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100

Observer Music Monthly

London Zoo provides the perfect showcase for its colourful menagerie of MCs and singers. And the Bug's no-nonsense clank and grind production fosters a rare intensity of focus on this album's higher purpose, which is to take the eloquence of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Michael Smith's Eighties dub-poetry, and blast it into digital hyperspace.

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Drowned In Sound

The cumulative effect--somewhere around being lifted into the heavens by sunrays--is at odds with the continuous black clouds that come before. Yet it’s a necessary chink of light to conclude a journey so oppressive you may just forget to breathe through its duration.

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Dusted Magazine

Considering the host of absolutely killer tracks, London Zoo might just be Kevin Martin's finest album, which is astounding considering the man has been making music for two decades.

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PopMatters

The vastly competent array of MCs each have their own distinct flow and pace, but very little--from Flowdan’s lightning-fast verbal gymnastics, to Rick Ranking’s slow-cooked esophageal rumblings, to Roger Robinson’s soulful melancholy--clashes in a way that dulls or vitiates the album’s impact.

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Pitchfork

It's angry and ferocious, but always triumphant.

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Sputnikmusic

That an album can match enjoyment with artistic merit in a year that has largely seen albums go one way or another is a joy in itself.

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The Guardian

Moreover, as apocalyptic as his vision can be, the thrill as he pushes his sounds further outwards proves to be as seductive as it is forbidding.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

As an album, London Zoo is simply more engaging. Kevin’s production is intense but club-ready, and the lyrics are righteous and relevant.

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Urb

The lyrical presence and content of guests is what sets London Zoo apart from other dubstep producers.

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Q Magazine

This broadens his musical palette, with digi-dub, moody techno and deranged dubstep adding weight to Martin's winning sonic menagerie. [Aug 2008, p.132]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 6.0 (out of 10) based on 60 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

michael R gave it a9:
The songs on this album have an amazing abilty to pump me up. It helps me in the gym.

B C gave it a2:
I cannot believe this is rated 90...I saw them live with Nine Inch Nails and all the singer could do was touch herself and scream HARDCORE. Live: the singing sucked, but the dj was awesome so it gets a bit better then 1 for me.

Kirk VN gave it a0:
How this one is called good music is beyond my comprehension. Strange ideas + electronic = utter bullsh*t.

TIm A gave it a5:
I am a big fan of Ninja Tunes (the label this was released on) and have an incredibly broad taste in music so consider myself open minded to most stuff. I am also from London and therefore not unfamiliar with the style of vocals that are used here. That all said however this album is horrendously over rated where the critics got the ratings from I will never know. It is essentially some decent (and only decent) dub-step style tracks with reggae/Rasta vocals over it. The vocals do not work at all – this is not due to the style not meshing it is due to the fact that they are poorly delivered and ill conceived. Beware this album someone somewhere seems to have confused new/original with just doing something that’s been done before so badly that you can’t even recognize what it’s imitating.

Rae R gave it a1:
There was a time when I believed Lou Reed's 'Metal Machine Music' was the worst album ever recorded. I've revisited my opinion and have come to the conclusion that it is the second worst album ever recorded. Poo-poo to all those arty poseurs who actually see artisitic merit in this shite DVD.

Ollie H gave it a9:
Outstanding. The production is second to none and the vocals are innovative. I have to warn anyone listening to this though, it isn't easy listening; the production is very bass-heavy and the vocalists' performances are very obnoxious at times (in terms of ego, tone and swagger). It's successful for the same reasons Wu-Tang Clan's 36 Chambers was: they're both intentionally gritty, have amazing production, and are driven by strong and diverse vocalists. Skeng and Poison Dart are the two best tracks.

Jodie L gave it a2:
I couldn't even give this album away for free, BEWARE. I actually might listen to it again if it had a companion disc of just the music, minus the vocals, the vocals are just terrible, one of the worst albums I've ever listened to. It's not entirely surprising to see that the highest rating albums each year are only reviewed by a select few places (this one only ten, whereas Radiohead was reviewed by 42 different places, last year).

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London Zoo

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