CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

55 3 Doors Down
69 9th Wonder & Buckshot
69 Adele
70 Adem
75 Alkaline Trio
78 Animal Collective
64 Anti-Flag
69 The Apples In Stereo
54 Ashanti
69 Atmosphere
67 The Black Angels
77 The Black Keys
83 Bonnie "Prince" Billy
75 Boris
71 Billy Bragg
74 The Breeders
47 The Brian Jonestown Massacre
83 Bun B
64 T Bone Burnett
65 Mariah Carey
87 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
68 The Charlatans
68 Clinic
72 Coldplay
78 The Constantines
79 The Cool Kids
78 Elvis Costello & The Impostors
60 The Courteeners
79 Cut Copy
53 Craig David
73 Death Cab For Cutie
47 Def Leppard
61 Gavin DeGraw
66 dEUS
79 Neil Diamond
63 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
59 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
73 Dresden Dolls
69 Dub Pistols
71 Duffy
68 The Duke Spirit
81 Jakob Dylan
79 Earlimart
70 Ecstatic Sunshine
65 El Perro del Mar
82 Elbow
85 Alejandro Escovedo
73 Estelle
72 The Explorers Club
79 The Fall
54 Feeder
72 Firewater
77 Tim Fite
88 Fleet Foxes
79 Flight Of The Conchords
74 Foals
79 Robert Forster
75 Four Tet
47 Foxy Brown
64 The Fratellis
59 Free Kitten
71 French Kicks
79 Frightened Rabbit
73 The Futureheads
68 The Gossip
81 Al Green
51 G-Unit
72 Ed Harcourt
79 Emmylou Harris
82 HEALTH
59 Heloise And The Savoir Faire
85 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
65 Vanessa Hudgens
77 James Hunter
70 Islands
69 Jewel
79 Joan As Police Woman
71 Joan Of Arc
58 Scarlett Johansson
69 John & Jehn
59 Judas Priest
75 Kidz In The Hall
71 Fern Knight
65 The Kooks
69 Lady Antebellum
74 Ladytron
65 Langhorne Slim
77 The Last Shadow Puppets
67 Cyndi Lauper
66 Les Savy Fav
64 Leona Lewis
72 Jamie Lidell
71 Lil Mama
83 Lil Wayne
72 Local H
73 The Long Blondes
80 Los Campesinos!
45 Los Lonely Boys
66 Lyrics Born
69 M83
65 Madonna
74 Man Man
79 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
67 Mates Of State
79 Matmos
80 James McMurtry
70 Colin Meloy
71 Midnight Juggernauts
65 Kylie Minogue
63 Moby
63 Alanis Morissette
69 Van Morrison
57 Motley Crue
66 Jason Mraz
74 The M's
79 Mudcrutch
77 Mudhoney
49 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
64 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
76 The Night Marchers
66 Nine Inch Nails
77 Nine Inch Nails
78 No Age
80 Jim Noir
76 The Notwist
54 The Offspring
72 Old 97's
87 Opeth
59 The Orb
62 James Pants
48 Katy Perry
71 Phantom Planet
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
72 Plies
69 Robert Pollard
83 Ponytail
85 Portishead
65 The Proclaimers
75 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
71 Pyramids
79 R.E.M.
48 The Rascals
86 Robyn
72 The Rolling Stones
79 The Roots
48 Gavin Rossdale
72 Russian Circles
66 RZA
76 Santogold
86 Shearwater
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
60 Carly Simon
62 Ashlee Simpson
76 Sloan
73 Sam Sparro
77 Spiritualized
89 Steinski
75 Subtle
66 Donna Summer
81 Sun Kil Moon
66 Supergrass
71 The Sword
61 Tapes 'n Tapes
64 Three 6 Mafia
76 Thrice
76 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
51 Tokio Hotel
67 Tokyo Police Club
65 Usher
76 Vetiver
69 The Virgins
76 Martha Wainwright
75 Was (Not Was)
67 The Watson Twins
64 We Are Scientists
65 The Wedding Present
64 Weezer
76 White Denim
81 Cassandra Wilson
88 Dennis Wilson
61 Steve Winwood
78 Wolf Parade
63 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Destroyer's Rubies
by Destroyer

Destroyer reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 88 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.9 out of 10
based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 102 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Dan Bejar's seventh Destroyer record is as lyrically dense as ever, but marks a shift to a full-band, guitar-oriented sound after 2004's more eclectic 'Your Blues.'

LABEL: Merge
RELEASE DATE: 21 February 2006
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Indie, Rock

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...

100
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It's an easy Destroyer album to love, approachable as both a collection of strong rock songs and a literary exercise in just how far songs can stretch to make sense of the words within them.
Read Full Review
92
cokemachineglow
Destroyer’s Rubies evinces an awareness of a feeling that “I’ve heard something like this before, and really enjoyed it” while denying the listener enough material specifics to follow-up with “It was on this record, recorded by this band, which I listened to when I was this old.”
Read Full Review
91
Spin
Hooky, spare, and lush all at once. [Mar 2006, p.95]
91
Filter
In context, Rubies [is] just another piece of the puzzle, but it's the finest jewel yet. [#19, p.99]
90
Lost At Sea
Destroyer’s Rubies is every bit as marvelous as his landmark Streethawk: A Seduction.
Read Full Review
90
Amazon.com
In drawing on the theatrical, macro-orchestrations reminiscent of Scott Walker and expanding on the slapdash, quirky, musical humor of the Red Krayola's Mayo Thompson, this album reaches another peak for Bejar and is one of Destroyer's best works yet.
Read Full Review
90
Dusted Magazine
It's tempting to spend hours excavating metaphors and translating references on a record this complex and interesting, but Destroyer's Rubies also works well as pop.
Read Full Review
90
Village Voice
The stupendous Destroyer's Rubies, recorded with a full, swaggering band, is maybe his best and certainly his least theoretical album.
Read Full Review
90
Prefix Magazine
Those who choose to fixate on Bejar's lack of a pretty singing voice are missing the point. Much like John Darnielle, everything outside of Bejar's verse should be seen as peripheral -- a means to deliver the lyrical ends.
Read Full Review
90
Paste Magazine
The only thing about Destroyer's Rubies that might shock existing fans is that Bejar's execution, ambition and passion have been buffed to a high shine. [Apr/May 2006, p.102]
90
Neumu.net
This is the defining Destroyer work because of its size and scope, because of its melodicism ("Painter in Your Pocket" the hottest pop song Bejar's authored yet), because of the caliber of its musical chops, and because of the shots Bejar continues to fire.
Read Full Review
90
Uncut
A singular, rhapsodic triumph. [Apr 2007, p.94]
85
Pitchfork
Encapsulating and elevating the best of Destroyer's back catalog, Destroyer's Rubies serves as a potent reminder that the intelligence of Bejar's songs has never obfuscated their emotional weight.
Read Full Review
83
Entertainment Weekly
His insider snipes at indie-rock pretense show Wildean wit. [24 Feb 2006, p.64]
83
Stylus Magazine
Bejar is so wound up in his own idiosyncratic mythologies, so hopelessly himself that some fans have already said it sounds like a greatest hits record; appropriate that a meta-rocker’s final frontier is his own reflection in the mirror.
Read Full Review
80
PopMatters
Bejars songs have, in the past, sometimes seemed like vehicles for his lyrics, yet with Destroyer’s Rubies he seems to have made peace with the musical element of his work as well.
Read Full Review
80
NOW Magazine
While the sheer density of Bejar's writing can be overwhelming, Destroyer's Rubies is, on a musical level, the most 'accessible' disc he's released in years.
Read Full Review
80
Alternative Press
Rubies is nothing if not ambitious. [Apr 2006, p.204]
80
Delusions of Adequacy
Destroyer’s Rubies is one of those rare albums whose literary value is so compelling as to make any imperfections simply blend in as an essential part of the storyline.
Read Full Review
80
Tiny Mix Tapes
All self-examination aside, there's a lot of substance here. Vocally, he has rarely been more on point, and the instrumental ensemble is sound and uniquely Rubiesian.
Read Full Review
80
All Music Guide
An amalgam of Streethawk: A Seduction's glam rock posturing, This Night's guitar-heavy psychedelia, and Your Blues' apocalyptic wordplay.
Read Full Review
80
The New York Times
It feels like an event: grand, sumptuous, sometimes seductive.
Read Full Review
80
ShakingThrough.net
Rubies is one of the most enjoyable listens from Bejar’s solo catalog and comfortably stands with 2002’s This Night as his best effort.
Read Full Review
80
Drowned In Sound
Destroyer's Rubies is an inadvertent Guide To Destroyer - every defining quirk, every 70's pop nod and ill-advised but forgivable falsetto is condensed and framed, only without becoming something fans of Bejar will have all heard before.
Read Full Review
80
Blender
Bejar's most accessible album yet. [Apr 2006, p.111]
80
Urb
Fey and whimsical, these songs are challenges that reward. [Apr 2006, p.96]
78
Austin Chronicle
Anyone on the fence after 2004's Your Blues need only hear Bejar bark, "I tried to enjoy myself at the society ball" on the luxurious "A Dangerous Woman up to a Point" to see his strength as a songwriter.
Read Full Review
73
cokemachineglow
One of [Bejar's] most accomplished (and self-studied) albums, but it’s also one of his least vital.
Read Full Review
70
Under The Radar
Adventuruous fare, somewhat mellower than previous efforts, but equally sporadic and striking. [#12, p.90]
60
Billboard
Overall, listeners will struggle to classify "Rubies," as much for Bejar's blurring of bluesy folk, pop and lo-fi indie rock as his unconventional delivery.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 102 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

r t gave it a6:
Despite strong musicality, this is generally a below average effort. Almost every song features the same wordless vocal interlude of 'ya la la la la la.' Another stylistic bit to be featured over and over (and over and over) is his tendency to deliver long, unrhymed lines, until finally speed-reading a paragraph over instruments swelling to a fever pitch in the background. Usually this is immediately followed by one of the 'ya da la la' sequences. Both these techniques are effective when used occasionally. Unfortunately, they both occur way too often to be anything other than embarrassing.

Terry B gave it a10:
Dan Bejar's monumental ambition to bring a high-minded sensibility to rock in a new and deeply profound way has finally come to fruition; previous albums were very, very good but "Destroyer's Rubies" makes them look like practice sessions.

e j gave it a9:
This Is a beautiful record, and my advice to jared and brian is to stop listening to their own assholes and start listening to real music. thank you

ray ray gave it a10:
People who dont get it shouldnt hate. They should just ignore and go critic something else. This is a brillant record by a brillant artist. No one ever said he sings like Elvis. People said the same on Dylan and Dylan remains Dylan.

dave g gave it a9:
it took me a very long time to get past the voice, i'm not going to lie. but this is amazing-- it's all just so catchy and solid. people need to stop being so closed-minded.

san it gave it a9:
I know nothing about who this guy is or even if it is a band. But the thing that i do know is: upon the first spin, i was absolutely captivated by the brilliant composition and how sincere the vocalist's voice is. Further listening merely substantiates my initial impressions. And that's saying something because i am extremely fastidious over my choice of music.

Brian G gave it a0:
I find it highly questionable that any "top list" of CD's can possibly feature a CD by Dan Bejar & Co. Anyone who has witnessed this guy perform can attest to the notion that his attempts at singing are nothing more than a drunk carelessly bleating over the mic...like that annoying guy at the karaoke bar who's had way too much liquor and thinks it's hilarious to mangle the song. Did this guy just do some really big favors to better bands, and thereby elicit a lifetime of sympathy from other musicians? The only Destroyer that matters is the KISS album, period.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: World News | Fantasy Football | Amy Winehouse | Baseball | E3 | Batman | Firefox 3 | iPhone 3G

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use