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

E! Online

[Plans has] ginormous power-pop melodies in songs such as "Soul Meets Body" and "Marching Bands of Manhattan" and wussy-boy lyrics that'll make your heart grow a few sizes.

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Billboard

Rock music this substantive is increasingly rare, but "Plans" delivers beyond expectations.

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Alternative Press

Seamlessly picks up right where 2003's Transatlanticism left off. [Nov 2005, p.208]

Filter

DCFC is becoming a band that's worth noticing apart from Ben. [#17, p.93]

Entertainment Weekly

As albums, Transatlanticism and Give Up seemed greater than their parts, perfectly paced song cycles about love wracked by distance and time's march. Plans addresses similar themes, but without the same narrative glue or shape.

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musicOMH.com

This is certainly an album of progression that is likely to win the band plenty of new fans, but it shouldn't alienate their fanbase either.

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Under The Radar

Plans is a careful but not calculated album, accessible but hardly immediate, and likely to frustrate those who want it to fuel either side of an ideological debate on what it means to be indie. [#10, p.106]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

The band wears grandiosity with grace, miniaturizing and polishing big, broad moments into tiny triumphs that, like audible illusions, feel simultaneously intimate and huge.

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Urb

Despite what the blog-haters might say, Gibbard and Co. more than make the grade. [Oct 2005, p.77]

All Music Guide

In comparison to the dry, raw production of Transatlanticism, Plans is warm and polished, the kind of album expected from a band obsessed with the sound of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.

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Los Angeles Times

A sad and touching meditation on death and distance, handled with a light melodic touch. [28 Aug 2005]

Tiny Mix Tapes

There is nothing like Transatlaticism's "Sound of Settling" here to offset the never-ending stream of ballads and down-tempo songs.

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PopMatters

This is an amazing little pop record of amazing little pop songs.

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Blender

At times, the writing feels almost too weightless. But repeat listening makes these songs reliably addictive. [Oct 2005, p.133]

Neumu.net

Never the hardest rocking of bands, Death Cab for Cutie sound positively muted throughout Plans, Gibbard's obsession with the temporary nature of relationships and life itself receiving appropriately somber accompaniment.

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Stylus Magazine

It’s an easy and mostly enjoyable listen.

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Pitchfork

In a way, it's comforting to know what you're getting: Four or five songs you'll treasure, four or five you'll tolerate, and a pretty good band sticking to their guns.

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Rolling Stone

Plans flounders in the second half, where Death Cab run out of ideas and try to fill the holes with busy keyboard bits.

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The Guardian

Gibbard's angelic vocals sag with the weariness of a man who's gazed at his navel all his life only to realise there's nothing but fluff and darkness.

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Q Magazine

This fifth album doesn't differ radically from the previous four.... Newcomers, however, should start with 2003's more cohesive Transatlanticism. [Oct 2005, p.115]

Prefix Magazine

Although the band hasn’t really strayed from its cutesy indie-pop formula, the qualities that made Death Cab stand out aren’t present this time around.

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ShakingThrough.net

Unmemorable and inoffensive, Death Cab has gone from oddball indie-pop kids to mature professionals who now have a lot more people counting on their success.

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cokemachineglow

Plans is a shameless and famished record, the sound of pop slurping itself empty.

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Drowned In Sound

[It] leaves this bizarre aftertaste – one not of immediate dislike, but one that’s pretty far from appealing enough to warrant a second sampling.

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Uncut

Their failure to shift pace from a relentlessly wistful chug makes for an oddly exhausting listening experience. [Oct 2005, p.98]

Mojo

Frankly this sort of thing makes Athlete, Snow Patrol et al sound like fire-breathing berserkers. [Oct 2005, p.102]

New Musical Express

'Plans' is produced within an inch of its shiny, whitebread life and the Cutie seem to have lost their faux-naive subtleties, becoming the non-thinking man's Coldplay along the way. [27 Aug 2005, p.74]

Drawer B

Plans is ultimately a pretty boring album, and the primary reason is its lack of diversity.

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Village Voice

Death Cab succeed by refusing to offend. That can be an admirable trait in a person, but never in a musician.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 133 User Votes

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

Dorian K gave it a6:
Nothing against Transatlanticism -- I enjoyed it very much -- but Something About Airplanes is Death Cab's finest work, and it wasn't mentioned a single time in all of these reviews. Well, no more! SAA, collect your due! As for Plans, it's a ho-hum record on Death Cab's major-label debut. There are a few good songs to be found, but overall the effort falls flat.

alex f gave it an8:
Not as good as their last album but still okay.

Ian B gave it a9:
DCFC's best album, which is saying a lot. This is THE album for driving through a natural setting in spring or fall -- something I do everyday on my way to school, so I dig it. >_> "Brothers" goes down as one of my all-time favorite songs, along with DCFC's earlier work "A Lack of Color".

kenny s gave it a9:
I really like their sound. I'm not really into indie rock, but this band hits a chord with me. Not every song is great, but I feel the majority of them.

John T gave it an8:
To all the people who reviewd this album nauseatingly romantic and wussy, clearly you've been listening to the wrong band if you want something that's hardcore. Don't bother wasting your time reviewing this band as if it was As I Lay Dying. Of course it's soft and romantic, because that's the kind of music DCFC produces. I personally love the album, and the lyrics to "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" are some of the best I have ever read. "Brothers On A Hotel Bed" is not to be overlooked either. I think this is a wonderful effort from a band that seems dedicated to staying true to their sound, and I don't really care that they made a jump to a major label. I don't know why people should hold it against them for wanting to be successful. That's all for me.

Bill T gave it a9:
This album is good, really good. Its also one of the ones that you really have to listen to a few times to fully appreciate. Many of the negative reviewers have complained that now with this album Death Cab will become a high school pin-up band. I take objection to that criticism. First of all, I don't think Death Cab is poppy enough to really catch on with teenagers. Second, if teenagers do get into this, so much the better- maybe Death Cab is elevating expectations for pop music (something which is sorely needed in my opinion). In any case, the simple fact that teenagers will listen to it is no grounds for any valid criticism... maybe the critics just can't find anything negative to say about it! "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is the best among a handful of truly excellent songs on the album which on their own deserve a "10".

Amelia E gave it a9:
Another beautiful album by Death Cab

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