Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
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
Best of the Decade

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

75 2562
54 30 Seconds to Mars
62 50 Cent
71 AC/DC
67 The Album Leaf
52 Kris Allen
68 Tori Amos
66 Animal Collective
84 Animal Collective
77 Annie
57 Apse
63 Asobi Seksu
59 Bad Lieutenant
83 Julianna Barwick
82 Beach House
72 Beak>
72 Bibio
65 Justin Bieber
76 Biffy Clyro
74 Blakroc
75 Mary J. Blige
78 Blockhead
52 Bon Jovi
54 Susan Boyle
57 The Bravery
39 Chris Brown
64 V.V. Brown
70 Basia Bulat
79 Chew Lips
74 Citay
65 Clipse
66 Cold War Kids
75 The Cribs
58 Dashboard Confessional
81 Dave Rawlings Machine
70 Delphic
78 The Doors
58 Echo & The Bunnymen
73 Edan
59 Editors
69 Eels
80 Felt
74 First Aid Kit
69 Flyleaf
83 Four Tet
82 Ben Frost
82 Fucked Up
83 Charlotte Gainsbourg
63 The Gilded Palace Of Sin
68 Githead
65 Joe Goddard
58 Good Shoes
72 Gucci Mane
75 Holopaw
82 Jesca Hoop
79 Hot Chip
72 The Hot Rats
88 Ray Wylie Hubbard
54 Hurricane Chris
66 Allison Iraheta
59 Jay Sean
82 Freedy Johnston
57 Nick Jonas And The Administration
73 Norah Jones
49 Juvenile
58 Ke$ha
62 R. Kelly
66 Alicia Keys
68 Kid Sister
81 King Midas Sound
63 Lady Antebellum
76 Lady GaGa
71 Adam Lambert
78 Lawrence Arabia
61 Leona Lewis
70 Lightspeed Champion
36 Lil Wayne
82 Lindstrom & Christabelle
77 Lissie
78 Los Campesinos!
70 Lostprophets
73 Magnetic Fields
73 Massive Attack
64 John Mayer
71 Paul McCartney
58 Katherine McPhee
86 Memory Tapes
74 Midlake
88 Motion City Soundtrack
63 Mr. Hudson
53 Mudvayne
75 Oh No Ono
70 OK Go
72 Ola Podrida
61 OneRepublic
80 Owen Pallett
90 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
60 Pit Er Pat
63 Priestess
70 Radian
79 Corinne Bailey Rae
54 Rakim
79 Real Estate
77 Retribution Gospel Choir
76 Rihanna
64 Rjd2
65 Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
80 Sade
77 Gil Scott-Heron
72 Shakira
82 Shining
61 Snoop Dogg
62 Snow Patrol
71 The Soft Pack
80 Spoon
64 Ringo Starr
59 Stereophonics
76 Angie Stone
79 Surfer Blood
74 Switchfoot
75 Them Crooked Vultures
74 Robin Thicke
50 Timbaland
79 tUnE-YaRDs
80 Vampire Weekend
79 Laura Veirs
79 Tom Waits
78 Wale
66 Kanye West
76 The Whitefield Brothers
64 Robbie Williams
80 Yeasayer
62 Young Money
75 Neil Young
61 Rob Zombie

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Missiles

EMAILPRINTby The Dears

The Dears reviews
74
8.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Dangerbird

Release Date: 21 October 2008

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock, Indie, Experimental

Summary

The fourth album for the indie rock band from Montreal.

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...

90

Urb

Missiles is a true testament to meticulous sonic invention. [Nov/Dec 2008, p.85]

80

Mojo

Lightburn continues to enthral though, his heartfelt, inventive arrangements testament to many questing hours in the studio. [Dec 2008, p.112]

80

Q Magazine

Its triumph is in its intimacy and honesty. [Dec 2008, p.134]

80

The Guardian

They've stripped back their epic indie in favour of ethereal rock, and the result is as complex and beautiful as you'd expect from Montreal's grand miserablists.

Read Full Review >
80

Under The Radar

Missiles is the ultimate non-indie-rock album from the quintessential indie-rock band. [Fall 2008, p.74]

80

NOW Magazine

On the Dears’ fourth album, the Montreal melancholics take simple melodies and spin them into seamless epics.

Read Full Review >
73

Pitchfork

These ill-advised lyrical moments can be perplexing and occasionally frustrating given the amount of care manifest in the Dears' music, but in a strange way they speak to the band's major non-musical strength: an earnestness decidedly lacking in today's indie landscape.

Read Full Review >
70

Alternative Press

Lightburn's musings are best met with equal grandeur--such as the low-key but effective sort Missiles usually provides. [Dec 2008, p.138]

70

Hartford Courant

Not every missile here reaches its target, but the older, wiser Dears will remain darlings of all who keep hearts affixed firmly to their sleeves.

Read Full Review >
70

All Music Guide

While the rewards are there, the hooks are few and far between, resulting in the kind of overly personal transitory album that can either lay the seeds for a full-blown masterpiece, or render the garden infertile.

Read Full Review >
70

Blender

The Dears’ breakthrough was 2004’s "No Cities Left," a post-apocalyptic expedition through emotional and political wreckage, and they’re still mining that barren landscape, trying to rebuild.

Read Full Review >
60

Slant Magazine

For every interesting and bold move involved in the writing and packaging of Missiles, however, the musical orchestration and production of the record is problematic.

Read Full Review >
60

PopMatters

Perversely enough, like a lot of transitional efforts Missiles works the best when it ranges the furthest from the band’s established sound without getting overly ambitious.

Read Full Review >
60

Uncut

There are epic power ballads, which just manage to avoid faling into Keane/Coldplay territory; there are terriffic, drone-laden stomp-rockers....The use of saxophone, however, is ill-advised, and Lightburn's voice can get a little ponderous. [Dec 2008, p.88]

50

Spin

When they stay focused and sweet (as on the sparingly orchestral 'Berlin Heart'), they soar. But when Lightburn adds spoken-word bits and überwanky guitar solos ('Lights Off'), ending with an 11-minute, church-inspired requiem ('Saviour'), you may be ready to follow his former band members out the door.

Read Full Review >
45

Prefix Magazine

The Dears left Arts & Crafts and cut their least entertaining album yet, Missiles, deciding to release it through the more populist confines of Dangerbird.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

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

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use