CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | 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

71 The Academy Is...
75 The Accidental
68 Adele
70 Adem
67 The Airborne Toxic Event
70 Alkaline Trio
72 Alphabeat
52 Ashanti
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
76 Black Kids
68 Booka Shade
74 Brazilian Girls
90 The Bug
70 Glen Campbell
75 Brendan Canning
69 The Charlatans
72 Coldplay
78 The Cool Kids
65 Alice Cooper
65 CSS
66 Miley Cyrus
45 Dandy Warhols
81 Danny!
73 Death Vessel
79 Damien Dempsey
58 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
72 Dr. Dog
82 DragonForce
75 Jakob Dylan
77 Earlimart
77 Brian Eno + David Byrne
83 Alejandro Escovedo
62 The Faint
56 Feeder
65 The Fiery Furnaces
88 Fleet Foxes
64 iForward, Russia!
61 The Fratellis
73 The Futureheads
59 G Love & Special Sauce
65 The Game
73 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
81 Girl Talk
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
81 Al Green
42 G-Unit
79 GZA
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
67 Ed Harcourt
78 Emmylou Harris
84 Harvey Milk
76 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
82 HEALTH
86 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
82 High Places
76 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
63 Vanessa Hudgens
70 Human Highway
77 James Hunter
68 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
69 Jaguar Love
69 Jewel
76 Joan As Police Woman
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
59 Judas Priest
57 Kerli
73 Ladytron
69 Cyndi Lauper
72 Leila
76 Lykke Li
82 Lil Wayne
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
60 Lloyd
55 Los Lonely Boys
74 Love As Laughter
79 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
71 Men Without Pants
71 Midnight Juggernauts
74 Mirah
63 Alanis Morissette
56 Motley Crue
74 The M's
83 The Music Tapes
54 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
63 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
71 Nas
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
84 Randy Newman
78 Nine Inch Nails
75 The Notwist
75 Conor Oberst
52 The Offspring
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
82 Opeth
62 The Orb
75 Oxford Collapse
62 James Pants
43 Katy Perry
74 Lee "Scratch" Perry
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
72 Plies
73 Robert Pollard
81 Ponytail
64 Primal Scream
78 Ra Ra Riot
48 The Rascals
71 Ratatat
64 Re-Up Gang
48 Gavin Rossdale
71 The Rumble Strips
65 RZA
74 Scars On Broadway
72 Ron Sexsmith
85 Shearwater
39 Shwayze
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
67 Slipknot
74 Sloan
79 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
71 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
63 Sam Sparro
76 Spiritualized
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
90 Steinski
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
69 The Stills
75 Subtle
83 Sugarland
67 Supergrass
70 Matthew Sweet
77 Irma Thomas
84 Teddy Thompson
57 Three 6 Mafia
76 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
72 Tittsworth
68 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
65 Usher
58 David Vandervelde
72 The Verve
69 The Virgins
69 Loudon Wainwright III
77 Martha Wainwright
85 The Walkmen
67 The Watson Twins
67 Ben Weaver
81 The Week That Was
64 Weezer
77 Paul Weller
76 White Denim
79 Cassandra Wilson
87 Dennis Wilson
76 Wire
78 Wolf Parade
61 XX Teens
55 Yung Berg
66 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

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

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 74 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.5 out of 10
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

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
E! Online
The band's equally impressive second album grooves with both a Detroit hipster sound and some spacey atmosphere.
Read Full Review
90
Under The Radar
Where B.R.M.C. merely boiled, Take Them On is positively frothing. [#5, p.100]
90
No Ripcord
Anyone with any vague taste in good music needs to own this album, right now.
Read Full Review
90
New Musical Express
'Take Them On, On Your Own' is a masterpiece. You should get hold of it as soon as possible.
Read Full Review
88
Junkmedia
The band sounds filthy and scorching.
Read Full Review
85
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]
80
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.
Read Full Review
80
Launch.com
This is still an excellent band composed of three excellent musicians who can produce one hell of a noise.
Read Full Review
80
All Music Guide
More gutsy, more aggressive, and more dynamic than B.R.M.C.
Read Full Review
80
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]
75
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]
70
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.
Read Full Review
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
More varied and satisfying than its predecessor.
Read Full Review
70
Mojo
Powerful and anthemic, the trio's driving, Goth-forsaken rock can also be overwhelming and cloying. [Sep 2003, p.99]
70
Rolling Stone
Original it's not. But it still sounds awfully good while it's happening.
Read Full Review
70
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]
70
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.
Read Full Review
69
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.
Read Full Review
60
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.
Read Full Review
60
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]
60
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.
Read Full Review
60
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]
60
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]
60
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.
Read Full Review
40
Dot Music
A skull-numbingly dull record, utterly bereft of the anti-establishment rhetoric these boring fakers aspire to.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! 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.

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: Fantasy Football | Miley Cyrus | MLB | iPhone 3G | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use