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Welcome To The Monkey House
by Dandy Warhols


8.0

based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 16 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Official Artist Site

The fourth release for the Portland, Ore. four-piece is a trip through 70's glam- and 80s synth- rock, complete with contributions from Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes (the latter produced much of the album), Chic's Nile Rogers, Bowie/T. Rex producer Tony Visconti, and, well, Evan Dando.

LABEL:	Capitol
RELEASE DATE:	19 August 2003
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Alternative, Rock

NOTES: U.K. release 19 May 2003.

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...

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

Clever and droll but also hypnotic and mysterious.

ShakingThrough.net

Monkey House doesn't contain as many excellent songs as Thirteen Tales (which enjoyed more memorable hooks and catchier lyrics), but it is, unquestionably, the group's most thematically grounded and bracing record to date, celebrating and critiquing the messiness of the music world as effectively as any album in recent memory.

Filter

The progression into synthetics and New Order-isms seems so natural, it's almost hard to imagine the Dandys could ever have made music any other way. [#7, p.86]

Splendid

What's most fascinating about Welcome to the Monkey House is that, in the midst of copious drug usage, heavy drinking and god knows what else, the Dandy Warhols have emerged with an album so cleverly coherent that it simply couldn't have come from anywhere else.

Q Magazine

As synth-rock rebirths go, it's highly convincing. [Jun 2003, p.95]

Playlouder

A staggering, synth-smeared beauty of a record.

Alternative Press

Relentless rhythms and boisterous basslines propel the disc's quick-paced tunes to their catahrtic capital-letter choruses. [Aug 2003, p.104]

Flak Magazine

A diverse collection of consistently good songs with little filler.

Uncut

It's arrogantly risky. That's their best feature. [Jun 2003, p.100]

Entertainment Weekly

An unlikely but not unwieldy combination of New Order and later Sparks. [22/29 Aug 2003, p.132]

Mojo

Comes on like an evil Duran Duran making future music for damaged teens.... It's both disturbingly compelling and very, very wrong. [Jun 2003, p.112]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Guest stars (from Simon LeBon to Tony Visconti) arrive at a faster clip than truly memorable songs, but the slick vibe allows the album to slink by until it arrives at bright spots like the transcendently trashy "You Were The Last High."

Dot Music

Here's the '80s revival long plotted by style journalists given an accessible alt-rock face, a deftness missing from most of the arid purveyors of sexy robot music.

Blender

Smarter, bouncier and more full of insidious electronic hooks than its predecessors. [Aug 2003, p.124]

Nude As The News

On first pass the album might feel like a lateral or even backward step. After repeated spins, however, its subtler arrangements take up digs in your head like pesky squatters who one day, inexplicably, start doing chores or even paying rent.

All Music Guide

Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia might still be the band's most accomplished album, but by embracing their emptiness and stylishness on Welcome to the Monkey House, they've crafted an album that is no less enjoyable because of its disposability.

Urb

There are fewer acerbic-tinged, catchy pop tracks that made thier last two efforts so essential. [Oct 2003, p.86]

Austin Chronicle

Feels like a prototype for something not yet fully realized.

Pitchfork

These songs highlight the poseur mentality and insincerity that paradoxically plagues and blesses The Dandy Warhols.

The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John C gave it a9:
Man .... I love this album and have played it more often than any other album I own.

Steve A gave it an8:
It may be fluff, but it's catchy fluff.

Tony S gave it a9:
This album is definitely a change from their previous ones, but it's a change for the better. While I love the Dandy Warhols' psychadaelic and pop rock sound on their other albums, their "80's style" approach here meshed with their old sound is something different and worth listening to. Hopefully their next album will see a bit of a return to their older style, but "The Monkey House" is a nice change.

Gina F gave it an 8:
i love this album. i have a slight addiction to it. the lyrics are simple, and u can really feal the music as it plays. the first song i heard off the album was "we used to be friends" and i get it stuck in my head every day.

Paul S gave it a 10:
This has been probably my favourite release of the year. Its an irreverant take on 80's pop, and has some truely driving songs (in fact its what I use biking to work every day!). I actually think that its significantly better than 13 tales, which had some high spots but overall lacked the coherance of Monkey House.

Justin A. gave it a 7:
A fun album you have to be in the right mood to enjoy. Very different than their last album musically, but most of the attitude, party feel, and good tunes remain. Not intellectually or emotionally stimulating, but a good time for sure

Eric Y gave it a 7:
Not as good as their previous album, but a worthy effort nonetheless.

Welcome To The Monkey House by Dandy Warhols

Welcome To The Monkey House
by Dandy Warhols