Anxiety - Autre Ne Veut
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
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  1. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Mar 1, 2013
    100
    The lack of vanity, the frank way it strives for accessibility only serves to further magnify the greatness of Anxiety. It does the most ideal thing art can do: it tries to make sense of life itself, without pretense or guile.
  2. PopMatters
    Mar 1, 2013
    90
    The veritable smorgasbord that forms this album is made up of a great many influences, but when all of them are put together, the result is a musical statement that’s innovative on every imaginable level.
  3. Beats Per Minute (formerly One Thirty BPM)
    Feb 25, 2013
    88
    Anxiety matches the emotional heights and immediacy of the music Ashin was inspired by, but what arrives from his limitations--as a singer, as a DIY-ist--adds to the record a personal foundation and raw authenticity no amount of budget could erect.
  4. Paste Magazine
    Mar 5, 2013
    87
    Throughout Anxiety, tracks fail to resolve--“Counting,” “Promises,” “Gonna Die”--and initially I thought it was a songwriting flaw, coming on so fantastically strong there was nowhere left to go. But .... On multiple listens none of this plays accidental--songs run aground as a means of setting the next episode in motion.
  5. Pitchfork
    Feb 26, 2013
    85
    An album where Ashin fearlessly reveals himself as a person and an artist and dares you to open up in the same way.
  6. Pretty Much Amazing
    Feb 25, 2013
    83
    It grows beyond its deeply emotional roots, to become whatever you want it to be.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 2 out of 9
  1. Critikill
    10
    Since the first playthrough of this album a few days ago, I haven't been able to stop listening. What Arthur Ashin lacks in powerful open-throat vocals he makes up for with inventive bellowing riffs and the rare case of overproduction being a compliment. Almost every song has an element which makes it stand out and keeps you coming back for more. If anything, the fact Arthur isn't the best singer but can still approximate the notes he's going for only adds to the inspiring vulnerability he puts on display. He is opening his heart and daring you not to open yours in return. To be fair, I'd normally give this album a 9/10 but am trying to offset the completely unreasonable Zeros some folks have given this. I mean jeez, even if you can't stand the vocals, you give a Zero to stuff like Metallica and Lou Reed's 'Lulu,' not something that's got actual talent and intrigue involved like 'Anxiety.'… Full Review »
  2. williamplong
    10
    This album is absolutely fantastic! I give this a 10 for the absolutely brilliant production and songwriting–flawless avant-pop! The highlighthts for me are the songs "Play by Play", "Gonna Die", "World War", and "A Lie"...buy this album ASAP!… Full Review »
  3. guezelkuecuek
    10
    This album is arguably sonically complex. Layers of heavily (verging on over) produced melodies, effects and words collide together. Messy, striking waves crash, pulsate and breathe through every moment of this album. There is almost always something going on, something to take your attention. It shouldn't work. it should be an overproduced mess. It should be a pulpy, sticky primordial paste of an album with stretches of dull, bleak soundscapes punctuated by the odd crescendo that we have come to associate with modern pop music. But it does work. It works superbly. Because beneath the gloss and the layered production there is heart. This album is like a fine novel covered in a cellophane wrapper that at times bursts out and steals the stage, and with it; the listener's heart and soul. There are times in which all the craziness stops. All of the play-acting. All the masks are dropped and something rises from the ashes like a giant pheonix-cum-robot overlord straight from Transformers. Anxiety crafts a fortress of beats, melodies and synthetic emotion then burns it all down. From the remnants of modern perfection, something brilliant in the most old fashioned way arises. This album is the Beach Boys, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, The White Stripes, Arcade Fire and everything I have ever loved about music on one LP. It may just be smokes and mirrors, but for now I may just be in love.

    However, I could write this pseudo intellectual twaddle for ages. I could do my best Pitchfork impression by telling you about my life and why this album is so important. I won't waste any of your time doing so. Just remember this: this album is a comfort blanket. It is your mum. It is where you go after a hard day. It's where you go after a good day. It's where you go when all hope is lost. It's where your battles have been fought. It's there, a warm, beautiful, orgasmic comfort blanket made from the best heroin anyone has ever mainlined. It's every joyous emotion you've ever experienced condensed into one. It's, for me, the best album ever made. DISCLAIMER: THIS IS MY OPINION, AND EXPRESSES MY TASTES. IT'S PROBABLY WRONG TO LOVE THIS ALBUM LIKE I DO, BUT THIS REVIEW IS BEREFT OF ANY IRONY AND IS SINCERE. IT WAS WRITTEN TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO LISTEN TO THIS MASTERPIECE.    … Full Review »
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