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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Broken Social Scene
by Broken Social Scene
K-OS, Jason Tate (The Weakerthans) and Murray Lightburn (The Dears) guest on the Canadian collective's follow-up to 'You Forgot It In People.'
| LABEL: |
Arts & Crafts |
| RELEASE DATE: |
04 October 2005 |
| 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
Playlouder
Like The Polyphonic Spree stripped of all their faux compound dwelling arse wittery, this is an unambiguous shot of serotonin straight to your head and heart.
92
Filter
One might be a bit startled by how much, well, more broken this new [album] sounds. [#17, p.92]
90
All Music Guide
The 14-song set is as bright and moving as the band's previous efforts, but Broken Social Scene holds more charisma, more depth, and surely more complexities.
90
New York Magazine
Broken Social Scene has pulled off the rare feat of making a heavily produced record sound instinctive and spontaneous.
90
Drowned In Sound
Where YFIIP meticulously arranged the collective of instrumentation for precision, like a ballet, this self-titled album throws everything into a blender, almost completely overwhelming the pretty melodies underneath - but not quite.
90
Under The Radar
This is the sound of things all falling apart, and few albums this year have sounded better. [#11, p.105]
90
Uncut
There's a real effort to forge beauty out of chaos without losing any of the chaos. [Album of the Month, Jan 2006, p.100]
90
Mojo
An effervescent rush of melody, invention and magic. [Jan 2006, p.119]
89
Austin Chronicle
This album is alive.
84
Pitchfork
This exercise in excess makes the ambitious You Forgot It in People seem positively understated by comparison.
83
Stylus Magazine
Though it loses its momentum in the final few tracks, and prevents me from giving it the downright slobbering it might otherwise deserve, Broken Social Scene, much like its release day partner, You Could Have it So Much Better..., is a cinder in the eye of all the indie-haters.
83
Spin
A multifaceted, densely layered sound. [Oct 2005, p.138]
83
Almost Cool
In places, the group seems like they're being almost willfully difficult, and yet it often makes for darn good listening.
82
ShakingThrough.net
The group has lost some of the accessibility of You Forgot it in People, which wore its heart on its sleeve with fewer emotional contradictions, but has maintained the same emotional neediness at the previous album's heart.
80
Paste Magazine
Broken Social Scene builds on gentle nuances, compounding its effect incrementally with each track.
80
Amazon.com
Not so much a series of songs as it is a musical mood.
80
Tiny Mix Tapes
But no matter how much I sit here listening to Broken Social Scene, and no matter how special most of these tracks are, they lack the cohesiveness that made You Forgot it in People, and even Feel Good Lost, something to get ecstatic about.
80
Billboard
A richly textured collection of songs that further explore the possibilities of the group's grooving dream-pop blueprint but stays just weird enough not to attract the ear of mainstream radio.
80
Blender
The album's plush and detailed enough to invite extensive exploration, and varied enough to not get exhausting. [Oct 2005, p.135]
80
Lost At Sea
Feels like being caught up in a creative whirlwind; every song at some point grants you the position of the fly on the wall - being privy to a group of people just chilling out, making music and living the good life.
80
New Musical Express
Absolutely stunning. [4 Feb 2006, p.29]
74
cokemachineglow
The disc is disjointed, lacks much in the way of cohesive musical character, and ultimately never really reaches to be anything more than a bunch of decent songs held together in the semblance of an album.
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Even a mellowed Broken Social Scene sports more energy and ideas than a dozen mainstream rock acts.
70
Prefix Magazine
The record’s overwhelming scale cuts both ways. There are so many artists, voices and instruments begging to be heard that trimming is as much an injustice to the collective nature of the group as leaving in the excess is to the final product.
70
Q Magazine
What on paper might sound like a recipe for disaster in fact turns into a triumph. [Jan 2006, p.125]
70
musicOMH.com
Cerebral listening.
70
The Guardian
This eponymous album mixes grunge, garage, classical, punk, prog and much else into an exuberant melange that sometimes feels as if several songs are going on at once.
60
Dot Music
It is not a terrible album by any means; just an unfocussed and sprawling one.
60
No Ripcord
A compelling failure.
50
PopMatters
Broken Social Scene is a gratuitous collection of repetitive pocket-symphony anthems for the indie set and an unsuccessful regurgitation of You Forgot It in People's rareness.
50
The New York Times
Broken Social Scene confuses integrity with indulgence, burying good songs under way too much studio tomfoolery. [10 Oct 2005]
The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 103 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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