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

Ben Gibbard has a knack for painting scenes of such intimate detail they come off as universal.

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100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

A lush, impeccably produced, musically adventurous, emotionally resonant examination of the way relationships are both strengthened and damaged by distance, the album surpasses Gibbard's other career highpoints, which is really saying something.

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Spin

[Death Cab] have never made the truly great album that their best songs promised. Until now. [Nov 2003, p.112]

Flak Magazine

Though there are quite a few slinking, introspective tracks on Transatlanticism, there are also a fistful of songs that have the left-field appeal -- not quite punk, not quite rock, not quite pop -- that brought a song like Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" to the top of the charts in recent years.

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Alternative Press

It's Death Cab's slowest and most mature recording, and over time, hidden bits of magic reveal themselves brilliantly. [Nov 2003, p.98]

All Music Guide

It's the group's maturity as musicians as well as songwriters that make Transatlanticism such a decadently good listen from start to finish.

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Uncut

This is a record of rare beauty and poise. [Nov 2003, p.107]

Billboard

Retaining the naked simplicity of 2000's "We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes" while continuing to hone the more lush, hi-fi sound found on 2001's "The Photo Album," the fantastic "Transatlanticism" is full of the lovely melancholy for which Death Cab is known.

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Under The Radar

It's their best yet, and that's saying something. [#5, p.100]

Splendid

Call it the exclamation point on Gibbard's stratospheric year.

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PopMatters

This album is a beautiful trek through time that pays tribute to the human condition with simple melodies and honest storytelling, a nearly perfect pop record. [Review 1, Score: 100] For old-school Death Cab supporters, it's gut-check time: Did you like these guys for their "rock" or their "indie"? While the secret is out, the music is still too emotionally honest and infectiously witty to hold at a distance. [Review 2, Score: 80]

Drowned In Sound

Grand without ever being bloated, humane without settling into pessimism, the best indie band in North America remind us why sometimes, the rewards do not equal the output.

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Nude As The News

There is no doubt in my mind -- and in this I seem to have a lot of company -- that Transatlanticism is Death Cab For Cutie's best album so far.

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Blender

Consistently compelling. [Oct 2003, p.116]

Rolling Stone

Transatlanticism should be overwrought -- it's an album about young men enduring lost love in an ocean of memory; instead, it feels like a conversation with an old friend.

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Mojo

A further suite of touching vignettes, choice observations and killer lines. [Dec 2003, p.122]

Stylus Magazine

If anything, it feels like Gibbard has regressed to the point where he sits in the shadow of his bandmate and producer, Chris Walla.

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Pitchfork

Transatlanticism dulls the edges of their usually acute divinations.

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ShakingThrough.net

Despite utilizing the same basic indie-pop template utilized to agreeable effect on its previous three albums, Death Cab for Cutie lays an outright goose egg with the bland, tepid Transatlanticism.

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Neumu.net

For those devoted to this rock band's increasingly artistic gear, Gibbard's a bard spinning pop-song sonnets that cause such constituents of fandom to reel real deep in some crooning-along swooning induced by the lithe lyrics.

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No Ripcord

It's just comfortable and pleasant enough to convince yourself to stick around - never good enough to be satisfying, nor bad enough to be disappointing.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 83 User Votes

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

Michiel M gave it a9:
long time since an album cost me more than 10 times to discover and appreciate. That says enough for me. Drums are so creative and full of suspense. And oh, someone mentioned COLDPLAY as a reference, but i truly hate them, WORST and MOST BORING music ever, blegh.

Michael Halse gave it a9:
By far Death Cab for Cutie's best album, Transatlanticism makes an emotional plee to our emotions, and in a world full of emotions it hits the spot, bringing out tears and whelming emotions of happiness and loneliness in it's lsiteners. By far one of the more moving albums by the band and those in this genre of music.

Guillaume F gave it a10:
Best album ever, that's all I can say about Transatlanticism.

Sam W. gave it a10:
By far one of the most compelling albums ever to be released

Colin B gave it a10:
So far, the best album of the decade.

Paul M gave it a10:
Definitely the bands masterpiece. So many standout tracks.

miles m gave it a10:
Just one of those albums where every track is unique.

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