GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

64 A Camp
78 Akron/Family
73 Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women
74 Amazing Baby
62 Tori Amos
54 The Answer
74 Anti-Flag
74 Art Brut
71 Au Revoir Simone
65 Zee Avi
70 Bachelorette
77 Bat For Lashes
68 Big Business
76 Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
67 Black Dice
57 Black Eyed Peas
74 Black Moth Super Rainbow
71 Blank Dogs
65 Booker T.
54 The Boxmasters
65 The Boy Least Likely To
74 Brakes [aka brakesbrakesbrakes]
68 British Sea Power
66 Jeff Buckley
75 Busdriver
59 Busta Rhymes
64 Cage The Elephant
82 Bill Callahan
80 Camera Obscura
68 Cam'ron
79 Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
58 Chester French
82 The Church
61 Ciara
72 Clues
69 The Coathangers
74 Jarvis Cocker
90 Leonard Cohen
70 Elvis Costello
66 Graham Coxon
76 Crippled Black Phoenix
71 The Crocodiles
69 Cryptacize
71 Crystal Antlers
56 The Crystal Method
69 Dananananaykroyd
76 Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse
71 De La Soul
77 Death Cab For Cutie
68 Deer Tick
81 Deerhunter
70 Depeche Mode
78 Dinosaur Jr.
85 Dirty Projectors
86 DJ Quik & Kurupt
77 Doves
68 Dredg
76 Bob Dylan
82 Steve Earle
70 Eels
62 El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
58 Eminem
60 Empire Of The Sun
54 The Enemy
67 Jeremy Enigk
68 Nathan Fake
85 The Felice Brothers
79 The Field
65 Fink
60 Fischerspooner
77 Flatlanders
62 Flo Rida
64 Franz Ferdinand
77 Gallows
72 Melody Gardot
59 Ginuwine
71 Golden Silvers
61 Gomez
69 Grand Duchy
73 Great Lake Swimmers
59 Great Northern
72 Green Day
86 Grizzly Bear
75 The Handsome Family
69 Ben Harper And Relentless7
75 PJ Harvey & John Parish
66 Heaven & Hell
85 Levon Helm
74 The Hold Steady
79 Patterson Hood
75 Jon Hopkins
82 The Horrors
69 Hanne Hukkelberg
74 Ida Maria
65 Immaculate Machine
75 The Intelligence
76 Iron & Wine
79 Isis
68 It Hugs Back
88 J Dilla aka Jay Dee
61 Jadakiss
86 Japandroids
61 Joan Of Arc
84 Joe Lovano Us Five
72 John Doe & The Sadies
70 Joker's Daughter
62 Jonas Brothers
53 Mike Jones
71 The Juan Maclean
76 Junior Boys
68 Kasabian
74 Diana Krall
56 Lady Sovereign
43 Ben Lee
68 The Lemonheads
76 Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard
77 Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
65 Little Boots
79 The Low Anthem
67 Jason Lytle
75 The Maccabees
76 Magik Markers
80 Major Lazer
70 Malajube
71 Manchester Orchestra
85 Manic Street Preachers
57 Marilyn Manson
66 The Mars Volta
68 Dave Matthews Band
62 Maximo Park
70 Meat Puppets
80 Method Man & Redman
77 Metric
75 Micachu & The Shapes
69 Chrisette Michele
76 Miike Snow
67 Mika Miko
75 Rhett Miller
49 Mims
72 Mr. Lif
72 Moby
78 Moderat
70 Mandy Moore
80 Mos Def
70 Bob Mould
74 Nadja
72 New York Dolls
72 Nite Jewel
67 NOFX
76 Noisettes
60 Paolo Nutini
67 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
74 Papercuts
76 Passion Pit
74 Peaches
71 Pet Shop Boys
68 Peter Bjorn And John
82 Phoenix
76 Pink Mountaintops
63 Placebo
66 Pomegranates
64 Iggy Pop
67 Prefuse 73
81 Ramblin' Jack Elliott
76 Rancid
54 Rascal Flatts
68 Lionel Richie
77 Alasdair Roberts
73 Rick Ross
55 Asher Roth
72 Savath & Savalas
61 Polly Scattergood
65 The Shortwave Set
60 Shout Out Out Out Out
66 Silversun Pickups
85 Todd Snider
78 Sonic Youth
72 The Soundcarriers
61 The Sounds
74 Regina Spektor
63 Spinal Tap
65 Spinnerette
81 St. Vincent
59 Still Flyin'
58 Street Sweeper Social Club
87 Sunn O)))
82 Sunset Rubdown
84 Super Furry Animals
74 Richard Swift
78 Taking Back Sunday
85 Tanya Morgan
81 Otis Taylor
71 Telekinesis
70 Telepathe
80 Thee Oh Sees
79 The Thermals
74 Rob Thomas
64 Thunderheist
74 Tiga
57 Tinted Windows
72 Tortoise
82 Allen Toussaint
71 Trembling Bells
69 Two Fingers
84 UGK
68 Keith Urban
71 John Vanderslice
85 The Vaselines
74 The Veils
73 Viva Voce
63 Patrick Watson
79 White Denim
77 White Rabbits
57 The Whitest Boy Alive
74 Wilco
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
78 Wolves In The Throne Room
65 The Wooden Birds
67 Wooden Shjips
81 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
70 Pete Yorn
93 Neil Young
60 Neil Young
72 Yusuf

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Feels
by Animal Collective

Animal Collective reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 84 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.6 out of 10
based on 35 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 71 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Electric where the mellower 'Sung Tongs' was acoustic, 'Feels' is nevertheless another idiosyncratic outing for the freak-folk four-piece.

LABEL: Fat Cat
RELEASE DATE: 18 October 2005
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Indie, Rock

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
Entertainment Weekly
Breathlessly giddy and shamelessly trippy. [21 Oct 2005, p.75]
91
Stylus Magazine
Feels is a near-stunning album a notable amount of the time.
Read Full Review
91
Spin
AC are all about the sometimes blissful, often uncanny intermingling of song and space. [Nov 2005, p.98]
90
Splendid
This is a wonderful album -- and a significant advance over the excellent Sung Tongs.
Read Full Review
90
Magnet
Feels is layered as no other Collective album before it. [#70, p.87]
90
Drowned In Sound
Animal Collective have made the album I hoped they’d make, and even that it’s autumn and summer’s over.
Read Full Review
90
The Onion (A.V. Club)
A carefully sequenced, fully imagined album--one that's designed to be consumed by people wearing headphones and staring into space.
Read Full Review
90
Tiny Mix Tapes
Feels is a psychedelic wonderland filled with life-affirming warmth.
Read Full Review
90
Urb
To call these songs ambitious would be an understatement. [Oct 2005, p.76]
90
Pitchfork
Feels is an excellent record, one that, despite a more conventional approach, happens to get better over time.
Read Full Review
88
Almost Cool
A glorious, noisy, melodic, celebratory release from the ever-inventive group.
Read Full Review
86
cokemachineglow
Feels takes the Collective in an exciting new direction, creating the kind of record that expands on the group's less esoteric strengths while also pushing their sound forward.
Read Full Review
84
Filter
It's cosmic Americana as once charted by Mercury Rev in the druggier days of yerself Is Steam and Boces. [#17, p.101]
80
All Music Guide
The group sounds freer than ever before, almost as though they've never bothered with rock in their lives, and have only happened upon a bare few LPs before beginning their recording career.
Read Full Review
80
No Ripcord
The great achievement of Feels is that it throws everything at every track yet never loses sight of the tunes themselves.
Read Full Review
80
The New York Times
If it isn't as formally shocking as "Sung Tongs," it's still a strong record. [17 Oct 2005]
80
Prefix Magazine
Half of the album is rambunctious and full, driving and manic; the other half charms us with melancholic lullabies fueled by a single sip from the purple bottle. The result: With Feels, Animal Collective has created its first pop masterpiece.
Read Full Review
80
Q Magazine
It's a very strange album indeed. Happily, it's also a very good one. [Nov 2005, p.131]
80
New Musical Express
'Sung Tongs' brought a smattering of organization to the band's chaos, and now 'Feels' finally sees them emerge, blinking, into the sunlight. [15 Oct 2005, p.35]
80
The Guardian
Swapping campfire cosiness for expansive joy, they sound so accomplished the Flaming Lips comparisons fall by the wayside.
Read Full Review
80
Junkmedia
It's on the sonic departures, though, that Feels strikes its most resonant chord.
Read Full Review
80
PopMatters
Feels is a highly rewarding journey into pop music's most primal, earthy, esoteric and ultimately beautiful places. And it's unlike anything else you will hear this year.
Read Full Review
80
Uncut
Feels depends on a balancing act between brilliance and whimsy, and some may need convincing that a purposely childlike band... is not twee. [Nov 2005, p.110]
80
Delusions of Adequacy
Feels further confirms that not only does Animal Collective make music different from anything else that’s out there – these folks are also quite good at it.
Read Full Review
80
Mojo
Every bit as chaotically charming as its predecessor. [Nov 2005, p.108]
70
Paste Magazine
Unpredictably unique. [Dec 2005, p.126]
70
Billboard
"Feels" is by far the most agreeable Animal Collective yet, but whether or not that's a good thing is for you to decide.
Read Full Review
70
Under The Radar
Too much of the record seems content to be beautifully languid, but too flighty to really unsettle you. [#11, p.105]
70
Blender
What's most frustrating about them is precisely what's most appealing: Their refusal to write traditional songs, coupled with their giggling nature-child personas, adds an air of mystery and makes for some beautifully offbeat melodies. [Nov 2005, p.131]
70
ShakingThrough.net
Feels doesn’t trump earlier, more intimate Animal Collective releases. It’s just louder and messier.
Read Full Review
70
musicOMH.com
Working best with eyes closed and a fertile imagination, Feels plays like a dreamscape of interconnected happenings, some coincidental, some intended, that's as dense as it is languid.
Read Full Review
70
Neumu.net
Although surprisingly self-conscious at moments, Feels remains rife with a triumphant beauty, a bucolic sound that stirs and entrances the listener like a happy secret.
Read Full Review
60
Playlouder
Despite its many wondrous moments, 'Feels' is not a record for everyone.
Read Full Review
60
Dusted Magazine
So refined at times it borders on the insipid.
Read Full Review
40
Slant Magazine
Feels fails to come together as a coherent whole.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 71 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Patrice T gave it a10:
This album is amazing. I'm amazed at how many emotions and feelings this album taps into. They have so much talent and while their music may take some getting used to, it's worth the reward.

tony R gave it a10:
Wow.......Banshee beats is such a good little tune my question is how can you give it a one. "scared for where music is heading" HA go listen to Nickelback more thanks and I will say it you have very poor taste my friend, think before you speak.

J McC gave it a10:
Amazing album!! One of the best of the decade, at first the catchy pop tunes of the first half stand-out and its hard to believe there could ever be anything to top it. But, with further listening the beauty of the second half of the album slowly seeps into your mind and you'll find yourself listening to Banshee Beat over and over again. Once fully understood, Feels plays out beautifully with every track contributing to the overall experience.

Joe P gave it a1:
This band makes me scared for where music is heading...

Justin B. gave it a9:
Writing a song like 'purple bottle' is reason enough to give this album a 9.

Chris J. gave it a10:
Simply amazing.

Eric C. gave it a10:
Though Avey Tare and Panda Bear are the most prominent members, you can really notice the presence of Geographer and Deakin, the more "electronic" members. They were absent from Sung Tongs, and I can't help but love having them back. They add even more layers to the already thick sounds of Animal Collective. It's funny, though, how the album starts off. Did You See the Words sounds like a by-the-books indie song (though a spectacular one). Luckily, though, the album soon goes back to what gained AC such a devoted following. An easier listen than anything they ever made, though still obviously experimental, this cd gives proof as to why they are widely considered an elite indie band, up there with The Shins, Arcade Fire, and Spoon.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use