> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
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
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

60 31Knots
71 The Academy Is...
75 The Accidental
68 Adele
70 Adem
67 The Airborne Toxic Event
70 Alkaline Trio
77 Theresa Andersson
74 Apollo Sunshine
52 Ashanti
84 Bajofondo
56 David Banner
76 The Baseball Project
77 Beck
77 Black Affair
59 Black Ghosts
76 Black Kids
73 Brazilian Girls
90 The Bug
58 Caesars
70 Glen Campbell
75 Brendan Canning
69 The Charlatans
72 Coldplay
78 The Cool Kids
65 Alice Cooper
77 Rodney Crowell
65 CSS
67 Miley Cyrus
45 Dandy Warhols
81 Danny!
74 Death Vessel
75 Delta Spirit
79 Damien Dempsey
58 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
72 Dr. Dog
80 DragonForce
78 The Duhks
75 Jakob Dylan
77 Earlimart
77 Brian Eno + David Byrne
83 Alejandro Escovedo
62 The Faint
56 Feeder
65 The Fiery Furnaces
87 Fleet Foxes
64 iForward, Russia!
61 The Fratellis
73 The Futureheads
59 G Love & Special Sauce
65 The Game
74 Inara George With Van Dyke Parks
74 Giant Sand
80 Girl Talk
61 Golden Animals
64 Mike Gordon
42 G-Unit
79 GZA
64 Albert Hammond, Jr.
67 Ed Harcourt
78 Emmylou Harris
86 Harvey Milk
73 Juliana Hatfield
61 Hawthorne Heights
86 Hercules And Love Affair
82 High Places
76 Zach Hill
85 The Hold Steady
63 Vanessa Hudgens
70 Human Highway
77 James Hunter
68 Ice Cube
66 Ida Maria
69 Jaguar Love
69 Jewel
76 Joan As Police Woman
81 Jamey Johnson
70 Jonas Brothers
59 Judas Priest
57 Kerli
73 Ladytron
72 Leila
76 Lykke Li
82 Lil Wayne
82 Lindstrom
72 Little Jackie
60 Lloyd
55 Los Lonely Boys
74 Love As Laughter
79 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
76 John Mellencamp
71 The Melvins
71 Men Without Pants
74 Mirah
63 Alanis Morissette
56 Motley Crue
74 The M's
84 The Music Tapes
54 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
63 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
71 Nas
79 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
51 New Kids On The Block
84 Randy Newman
78 Nine Inch Nails
75 The Notwist
75 Conor Oberst
52 The Offspring
80 One Day As A Lion
75 Oneida
82 Opeth
62 The Orb
75 Oxford Collapse
89 Aaron Parks
43 Katy Perry
74 Lee "Scratch" Perry
84 Sam Phillips
72 Plies
73 Robert Pollard
81 Ponytail
64 Primal Scream
78 Ra Ra Riot
48 The Rascals
71 Ratatat
63 Re-Up Gang
48 Gavin Rossdale
71 The Rumble Strips
65 RZA
74 Scars On Broadway
70 Ron Sexsmith
85 Shearwater
39 Shwayze
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
70 Slipknot
74 Sloan
79 Patti Smith and Kevin Shields
72 Solange
69 Son, Ambulance
63 Sam Sparro
65 Rick Springfield
65 Staind
47 Stereo MC's
72 Stereolab
71 The Stills
75 Subtle
83 Sugarland
67 Supergrass
67 Matthew Sweet
77 Irma Thomas
84 Teddy Thompson
57 Three 6 Mafia
73 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
72 Tittsworth
63 James Jackson Toth
72 Randy Travis
92 Underoath
58 UNKLE
58 David Vandervelde
71 The Verve
69 The Virgins
69 Loudon Wainwright III
77 Martha Wainwright
81 The Walkmen
67 The Watson Twins
67 Ben Weaver
81 The Week That Was
64 Weezer
77 Paul Weller
76 White Denim
71 Brian Wilson
79 Cassandra Wilson
87 Dennis Wilson
76 Wire
78 Wolf Parade
61 XX Teens
65 Young Jeezy
55 Yung Berg

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

The Outsider
by DJ Shadow


4.4

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 40 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The Private Press

Official Artist Site

Following acclaimed, sample-driven efforts 'Endtroducing' and 'The Private Press,' 'The Outsider' detours DJ Shadow into more conventional hip-hop, with rappers such as David Banner and Q-Tip guesting.

LABEL:	Universal
RELEASE DATE:	19 September 2006
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rap

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...

Tiny Mix Tapes

The Outsider screams to be downloaded in sections by fans of specific genres.

musicOMH.com

This is a fascinating record that will initially bewilder, but rewards repeated listens.

Dot Music

Contrary to the way he's been perceived, Shadow has never been anything other than passionate about hip hop, and "The Outsider" is his love letter to the genre, revelling in all its myriad excesses.

Uncut

As brave as it is diverse. [Oct 2006, p.104]

RapReviews.com

Despite the presence of some must-hear rap tracks, it's hard to justify the purchase if you are paying for only about half an album.

Dusted Magazine

The cadre of eclectic guest appearances... make it seem like this record would play more like a mix tape, but Shadow pulls it off, and for the most part, each of the guest artists deliver the goods.

PopMatters

I suspect that it will be one of those albums that people might dismiss today but will go back to in six months or six years, in the process rediscovering a treasure trove of interesting music.

All Music Guide

The Outsider is a carefully crafted, artistically elusive mess -- far more scattershot than even his first UNKLE record (Psyence Fiction), but much more interesting for its excellent productions.

Rolling Stone

As a full-length Shadow album, The Outsider buckles from its forced diversity. [24 Aug 2006, p.94]

Q Magazine

As ever, The Outsider's production is immaculate. But by frontloading the album with forbidding hip hop, [Shadow] knows he's driving away the floating voter. [Sep 2006, p.106]

Playlouder

Aside from track sequencing issues... and dodgy indie geezers, 'The Outsider' is a great album and well worth the wait.

Prefix Magazine

The Outsider shouldn't be framed as the second coming of a masterpiece but as a stepping-stone.

Entertainment Weekly

A jarring journey. [22 Sep 2006, p.94]

Billboard

More often than not, even Shadow's most extreme sonic detours hit home.

ShakingThrough.net

The Outsider is a mix tape. The artful flow that defined Endtroducing and The Private Press has been eschewed in favor of individual tracks, and the album succeeds or fails along these lines.

The Guardian

While the hyphy tracks might scare some people off, they are the record's undoubted highlights.

BBC collective

While it’s a bit hit and miss, the sheer bullishness of this album is impressive.

Mojo

Tough to take in one sitting, The Outsider nevertheless boasts enough fine 'deep cuts' to be a keeper. [Sep 2006, p.98]

Urb

Where Shadow ultimately sutmbles is on the britpop tip. [Oct 2006, p.116]

Spin

Slinging new styles and innovating them are separate matters. [Oct 2006, p.100]

Under The Radar

Despite its lapses and awkward moments, The Outsider feels like the turntablist’s attempt to loosen up and venture away from a recognizable aural framework. [#15]

Pitchfork

This album should alienate virtually everyone who's ever been a Shadow fan.

The New York Times

It’s hard to imagine anyone going for the whole album, because it doesn’t hold together. [18 Sep 2006]

Vibe

Occasionally, the chemistry is thrilling... Mostly, though, Shadow picks collaborators allergic to subtlety. [Oct 2006, p.143]

Magnet

A draining listen due to its scatterbrained ideas and patchy sequencing. [#73, p.106]

New Musical Express

Here, ultimately, the DJ remains resolutely in the background. ANd that was never the point. [16 Sep 2006, p.35]

Paste Magazine

His work here seems scattered and gimmicky. [Oct 2006, p.75]

Observer Music Monthly

Shadow's head scratching choice of singers detract from the potency of his fluid beats.

NOW Magazine

Problem is, the odd hodge-podge of tracks have no apparent connection to each other and certainly don't make for a coherent statement or even a decent mixtape.

Blender

Distraught longtime fans can take comfort in the gothic ire of the Banner-fronted, Hurricane Katrina–lamenting “Seein’ Thangs” and the ambling blues-hop storytelling of Phonte Coleman on “Backstage Girl,” but little else can be salvaged from the wreckage of Shadow’s abruptly imploding talent.

Stylus Magazine

Great ideas abound--it’s just that they stumble on their face.

The average user rating for this album is 4.4 (out of 10) based on 40 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Habib W gave it a6:
Hate/love is my reaction...by far the best intro of any album to date...followed by a great but ill placed song 'try it my way'...should have been the conclusion of the disk...followed by better than your average hyphy coupled with awful rappers(E-40, Keek Da Sneak, Turf Talk) and then a better than usual David Banner and then some uninteresting instrumentals...but then the highlight of the album 'Backstage Girl' ...this track w/ the intro make your money's worth...'Tiger' is masterful but awful singing as well with most of the rest of the album...as a producer I was influenced a lot by Shadow so I can understand where he is going...perhaps he should re-release this album without vocals then he would be praised...

Pfillip gave it a2:
Damn, man, why? I love DJ Shadow. That's the only reason I haven't burned this garbage in the microwave. I can't give him a 1 or 0 either, so here's my 2.

Choreo F gave it a3:
the 3 is for effort and i could never give my numba 1 DJ a 0 but damn...this time it was hard. the album is easily comparable to Jay-Z's kingdom Come...high expectations, High let downs. And ditto to Andrew B, In full agreement! Josh, please leave the hyphy movement to the idiots tryin to market it to the east coast surburban kids and come back to the da bassment with da true hip hop heads.

Kid A gave it a3:
definitely not worth the wait he better come out with something much better next time

Jim Moose gave it an8:
Unlike shadow but the more i listen the more i like.

Stefan gave it a0:
A terrible, terrible album. So many awful songs, but the ultimate worst is "Enuff" (#18). This has to be a joke. I want my money back Josh.

J B gave it an8:
At first I hated this shit. I am from the Bay and listen to most all kinds of music but I hate the hyphy sound. The other songs wre ok, a little too much vocals some times. But the more I listened I realized that Shadow was apparantly irritated that such simplistic beats were getting so much play. So he decided to out-hyphy hyphy. On all the "hyphy" songs, he changes the beat up like 5 times, its not the same bars over and over again. Make no mistake, the rhymes are horrible, but the beats are innovative across the board. I seem to like it the more I listen to it

The Outsider by DJ Shadow

The Outsider
by DJ Shadow