Arm's Way
by Islands
  • Record Label: Anti
  • Release Date: May 20, 2008
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 22
  3. Negative: 1 out of 22

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. The_Tortoise
    May 17, 2020
    9
    This album has some of my favorite songs on it, and is very underrated.
    The same thing happened when Weezer made a darker 2nd album, there was a horrible response, despite it being an incredible album.
    I think this album slightly suffers because the weakest tracks are all clumpled together early on, at #2-5. If they had put those shorter songs onto an EP, and kept the long tracks as the    This album has some of my favorite songs on it, and is very underrated.
    The same thing happened when Weezer made a darker 2nd album, there was a horrible response, despite it being an incredible album.
    I think this album slightly suffers because the weakest tracks are all clumpled together early on, at #2-5.
    If they had put those shorter songs onto an EP, and kept the long tracks as the LP, it would be an easy 10/10.    … Expand
  2. Bmccormick40
    Aug 17, 2014
    10
    I listen to a lot of music, and this has got to be the most underrated album of the last decade. Where the critics said overstuffed, bloated, and overwrought, I say pick one song, any song, and it'll be stuffed with more ambition, skill, and smarts (and stunningly gorgeous lilting melodies that make you wish your heart could just break right there) than anything else I've heard....period.I listen to a lot of music, and this has got to be the most underrated album of the last decade. Where the critics said overstuffed, bloated, and overwrought, I say pick one song, any song, and it'll be stuffed with more ambition, skill, and smarts (and stunningly gorgeous lilting melodies that make you wish your heart could just break right there) than anything else I've heard....period. I'm resorting to hyperbole simply because there's no other way to describe this album that so many seem to have missed. It's an artistic triumph that doesn't stop giving. It's an artist working at the absolute peak of his formidable powers, going places I fear he'll never go again. His output since this album has been puzzling at best, and I can't help but think he took the critical response to Arm's Way to heart in a way that's stifled his artistic intuition. It's been six years since its release, and this album could not feel more essential to me.… Collapse

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. AllMusic
    60
    Arm's Way is the sound of a band forgetting what made them fun and highly listenable and instead grasping for a grand statement that is far beyond their reach.
    Read full review
  2. Billboard
    80
    This Montreal band's Anti- debut is a far more calculated, robust affair than its first album, 2006's "Return to the Sea."
    Read full review
  3. Drowned In Sound
    90
    It is a towering, complex achievement and startling progression to boot.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »