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
Best of the Decade

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

75 2562
54 30 Seconds to Mars
62 50 Cent
71 AC/DC
67 The Album Leaf
52 Kris Allen
68 Tori Amos
66 Animal Collective
84 Animal Collective
77 Annie
57 Apse
63 Asobi Seksu
59 Bad Lieutenant
83 Julianna Barwick
82 Beach House
72 Beak>
72 Bibio
65 Justin Bieber
76 Biffy Clyro
74 Blakroc
75 Mary J. Blige
78 Blockhead
52 Bon Jovi
54 Susan Boyle
57 The Bravery
39 Chris Brown
62 V.V. Brown
70 Basia Bulat
79 Chew Lips
75 Citay
65 Clipse
66 Cold War Kids
75 The Cribs
58 Dashboard Confessional
81 Dave Rawlings Machine
70 Delphic
78 The Doors
58 Echo & The Bunnymen
73 Edan
59 Editors
69 Eels
80 Felt
75 First Aid Kit
69 Flyleaf
83 Four Tet
82 Ben Frost
82 Fucked Up
83 Charlotte Gainsbourg
63 The Gilded Palace Of Sin
68 Githead
65 Joe Goddard
58 Good Shoes
72 Gucci Mane
75 Holopaw
82 Jesca Hoop
77 Hot Chip
72 The Hot Rats
88 Ray Wylie Hubbard
54 Hurricane Chris
66 Allison Iraheta
59 Jay Sean
82 Freedy Johnston
57 Nick Jonas And The Administration
73 Norah Jones
49 Juvenile
58 Ke$ha
62 R. Kelly
66 Alicia Keys
68 Kid Sister
81 King Midas Sound
63 Lady Antebellum
76 Lady GaGa
71 Adam Lambert
78 Lawrence Arabia
61 Leona Lewis
70 Lightspeed Champion
36 Lil Wayne
82 Lindstrom & Christabelle
77 Lissie
78 Los Campesinos!
70 Lostprophets
73 Magnetic Fields
73 Massive Attack
64 John Mayer
71 Paul McCartney
58 Katherine McPhee
86 Memory Tapes
74 Midlake
88 Motion City Soundtrack
63 Mr. Hudson
53 Mudvayne
75 Oh No Ono
70 OK Go
72 Ola Podrida
61 OneRepublic
80 Owen Pallett
90 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
60 Pit Er Pat
62 Priestess
70 Radian
79 Corinne Bailey Rae
54 Rakim
79 Real Estate
77 Retribution Gospel Choir
76 Rihanna
64 Rjd2
65 Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
82 Sade
79 Gil Scott-Heron
72 Shakira
82 Shining
61 Snoop Dogg
62 Snow Patrol
71 The Soft Pack
80 Spoon
64 Ringo Starr
59 Stereophonics
75 Angie Stone
79 Surfer Blood
74 Switchfoot
75 Them Crooked Vultures
74 Robin Thicke
50 Timbaland
79 tUnE-YaRDs
80 Vampire Weekend
79 Laura Veirs
79 Tom Waits
78 Wale
66 Kanye West
76 The Whitefield Brothers
64 Robbie Williams
80 Yeasayer
62 Young Money
75 Neil Young
61 Rob Zombie

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Welcome Interstate Managers

EMAILPRINTby Fountains Of Wayne

Fountains Of Wayne reviews
86
8.5 User Score:

Album Info

Label: S-Curve Records

Release Date: 10 June 2003

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Pop

Summary

The New York-based indie-pop band, led by Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood, returns with a long-awaited third LP.

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

Splendid

Welcome Interstate Managers is a watershed accomplishment, surpassing the band's debut in terms of whimsical pop songcraft, lyrical astuteness and blind melodic ambition.

Read Full Review >
100

Blender

A nearly flawless collection of hummable overtures. [#17, p.138]

100

Spin

The lyrics explore suburban everyguyism, but the choruses explode like fireworks over a church picnic. [Jul 2003, p.109]

96

ShakingThrough.net

Not only their crowning achievement to date but also one of the year's finest albums, period.

Read Full Review >
91

Entertainment Weekly

Parkway didn't take Fountains of Wayne to the charts, but let's hope the Interstate will. [13 Jun 2003, p.92]

91

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

Their tunes have always seemed too facile, but seven years divided by three albums doesn't equal glib, especially with those years deepening their lyricism rather than their cynicism.

Read Full Review >
90

Stylus Magazine

The record is sprawling and beautiful, a genuine pop masterpiece through and through.

Read Full Review >
90

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Even at their most piercingly observant, Collingwood and Schlesinger never lose their warmth for their subjects, and their lack of condescension comes through in the music, as well.

Read Full Review >
90

Stylus Magazine

Welcome Interstate Managers is stone-cold great.

Read Full Review >
90

Neumu.net

This is exactly the album that should be blasting from car radios all summer.

Read Full Review >
90

PopMatters

Welcome Interstate Managers is the welcome aural equivalent of a great collection of short stories, each song offering a little snippet from a life, and presenting a range of characters to fill this musical spectrum.

Read Full Review >
90

Q Magazine

Such moments of wry genius make a very special record. [Oct 2003, p.104]

90

Billboard

The group encapsulates the Atlantic seacoast just as 1980s twangers the dBs embodied the South and the Beach Boys captured California.

Read Full Review >
90

Flak Magazine

Carved into the glittering surface of its obsessively polished pop jewels are the biographies of horny schoolkids, laid-off airline pilots, aspiring salesmen reeling from scotch and soda -- in short, credible characters sculpted with music.

Read Full Review >
83

E! Online

You'll love it.

Read Full Review >
80

Mojo

Celebrates the little people with full powerpop majesty. [Jul 2003, p.108]

80

All Music Guide

This time, the one flaw may simply be that the group doesn't know when to say when.

Read Full Review >
80

CultureDose.net

For people friendly to western pop traditions, there is little or nothing in the music to dislike, and lots to sing along with.

Read Full Review >
80

Delusions of Adequacy

No doubt, the music that falls between the Beatles and Bacharach extremes suffers slightly from adherence to formula, but few can boast such immediately memorable melodies. What surprises, though, is the care that they take with the lighter side of their music.

Read Full Review >
78

Austin Chronicle

The secret to Fountains of Wayne's genius is the ability to infuse personality into a typically personalityless segment of America, making sadness and mundanity both interesting and deceptively fun.

Read Full Review >
75

Pitchfork

Despite its obviously short shelf-life, Welcome Interstate Managers is delicious power-pop, unpretentious, loose and perfect for teenagers driving down to Ocean City for the weekend.

Read Full Review >
70

Rolling Stone

The songs are more laid-back than the band's earlier work, but they're still catchy enough to rattle around your brain for days. [12 Jun 2003, p.94]

40

Alternative Press

Sadly, much of Welcome Interstate Managers is bogged down by forgettable midtempo slush. [Aug 2003, p.104]

40

Uncut

They're diminished by trying to touch too many bases, often lapsing into sub-Oasis stodge. [Oct 2003, p.114]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 96 User Votes

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

Chad S gave it a9:
After watching "Music and Lyrics", it dawned on me that I somehow skipped "Welcome Interstate Managers". Why? Because I was unemployed in 2003. "Stacy's Mom" brilliantly recalls The Cars' "Just What I Needed" and then finds its own bliss. "Hackensack" is equally catchy and unbelievably sad.

mit gave it a10:
Well thank you for the compliment Richard Roeper but I don't even remember when Shit's Poo Squaro came out. That's how forgettable the record was. Why is I always turn into the asshole when all I wanted was to compliment how good this record was. Of course I'm no Rodney Bingenheimer or even a Nic Hartcort when it comes to music. But I do know anyone who passes up a great album like this and Franz Ferdinand for a mediorce records like Flutes Blue Arrow is out of their cotton picken mind.

Erik H gave it a7:
Tim, it's difficult to believe you really know "more about music" than anyone will ever know when you don't even know the name of the Shins' album ("Chutes Too Narrow"). Also your entire comment came across as an arrogant asshole who lacks the intelligence of a sixth grader. As for this album, while it has quite a few catchy numbers, it is overall not the kind of album you'll listen to again and again and find yourself returning too. It's an enjoyable but forgettable quickie, similar to Franz Ferdinand.

Joey JoJo Shabadoo gave it a10:
Did I say anything about the Shins being bad? They're just not on the same level as this album. At least I don't pull stupid comments out my arse. This album is sensational.

tim gave it a10:
Did I say the Shins were bad you idiot!!!!!!!!!!!! This is just on another level that their overrated Shutes Too Narrow. I know more about music than you'll ever know. Blow it out your ass.

John Kerry gave it a0:
You all suck including you fountain and of and wayne you all suck

Robert v gave it a5:
Stacy's mom is an awesome song the rest sucks

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use