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
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
62
50 Cent
70
AFI
65
Air
70
Alice In Chains
53
Kris Allen
78
Amerie
79
Annie
76
Anti-Pop Consortium
86
The Antlers
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound
77
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
59
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
71
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan
72
Beak>
72
Brendan Benson
84
Biffy Clyro
72
The Big Pink
95
Big Star
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
72
The Black Heart Procession
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
53
Bon Jovi
76
A.A. Bondy
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
83
Brother Ali
72
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
77
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
78
Califone
69
Mariah Carey
81
Brandi Carlile
72
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash
71
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
82
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
64
Exene Cervenka
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System
67
The Clean
84
The Clientele
72
Cold Cave
85
Converge
71
Eric Copeland
76
The Cribs
79
Cymbals Eat Guitars
62
Dashboard Confessional
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
77
Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One
88
Destroyer
73
Do Make Say Think
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
67
Bob Dylan
58
Echo & The Bunnymen
61
Electric Six
44
The Entrance Band
69
Fanfarlo
71
Jay Farrar And Benjamin Gibbard
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
66
Orenda Fink
79
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
83
Fuck Buttons
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
65
Calvin Harris
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
67
Hockey
67
Whitney Houston
80
Hudson Mohawke
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
74
Jamie T
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
68
Daniel Johnston
76
Norah Jones
77
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
75
Kid Sister
66
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
63
Mark Knopfler
73
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
85
Miranda Lambert
72
Ledisi
71
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
62
Leona Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt
74
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
83
Patty Loveless
73
Lyle Lovett
79
Lucero
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna
85
Manic Street Preachers
61
Maps
73
Mario
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
62
John Mayer
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
75
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
75
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
66
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie
76
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
82
Nirvana
96
Nirvana
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
64
OneRepublic
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
78
Osso
67
Alec Ounsworth
81
Owen
73
Paramore
78
Pastels And Tenniscoats
54
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
69
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
72
Port O'Brien
79
Q-Tip
79
R.E.M.
88
Raekwon
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
74
The Raveonettes
79
Real Estate
76
Jay Reatard
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
66
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
78
Russian Circles
69
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
78
Say Anything
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
78
Soulsavers
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
58
Squarepusher
55
Steel Panther
75
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
68
Joss Stone
83
Barbra Streisand
77
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
79
The Swell Season
80
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees
80
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
78
The Dutchess & The Duke
71
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
74
Them Crooked Vultures
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants
67
Third Eye Blind
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
73
Frank Turner
71
The Twilight Sad
60
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
69
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
70
Kurt Vile
65
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
73
Rufus Wainwright
78
Wale
57
Weezer
81
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
69
Robbie Williams
59
Andrew W.K.
65
Wolfmother
84
The xx
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
52
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Destroyer's Rubies
Universal acclaim
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 103 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Merge
Release Date: 21 February 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
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.'
Also By This Artist: Trouble In Dreams Your Blues
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: The New Pornographers: Electric Version The New Pornographers: Mass Romantic The New Pornographers: Twin Cinema
Also On The Web: Destroyer @ Merge
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...
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 >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 >Spin
Hooky, spare, and lush all at once. [Mar 2006, p.95]
Filter
In context, Rubies [is] just another piece of the puzzle, but it's the finest jewel yet. [#19, p.99]
Lost At Sea
Destroyer’s Rubies is every bit as marvelous as his landmark Streethawk: A Seduction.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >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 >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 >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]
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 >Uncut
A singular, rhapsodic triumph. [Apr 2007, p.94]
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 >Entertainment Weekly
His insider snipes at indie-rock pretense show Wildean wit. [24 Feb 2006, p.64]
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 >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 >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 >Alternative Press
Rubies is nothing if not ambitious. [Apr 2006, p.204]
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 >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 >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 >The New York Times
It feels like an event: grand, sumptuous, sometimes seductive.
Read Full Review >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 >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 >Blender
Bejar's most accessible album yet. [Apr 2006, p.111]
Urb
Fey and whimsical, these songs are challenges that reward. [Apr 2006, p.96]
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 >cokemachineglow
One of [Bejar's] most accomplished (and self-studied) albums, but it’s also one of his least vital.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Adventuruous fare, somewhat mellower than previous efforts, but equally sporadic and striking. [#12, p.90]
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
The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 103 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Wes M. gave it a10:
(I forget whether or not I already rated this) Anyway, it takes a few listens, but every track - with expected variance, and if you can handle the pretentiousness - is really good indie rock!
Andy G gave it a9:
Incredible music, and lyrics that you can tune out for a bit, then tune in again and become engaged immediately.
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.
