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

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

70 AFI
65 Air
71 Alice In Chains
77 Amerie
85 The Antlers
75 Arctic Monkeys
68 As Tall As Lions
82 Atlas Sound
75 The Avett Brothers
67 Backstreet Boys
56 Bad Lieutenant
68 Devendra Banhart
72 Lou Barlow
88 Baroness
69 Basement Jaxx
81 David Bazan
72 Brendan Benson
72 The Big Pink
96 Big Star
46 Billy Talent
75 The Black Crowes
51 Black Mold
68 Blitzen Trapper
75 BLK JKS
77 A.A. Bondy
73 The Bottle Rockets
63 Box Elders
65 Boys Like Girls
76 Brand New
73 Tyondai Braxton
87 Brother Ali
70 Ian Brown
75 Michael Buble
78 Built To Spill
61 Colbie Caillat
79 Califone
68 Mariah Carey
84 Brandi Carlile
73 Julian Casablancas
83 Rosanne Cash
69 Castanets
65 The Cave Singers
84 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79 Vic Chesnutt
75 Choir Of Young Believers
81 Circulatory System
68 The Clean
84 The Clientele
71 Cobra Starship
85 Converge
71 Eric Copeland
80 Cymbals Eat Guitars
71 Datarock
59 Dead By Sunrise
76 Dead Man's Bones
88 Destroyer
63 The Dodos
77 Drive-By Truckers
66 Bob Dylan
44 The Entrance Band
67 Esser
69 Fanfarlo
63 Felix Da Housecat
68 Fink
78 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
79 Richard Hawley
74 Mayer Hawthorne
66 Headlights
79 HEALTH
77 Joe Henry
66 Hockey
69 Whitney Houston
68 Imogen Heap
59 Jack Ingram
79 Islands
73 Jessie James
74 Jamie T
65 Jay-Z
51 Jet
69 Daniel Johnston
76 Karen O And The Kids
72 Toby Keith
69 Kid Cudi
65 Kings Of Convenience
62 Sean Kingston
64 KISS
76 Kris Kristofferson
68 KRS-One & Buckshot
76 La Roux
84 Miranda Lambert
72 Ledisi
75 Sondre Lerche
56 Juliette Lewis
82 Lightning Bolt
73 Little Dragon
44 Pixie Lott
73 Lyle Lovett
66 Lovvers
75 Baaba Maal
77 Madness
84 Madonna
85 Manic Street Preachers
62 Maps
55 Massive Attack
57 Matisyahu
67 Reba McEntire
66 Tim McGraw
65 Brian McKnight
79 Mew
77 Malcolm Middleton
77 Mika
68 Amy Millan
76 Mission Of Burma
76 Molina And Johnson
80 Monsters Of Folk
62 Morrissey
85 Mount Eerie
78 The Mountain Goats
62 Múm
72 Muse
66 Willie Nelson
78 Nirvana
97 Nirvana
72 Nisennenmondai
80 No Age
71 Noah And The Whale
75 Noisettes
79 Nudge
47 Dolores O'Riordan
74 Os Mutantes
73 Osso
81 Owen
76 Paramore
76 Pastels And Tenniscoats
51 Sean Paul
80 Pearl Jam
66 Jemina Pearl
72 Jack Penate
65 Phish
82 Pissed Jeans
61 Pitbull
79 A Place To Bury Strangers
66 Robert Pollard
79 Polvo
72 Porcupine Tree
80 Q-Tip
80 R.E.M.
89 Raekwon
69 Rain Machine
70 Ramona Falls
75 Dizzee Rascal
75 The Raveonettes
76 Jay Reatard
82 Reigning Sound
81 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79 Russian Circles
69 Buffy Sainte-Marie
73 Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61 Sally Shapiro
78 Shudder To Think
70 Simian Mobile Disco
58 Simple Minds
72 Six Organs Of Admittance
69 Slaughterhouse
80 Slayer
61 The Slits
62 Mindy Smith
78 Soulsavers
77 Speech Debelle
58 Spiral Stairs
58 Squarepusher
55 Steel Panther
73 Sufjan Stevens
52 Rod Stewart
65 Joss Stone
75 George Strait
83 Barbra Streisand
76 A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74 Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78 The Swell Season
76 David Sylvian
83 Taken By Trees
78 Tegan And Sara
68 The Temper Trap
72 Themselves
82 They Might Be Giants
67 Third Eye Blind
66 J Tillman
69 Times New Viking
57 Tokio Hotel
67 Trey Songz
71 The Twilight Sad
58 Carrie Underwood
56 The Used
68 Various Artists
70 Various Artists
74 Various Artists
77 The Very Best
71 Kurt Vile
67 Vivian Girls
71 Volcano Choir
76 Rufus Wainwright
59 Weezer
80 White Denim
76 Why?
83 Wild Beasts
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59 Andrew W.K.
71 Patrick Wolf
67 Wolfmother
84 The xx
79 Yo La Tengo
83 Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59 Zero 7

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Destroyer's Rubies

EMAILPRINTby Destroyer

Destroyer reviews
88
7.9 User Score:

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.'

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

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.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use