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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Take Them On, On Your Own
by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club


8.5

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The London-by-way-of-Los-Angeles-by-way-of-San Francisco rockers known as JAMC--er, make that BRMC--return with their second LP, which actually finds the group distancing themselves (at least a little) from the Jesus and Mary Chain-influenced sound of their debut.

LABEL:	Virgin
RELEASE DATE:	02 September 2003
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock

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

E! Online

The band's equally impressive second album grooves with both a Detroit hipster sound and some spacey atmosphere.

Under The Radar

Where B.R.M.C. merely boiled, Take Them On is positively frothing. [#5, p.100]

No Ripcord

Anyone with any vague taste in good music needs to own this album, right now.

New Musical Express

'Take Them On, On Your Own' is a masterpiece. You should get hold of it as soon as possible.

Junkmedia

The band sounds filthy and scorching.

Filter

Even though it's more than good, you eventually find yourself thumbing through your CD piles in search of that first record. [#7, p.87]

Village Voice

The sheer mass of sound, the density, the volume, the elaborate little codas at the end of every song are designed to impress and certainly do.

Launch.com

This is still an excellent band composed of three excellent musicians who can produce one hell of a noise.

All Music Guide

More gutsy, more aggressive, and more dynamic than B.R.M.C.

Alternative Press

Take Them On... repeats the San Francisco trio's bombast, peppered with slower tunes styled after Jesus And Mary Chain's dewy psychedelia, the Verve's noise-drenched moments and even Ride's droning perfection. [Oct 2003, p.134]

Entertainment Weekly

Form largely trumps meaning here: Take Them is as well suited to making out or breaking the speed limit as soundtracking an antiwar rally. [5 Sep 2003, p.74]

Trouser Press

The slower numbers (“Ha Ha High Babe,” “Shade of Blue”) rely less on showy atmosphere and more on loose guitar accents, which makes the whole affair earthier, rawer, more real.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

More varied and satisfying than its predecessor.

Mojo

Powerful and anthemic, the trio's driving, Goth-forsaken rock can also be overwhelming and cloying. [Sep 2003, p.99]

Rolling Stone

Original it's not. But it still sounds awfully good while it's happening.

Uncut

They run out of steam completely towards the end.... But there's still plenty here to justify giving up your heart to that simple chord all over again. [Sep 2003, p.110]

ShakingThrough.net

In streamlining the elements of B.R.M.C., it jettisons the wrong half of the equation, eschewing substance for angular, affected form.

Pitchfork

Fortunately, there are a handful of transcendent moments to be found, provided you're willing to invest the time it takes to sniff them out-- which you should, since this is one of those records that matures with subsequent spins.

PopMatters

Take Them On, On Your Own is a good album, but some may be disappointed with just how much the band plays it safe.

Q Magazine

There's a lack of emotional intrigue or maverick charm here that keeps everything at a shrug-inducing distance. [Sep 2003, p.100]

The Guardian

Their no-surrender stance is admirable, but Black Rebel haven't a hope of leading the people's revolution because they are so self-consciously reverential, with each narcotic outburst owing its existence to the Pistols and the Jesus and Mary Chain.

Outburn

BRMC continue on a predictable arc, borrowing heavily from Psychocandy-era Jesus & Mary Chain melodies, coked-up Rolling Stones licks, and My Bloody Valentine's production values. [#23, p.88]

Blender

The dark spaciousness that boosted BRMC's uneven 2001 debut is replaced with garage-rock fist pumpers, which are all catchy but cramped. [Sep 2003, p.119]

Playlouder

On a first listen it sounds very long. On a second listen it sounds just like the eponymous debut, with the odd anthem missing. On a third listen we have to concede there are some fine moments.

Dot Music

A skull-numbingly dull record, utterly bereft of the anti-establishment rhetoric these boring fakers aspire to.

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Karl Marx gave it a10:
A breath of fresh air, a Christian band that have stood up publicly and opposed George Bush. Anyway back to music, with its superbly dark instrumentals and challenging lyrics the album marks a deeply inspirational journey into The bands minds and thoughts in a way that impacts the listener. A true rarity in today's music.

Shireen H gave it a 10:
It's refereshing to hear some good come from the USA. There is still hope for the greed driven country. Looking forward to hear more and more music from BRMC.

joyce w gave it a 9:
I've never heard their first cd but after hearing "Take Them On..." I've got to go buy the first. They have got a dark sound that I love.

david s gave it an 8:
Superb dark rock

Justin A. gave it a 7:
Not quite as good as their first one. Nothing to equal Love Burns, Punk Song, or Spread your love. But a lot of good stuff nevertheless when they avoid sounding too much like the last album.

Rydia gave it a 9:
Say what you want, but you can never be neutral about this disc. If you're going to judge it based on the silly expectations of hearing the Jesus and Mary Chain over again, don't bother. The songs are all solid, exciting, and enough to keep them wedged in your brain all day and they have an amazing amount of quotibility.

Take Them On, On Your Own by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Take Them On, On Your Own
by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club