    4
    Quite possibly the most overrated album I've ever heard. It's the same sugar infused pop Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue and Madonna have been putting out for years, except the hooks aren't as catchy and the vocals are poor. Avoid. Full Review »
  3. Drake
    10
    The best album of it's kind since Madonna's classic "Like a Virgin" album came out back in the 80's. The Tiny Mix Tapes review says it best "Perfect pop bliss". Full Review »