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Drowned In Sound

Ultimately, Men’s Needs… is brighter, sharper and just plain better than anything The Cribs have produced to date.

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musicOMH.com

There's absolutely nothing indecisive (or indeed shit) about this album. It's swaggering, full-throttle, full-throated genius.

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New Musical Express

They've delivered the tunes, alright, but they can't help but fill them with angst, confusion and lashings of amp fuzz. Safe, predictable and packaged for the mainstream? This album is anything but.

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Rolling Stone

Finally, the Cribs deliver the tour de force they had in them, and it's about time.

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Amazon.com

On their third album, a major-label debut with one of rock's great titles, the trio wears a newly polished sound proudly, while not coming close to straddling the sell-out ledge.

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Lost At Sea

From start to finish the album is well balanced and well fueled, and while it isn't quite the total package it is certainly a step in the right direction.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

The Cribs' songs run together some, and Strokes-y guitar eruptions on songs like "My Life Flashed Before My Eyes" make it hard to deny the over-familiarity of this sound

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PopMatters

Produced by Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Foo Fighters, At the Drive-In), the disc sounds great, bursting with angular guitar riffs and shout-along choruses.

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All Music Guide

With each album, the Cribs have gotten a little sharper and more focused, and nowhere is this clearer than on the brilliantly named Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever, the band's major-label debut.

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Pitchfork

But all the marquee names in the world wouldn't mean a thing if the Cribs didn't step up in the songwriting department, and the trio answer Kapranos' ready-for-prime-time production with chart-gazing tunes.

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Blender

Singer-guitarist Ryan and Gary Jarman comport themselves ably through these dozen distortion-cranked, rhapsodically sung bits of power pop. [2007 Aug, p.110]

Spin

Men's Needs isn't nearly as unique as Jarman thinks, but his tunecraft is often as sharp as his wit. [Aug 2007, p.100]

Prefix Magazine

This record improves on the band's earlier work and might even score them a stateside breakthrough.

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Under The Radar

The Cribs are doing an admirable job of copying garage bands, but that is all it is, a facsimile. [Summer 2007, p.79]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes

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

Joshua D. gave it a9:
Bursting into Our Bovine Public, once again, The Cribs mean business. Lyrics to make the indie-posing bands quake in their boots and dazzling guitars to make them wish they could make up a riff as catchy but still so simple. On this album they attack indie bands, indie fans, misogynists, their home town and even the fakes, liars and stars of films (Moving Pictures). A dazzling third record from the real fighters for real indie music, by a real indie band. 9/10

Amurabi M. gave it a7:
With some help from Alex Kapranos, The Cribs with this album has become in the next band-to-watch. They are playing without this sense of urgency that permeates in the British indie rock bands nowadays. They are playing to themselves, and in the meantime, they are mocking the scene, their sound, their fans and themselves. This is not a deliberate movement. They are trying to get themselves away from the wave of conformism and mediocrity of the real indie scene. With this album they are playing like never before. They are not trying to get success; it feels that this is more punk attitude than a commercial strategy. With Lee Ranaldo in the stunning "Be Safe" that remembers that monologue from Trainspotting, and some catchy tunes like "Men´s Needs" and its counterpart "Women´s Needs", the album feels glorious. But there are a problem. It notices than the primal influences like The Strokes or The Libertines still keeps permeating the sound of the band. And Kapranos or someone else can´t help, than the band still fights with their intern demons, that it reflects into this derivative sound. This could be a great album if they are trying to forget those bands and focus more often into themselves.

Brian G. gave it a10:
In looking at the critics Best of 2007 lists, and to anyone who has had the good fortune to buy this album, it is clear that this is one of the great overlooked albums of 2007. It stacks up alongside the best, including the Arctic Monkeys, Les Savy Fav, Blonde Redhead, the National, Okkervil River, Bloc Party, the Battles, LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead and the rest of what I collected this year. For me, the true test of this wonderful album is the fact that it keeps finding its way into my car's CD changer. Let's face it, there is always a tough decision as to what should be fit into a limited number of slots - this album has a way of displacing great albums time and time again. This is a record that will beg you to play it. I think Metacritic got this one wrong.

Steve H gave it a9:
A great rock and roll record that is certainly in contention for album of 2007 - certainly in the top five. Lots of energy, great tunes and stunning guitar.

Ev K gave it a9:
As far as pop-rock goes, this is easily as good as I've heard all year, this album features some very catchy tunes. My only complaint is that it's a little over-simplistic, not enough depth

phil g gave it a10:
what a fantastic album, album of the year for me. fantastic, agonizing and gripping lyrics with fantastic guitars, all made barely listenable by alex kapranos himself whilst retaining its sense of individuality and rebelliousness. fan.tastic.

Stephen C gave it a10:
Men's needs is their best song to date !

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Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever

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