GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

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

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

64 A Camp
78 Akron/Family
73 Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women
74 Amazing Baby
62 Tori Amos
54 The Answer
74 Anti-Flag
74 Art Brut
71 Au Revoir Simone
65 Zee Avi
70 Bachelorette
77 Bat For Lashes
68 Big Business
76 Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
67 Black Dice
57 Black Eyed Peas
74 Black Moth Super Rainbow
71 Blank Dogs
65 Booker T.
54 The Boxmasters
65 The Boy Least Likely To
74 Brakes [aka brakesbrakesbrakes]
68 British Sea Power
66 Jeff Buckley
75 Busdriver
59 Busta Rhymes
64 Cage The Elephant
82 Bill Callahan
80 Camera Obscura
68 Cam'ron
79 Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
58 Chester French
82 The Church
61 Ciara
72 Clues
69 The Coathangers
74 Jarvis Cocker
90 Leonard Cohen
70 Elvis Costello
66 Graham Coxon
76 Crippled Black Phoenix
71 The Crocodiles
69 Cryptacize
71 Crystal Antlers
56 The Crystal Method
69 Dananananaykroyd
76 Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse
71 De La Soul
77 Death Cab For Cutie
68 Deer Tick
81 Deerhunter
70 Depeche Mode
78 Dinosaur Jr.
85 Dirty Projectors
86 DJ Quik & Kurupt
77 Doves
68 Dredg
76 Bob Dylan
82 Steve Earle
70 Eels
62 El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
58 Eminem
60 Empire Of The Sun
54 The Enemy
67 Jeremy Enigk
68 Nathan Fake
85 The Felice Brothers
79 The Field
65 Fink
60 Fischerspooner
77 Flatlanders
62 Flo Rida
64 Franz Ferdinand
77 Gallows
72 Melody Gardot
59 Ginuwine
71 Golden Silvers
61 Gomez
69 Grand Duchy
73 Great Lake Swimmers
59 Great Northern
72 Green Day
86 Grizzly Bear
75 The Handsome Family
69 Ben Harper And Relentless7
75 PJ Harvey & John Parish
66 Heaven & Hell
85 Levon Helm
74 The Hold Steady
79 Patterson Hood
75 Jon Hopkins
82 The Horrors
69 Hanne Hukkelberg
74 Ida Maria
65 Immaculate Machine
75 The Intelligence
76 Iron & Wine
79 Isis
68 It Hugs Back
88 J Dilla aka Jay Dee
61 Jadakiss
86 Japandroids
61 Joan Of Arc
84 Joe Lovano Us Five
72 John Doe & The Sadies
70 Joker's Daughter
62 Jonas Brothers
53 Mike Jones
71 The Juan Maclean
76 Junior Boys
68 Kasabian
74 Diana Krall
56 Lady Sovereign
43 Ben Lee
68 The Lemonheads
76 Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard
77 Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
65 Little Boots
79 The Low Anthem
67 Jason Lytle
75 The Maccabees
76 Magik Markers
80 Major Lazer
70 Malajube
71 Manchester Orchestra
85 Manic Street Preachers
57 Marilyn Manson
66 The Mars Volta
68 Dave Matthews Band
62 Maximo Park
70 Meat Puppets
80 Method Man & Redman
77 Metric
75 Micachu & The Shapes
69 Chrisette Michele
76 Miike Snow
67 Mika Miko
75 Rhett Miller
49 Mims
72 Mr. Lif
72 Moby
78 Moderat
70 Mandy Moore
80 Mos Def
70 Bob Mould
74 Nadja
72 New York Dolls
72 Nite Jewel
67 NOFX
76 Noisettes
60 Paolo Nutini
67 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
74 Papercuts
76 Passion Pit
74 Peaches
71 Pet Shop Boys
68 Peter Bjorn And John
82 Phoenix
76 Pink Mountaintops
63 Placebo
66 Pomegranates
64 Iggy Pop
67 Prefuse 73
81 Ramblin' Jack Elliott
76 Rancid
54 Rascal Flatts
68 Lionel Richie
77 Alasdair Roberts
73 Rick Ross
55 Asher Roth
72 Savath & Savalas
61 Polly Scattergood
65 The Shortwave Set
60 Shout Out Out Out Out
66 Silversun Pickups
85 Todd Snider
78 Sonic Youth
72 The Soundcarriers
61 The Sounds
74 Regina Spektor
63 Spinal Tap
65 Spinnerette
81 St. Vincent
59 Still Flyin'
58 Street Sweeper Social Club
87 Sunn O)))
82 Sunset Rubdown
84 Super Furry Animals
74 Richard Swift
78 Taking Back Sunday
85 Tanya Morgan
81 Otis Taylor
71 Telekinesis
70 Telepathe
80 Thee Oh Sees
79 The Thermals
74 Rob Thomas
64 Thunderheist
74 Tiga
57 Tinted Windows
72 Tortoise
82 Allen Toussaint
71 Trembling Bells
69 Two Fingers
84 UGK
68 Keith Urban
71 John Vanderslice
85 The Vaselines
74 The Veils
73 Viva Voce
63 Patrick Watson
79 White Denim
77 White Rabbits
57 The Whitest Boy Alive
74 Wilco
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
78 Wolves In The Throne Room
65 The Wooden Birds
67 Wooden Shjips
81 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
70 Pete Yorn
93 Neil Young
60 Neil Young
72 Yusuf

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Welcome Interstate Managers
by Fountains Of Wayne

Fountains Of Wayne reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 86 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.5 out of 10
based on 24 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 96 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

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

LABEL: S-Curve Records
RELEASE DATE: 10 June 2003
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Indie, Rock, Pop

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

Vote Now! 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...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

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