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
75
2562
54
30 Seconds to Mars
62
50 Cent
71
AC/DC
70
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
64
V.V. Brown
70
Basia Bulat
79
Chew Lips
74
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
74
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
79
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
74
Lightspeed Champion
36
Lil Wayne
82
Lindstrom & Christabelle
77
Lissie
78
Los Campesinos!
70
Lostprophets
73
Magnetic Fields
72
Massive Attack
64
John Mayer
71
Paul McCartney
58
Katherine McPhee
86
Memory Tapes
72
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
80
Pantha du Prince
90
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
80
Phantogram
60
Pit Er Pat
63
Priestess
70
Radian
79
Corinne Bailey Rae
54
Rakim
79
Real Estate
77
Retribution Gospel Choir
76
Rihanna
64
Rjd2
65
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
77
Sade
77
Gil Scott-Heron
72
Shakira
82
Shining
61
Snoop Dogg
62
Snow Patrol
71
The Soft Pack
80
Spoon
64
Ringo Starr
59
Stereophonics
76
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
65
The Watson Twins
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.
Burn The Maps
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 30 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Anti
Release Date: 08 February 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
This is the first studio disc in four years for the Irish quartet, who are massively popular in their native country.
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...
Stylus Magazine
The album moves in gasps and groans, with a steady flow to its twelve songs that weaves together like a symphony.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Burn the Maps is an elemental journey that tugs at the heart and sticks around in the mind.
Read Full Review >Amazon.com
It’s an unpredictably bipolar record with plenty of mood swings and emotional shifts that will ultimately leave listeners with feelings of euphoria.
Read Full Review >Mojo
An overwhelming record that bends and blusters with grand passions, bittersweet beauty and no small hint of desperation. [Apr 2005, p.98]
Splendid
Unabashedly mellow and reflective, Burn the Maps may not hook mainstream music fans who've been conditioned to expect a tidily rhyming chorus ever thirty seconds.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
It's an intensely private album, full of desolation, leave-takings, recriminations and regrets. [21 Feb 2005]
Read Full Review >Planet
Meticulous recording, layered songwriting, and a little bit of "special effects" turns a bunch of good songs into a great album. [#9, p.70]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Some of these exercises in frustration are simply frustrating, but for the most part, The Frames' perverse restraint matches Hansard's lyrics, which are all about lowered expectations.
Read Full Review >Blender
Maps... swap[s] the band's trademark dreariness for the U2-style arena-rock sweep that makes their live shows... so exciting. [Mar 2005, p.140]
Alternative Press
Burn The Maps' muted vibe demands that you turn down the lights, fire up the candles and listen hard. [Mar 2005, p.132]
Under The Radar
When it's good, it's great.... However, when it's bad, it borders on boring. [#9]
PopMatters
While nearly any song on Burn the Maps works effectively, the album as a whole can't quite maintain its momentum with such structural repetition.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
These Irishmen have a way of merging lush Celtic melancholy with inspired Morse-code guitar noise... Alas, they also have a way with misogyny. [4 Feb 2005, p.135]
Pitchfork
Burn the Maps often sounds like simplicity transformed into bloat in an attempt to sound interesting.
Read Full Review >Magnet
Once a means to subvert pop/rock formula, the band's abruptly shifting dynamics have themselves become formulaic. [#67, p.97]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 30 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kathleen M. gave it a9:
Excellent, damn near 10.
Hein gave it a10:
Very Good!
Stepan Z. gave it a9:
This album makes me feel,intension of Hansard´s voice is absolutely unbeliavable ,I love it!
Jana gave it a10:
this album is... amazing. so the Frames are. one of the best stuff in recent music...
John P gave it a9:
The best album I've come across in a long while.
Vera V gave it a10:
I just love it! Songs like A Caution to the Birds, Finally, Sideways Down, Locusts and others have exceeded my expectations!
Louis F gave it an8:
The first 3 tracks reveal a unique melodic identity and a sense of progression and intensity, thanks to the great production and Glen Hansard's presence. But track 4 comes as a pain in the ears with its agressing chords and deliberate minimalism. The other 2 bad tracks are Fake (a cheap arena rocker trying to hide itself under unconventional breaks and shifts) and Underglass (which just doesn't sound right and is awkwardly placed). It's too bad, because these three songs break the flow, Trying and Sideways Down being two excellent pieces placed between very average tracks. Happily, the last 4 tracks are all very interesting experiments or successful appliances of convention. In short, this record with tracks 4, 6 and 7 removed would've made for a beautiful, sincere and fluid listening. Skip the bad ones and it's so much better.
