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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Tourist
by Athlete


6.9

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 59 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Official Artist Site

This is the second album for the South London four-piece.

LABEL:	Astralwerks / Parlophone
RELEASE DATE:	10 May 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock, Britpop

NOTES: Original UK release 31 Jan 2005.

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...

E! Online

The disc's cool atmosphere and expansive orchestral arrangements go a long way in making a mood.

Q Magazine

Here, they are hitting their stride. [Feb 2005, p.98]

Mojo

Their horizons have broadened. [Feb 2005, p.102]

Lost At Sea

Fun, emotional, experimental-ready and personally uplifting.

Under The Radar

Athlete often can't help but sounding formulaic. [#10, p.115]

Delusions of Adequacy

A solid collection of delicate songs.

Rolling Stone

Swooning song-poetry and Coldplay karaoke over electronics-tinged arrangements that sound very pro forma.

New Musical Express

The problem for Athlete is that Coldplay are returning in a matter of weeks to show how it's really done. [29 Jan 2005, p.59]

Dot Music

Unfortunately "Tourist" is derivative in only a one-dimensional sense: its imagination stopping where Wayne Coyne’s begins.

Drowned In Sound

Athlete seem to have found a formula in the studio and left the autopliot in reverse.

All Music Guide

Unfortunately, too much of Tourist seems like an amalgam of other things, whether it's the Coldplay-ness of their ballads or the distinct Super Furry Animals influence that's been with Athlete all along.

Paste Magazine

Instantly forgettable. [#16, p.139]

Pitchfork

Drama in music works perfectly fine in mediated, tactical doses, but for Tourist, the stakes are unrealistically high.

PopMatters

A very disappointing step backwards.

Prefix Magazine

[A] ham-fisted attempt at being exactly like everything else.

Stylus Magazine

“Wires” does grow in stature with familiarity through radio exposure, and “Trading Air” could easily have the same kind of airplay success, but I can’t understand the mindset of anyone who’d want to play them over and over again when so many other, more exciting and intriguing things exist.

The Guardian

If it's possible to imagine a gutted Coldplay or an even more comatose Snow Patrol, Athlete is it.

Uncut

Tourist begins earnestly... and continues through 11 torpid ballads, drained of all their earlier quirks, seemingly laboratory-designed for those who find Keane too edgy. [Feb 2005, p.83]

Urb

Beck (Sea Change) and Coldplay (Parachutes) already made the exponentially better versions of this album. [Jun 2005, p.76]

The average user rating for this album is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 59 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

g g gave it a10:
Great

Rob C gave it a4:
Just one or two good songs. They came late, the bri-pop wave is not here anymore.

izat a gave it a9:
deaf critics they are... givin 1-5 scales.... this is an ingenious, beautiful, catchy(some songs) n mostly brilliant...

Drake L gave it a10:
I can't believe the low rating here. I thought it was an average record, but I listened to it a few times, and it's now one of my favourite records in the last few years - every song is a classic! Anyone who thinks it's boring or comatose has no business reviewing records.

Jay R gave it a9:
Sure it isn't record of the year but it is refreshing andis much better than listening to My Humps all day with such beautiful songs like Wires (about his baby) and Twenty Four Hours

daniel b gave it a10:
athlete are LEGENDS nd any1 who says different has no taste in music. if you dont like em u must be into the more classical shit

Philip J gave it an8:
Who cares if bands sound like other bands- its the bloody music that matters, and this happens to be a very good album.

Tourist by Athlete

Tourist
by Athlete