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...

PopMatters

Palookaville is every bit as rewarding an experience when taken as a cohesive unit as the best songs are when taken individually.

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Filter

The last few numbers droop, and as a whole, the record sinks a little from the weight of all that goddamn goodwill. [#12, p.98]

E! Online

Palookaville will surprise you.

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Spin

As usual, his willingness to please gives the disc its fast-food kick. [Oct 2004, p.113]

All Music Guide

Palookaville could stand one more trimming pass, but it gives Cook's canon the needed depth.

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Lost At Sea

Even the songs that rise above the simple looped-beat formula don’t have much to offer.

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The Guardian

It's not enough this time around, though, simply to tack on computer-generated beats. Luckily, the "live" half suggests that he knows this and is addressing the problem.

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Q Magazine

Essentially, Fatboy Slim is doing little more than repeating his past, but the quality here doesn't suffer for that. [Nov 2004, p.120]

Uncut

That gloriously stupid clod-hopping mash-up formula remains. [Nov 2004, p.99]

Billboard

Halfway between a fraternity kegger and a housewarming party.

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Alternative Press

Offers yet more fun funk/blues-rock mashups for unpretentious gatherings of all sorts. [Nov 2004, p.156]

Entertainment Weekly

His party jams... feel half-cocked, like Cook can't quite commit to the moment. [8 Oct 2004, p.114]

Dot Music

The paucity of innovative ideas, reliance on old recipes and directionless experimenting make for a fairly tasteless repaste.

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Pitchfork

Slim still loves blabbing repetition and dropping yapping vocal samples into the gobs of the dull, and this helps make Palookaville less a reformation than merely his latest and quite bland big beat manifesto.

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Rolling Stone

Fatboy hasn't stopped pandering to his core crowd of fun-loving jalapeno-poppers. [14 Oct 2004, p.99]

Mojo

While there's some inspired moments, much should've been discarded on son Woody's bedroom floor. [Oct 2004, p.104]

Blender

Cook's dance music has seen better days. [Oct 2004, p.115]

Urb

The big idea of real instruments and real people is a step backwards. [Oct 2004, p.102]

Stylus Magazine

The parallels with The Prodigy’s similarly dreadful Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned abound, but the difference here is where The Prodigy’s album was just offensively bad at every corner, here Norman Cook seems to be striving to make the most mediocre album humanly possible.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Palookaville's highlights promise the sweat and smiles that have become Fatboy Slim's stock in trade, but its surprisingly dull lulls offer nothing more promising than a blank expression.

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Under The Radar

His... worst album to date. [#7]

Splendid

Songs too slow to dance to and too annoyingly repetitive for passive listening.

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Drowned In Sound

Succinctly, it's a crap record.

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New Musical Express

Doomed to lurk unplayed at the back of your collection. [2 Oct 2004, p.64]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

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

Michael gave it an 8:
This album is vastly underrated...ignore the negative reviews...this album is great...much more chilled out than his previous albums....you can listen to it over and over without getting tired of it...the best song IMO is the cover of Steve Miller's The Joker featuring Bootsy Collins....very catchy and funky...it's destined to be a major hit...other highlights are "Put It Back Together" featuring Damon Albarn of Blur and "It's a Wonderful Night"

Jimbo Jones gave it a 9:
Surprisingly Amazing, especially good when you're intoxicated

Helge C gave it a 10:
Though BLTC still is a classic, this album puts me in the right FBS-mood!

andrei l gave it a 10:
This is going to be seen as a landmark album in the future, nearly every track is a gem.

Arnie Geezer gave it an 8:
wow, this is album is getting torn apart by the critics. It has a few brilliant songs on it and the one's that aren't great are at least enjoyable (with the exception of his remake of the Joker which sucks balls). If you're a fatboy fan I definetly encourage you to get this record

Doug S gave it a 5:
Disapointing comming from just about any artist not to mention Fatboy Slim the king of Partying.

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