CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | 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 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

55 3 Doors Down
69 9th Wonder & Buckshot
69 Adele
70 Adem
75 Alkaline Trio
78 Animal Collective
64 Anti-Flag
69 The Apples In Stereo
54 Ashanti
69 Atmosphere
67 The Black Angels
77 The Black Keys
83 Bonnie "Prince" Billy
75 Boris
71 Billy Bragg
74 The Breeders
47 The Brian Jonestown Massacre
83 Bun B
64 T Bone Burnett
65 Mariah Carey
87 Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds
68 The Charlatans
68 Clinic
72 Coldplay
78 The Constantines
79 The Cool Kids
78 Elvis Costello & The Impostors
60 The Courteeners
79 Cut Copy
53 Craig David
73 Death Cab For Cutie
47 Def Leppard
61 Gavin DeGraw
66 dEUS
79 Neil Diamond
63 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
59 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
73 Dresden Dolls
69 Dub Pistols
71 Duffy
68 The Duke Spirit
81 Jakob Dylan
79 Earlimart
70 Ecstatic Sunshine
65 El Perro del Mar
82 Elbow
85 Alejandro Escovedo
73 Estelle
72 The Explorers Club
79 The Fall
54 Feeder
72 Firewater
77 Tim Fite
88 Fleet Foxes
79 Flight Of The Conchords
74 Foals
79 Robert Forster
75 Four Tet
47 Foxy Brown
64 The Fratellis
59 Free Kitten
71 French Kicks
79 Frightened Rabbit
73 The Futureheads
68 The Gossip
81 Al Green
51 G-Unit
72 Ed Harcourt
79 Emmylou Harris
82 HEALTH
59 Heloise And The Savoir Faire
85 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
65 Vanessa Hudgens
77 James Hunter
70 Islands
69 Jewel
79 Joan As Police Woman
71 Joan Of Arc
58 Scarlett Johansson
69 John & Jehn
59 Judas Priest
75 Kidz In The Hall
71 Fern Knight
65 The Kooks
69 Lady Antebellum
74 Ladytron
65 Langhorne Slim
77 The Last Shadow Puppets
67 Cyndi Lauper
66 Les Savy Fav
64 Leona Lewis
72 Jamie Lidell
71 Lil Mama
83 Lil Wayne
72 Local H
73 The Long Blondes
80 Los Campesinos!
45 Los Lonely Boys
66 Lyrics Born
69 M83
65 Madonna
74 Man Man
79 Aimee Mann
80 Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog
67 Mates Of State
79 Matmos
80 James McMurtry
70 Colin Meloy
71 Midnight Juggernauts
65 Kylie Minogue
63 Moby
63 Alanis Morissette
69 Van Morrison
57 Motley Crue
66 Jason Mraz
74 The M's
79 Mudcrutch
77 Mudhoney
49 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
64 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
76 The Night Marchers
66 Nine Inch Nails
77 Nine Inch Nails
78 No Age
80 Jim Noir
76 The Notwist
54 The Offspring
72 Old 97's
87 Opeth
59 The Orb
62 James Pants
48 Katy Perry
71 Phantom Planet
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
72 Plies
69 Robert Pollard
83 Ponytail
85 Portishead
65 The Proclaimers
75 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
71 Pyramids
79 R.E.M.
48 The Rascals
86 Robyn
72 The Rolling Stones
79 The Roots
48 Gavin Rossdale
72 Russian Circles
66 RZA
76 Santogold
86 Shearwater
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
60 Carly Simon
62 Ashlee Simpson
76 Sloan
73 Sam Sparro
77 Spiritualized
89 Steinski
75 Subtle
66 Donna Summer
81 Sun Kil Moon
66 Supergrass
71 The Sword
61 Tapes 'n Tapes
64 Three 6 Mafia
76 Thrice
76 Tilly And The Wall
64 The Ting Tings
51 Tokio Hotel
67 Tokyo Police Club
65 Usher
76 Vetiver
69 The Virgins
76 Martha Wainwright
75 Was (Not Was)
67 The Watson Twins
64 We Are Scientists
65 The Wedding Present
64 Weezer
76 White Denim
81 Cassandra Wilson
88 Dennis Wilson
61 Steve Winwood
78 Wolf Parade
63 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Veni Vidi Vicious
by The Hives

The Hives reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 84 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.1 out of 10
based on 13 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 27 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

One of the first Next Big Things of 2002, Sweden's The Hives follow last year's media darlings The Strokes and The White Stripes in bringing the rock back to alternative rock. The only catch is that the band has been around for over a decade, with this particular album actually dating back to 2000, when it gained a limited U.S. release on a tiny Epitaph imprint. However, the Swedes were able to benefit from the rush to capitalize on the neo-garage/punk-rock movement by scoring a major label deal in early 2002 and a rerelease of this, their second full-length. (They've got The Strokes beat on length, though, managing to release an even shorter album, at just 27 minutes.)

LABEL: Warner Bros. / Burning Heart / Epitaph
RELEASE DATE: 30 April 2002
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Alternative, Indie, Rock

NOTES: Original release 12 Sept 2000 on Burning Heart. The April 2002 major label rerelease on Warner is an enhanced CD.


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...

91
Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
The Hives explode where a hundred other punk bands are proud to rock.
Read Full Review
91
E! Online
Veni Vidi Vicious literally explodes with frenetic guitar jangle and audacious hooks.
Read Full Review
90
All Music Guide
Plenty of fuzzed, struttin', propulsive guitar work on this disc to assault your ears.
Read Full Review
80
Alternative Press
They came, they saw, they rocked viciously. [Jul. 2002, p.82]
80
Rolling Stone
Vicious is a combination of punk's snottiness, Detroit rock's raw power and the stylized blues freak-outs of bands like Pussy Galore.
Read Full Review
80
PopMatters
While brevity alone isn't automatically a virtue, the songs here contain enough ample surprises, and hidden rewards, that there's nothing lacking even as the Hives smartly employ the logic of "always leave them wanting more."
Read Full Review
80
Blender
Their propulsive intensity busts down garage doors, stumbling only with the wrongheaded ersatz cocktail ballad. [#8, p.117]
80
Salon.com
Those dependable fuzz tones never get tired, so long as they're accompanied by a propulsive backbeat, maximum adrenaline and a modicum of melody, and Sweden's Hives have all of that.
Read Full Review
80
CDNow
The Hives seem to have approached Vicious with one aim in mind: to rock – hard -- for 27 minutes straight. Even more impressively, they actually pull it off.
Read Full Review
78
Austin Chronicle
On Veni Vidi Vicious, the band plays like rascals on their way to jail, with the prospect of conjugal visits depending on the music's extroverted energy.
Read Full Review
75
Entertainment Weekly
They almost vindicate the near-deafening hoopla that preceded this major-label debut. [10 May 2002, p.80]
74
Pitchfork
Instead of coming from noise and chaos, they're rooted in pastiche and show business-- especially on their one midtempo song, the 50s pop knockoff "Find Another Girl." Your parents might dig this album as much as you do.
Read Full Review
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Hives' brand of neo-garage leans heavy on punk and lacks nuance, but the unification of speed, volume, and shake generates a scalding steam.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Alberto m gave it a10:
Simple: Best garage album of the decade.

Alex J gave it a10:
The Hives are possibly the greatest band playing right now. I can't say that they are better than old school greats such as The Ramones and The Sex Pistols, but I can say that they are at least equal. The pure energy of this record is amazing. Howlin' Pelle Almqvist's screaming is just plain awesome. Incredible....

Asia Z gave it a 10:
Despite being incredibly short and not exactly versatile, Veni Vidi Vicious is a powerhouse of an album that will stay with listeners for years to come. "Die Alright" is possibly the best punk rock song to hit the airwaves in the past five years. One can only imagine what lies in this band's future. Bravo.

Isabel G gave it a 10:
I can't believe that a band this great exists!! Their music is so perfect! I can't wait until they release a new album! Love you!!

Rini P. gave it a 10:
very nice! it leaps out at you and screams "listen to me!!!"

Phill R. gave it a 10:
I can't belive how well they've captured the character, feel and spontaneous energy of the 70's punk rock era and brought to the millenium.

Tony B. gave it a 9:
Awesome! I heard the album ONCE and had to have it! Apperantly I'm not the only one as I had a hard time finding it at both Best Buy AND Circuit City.

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: World News | Fantasy Football | Amy Winehouse | Baseball | E3 | Batman | Firefox 3 | iPhone 3G

About CNET Networks | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CNET Networks, Inc., a CBS Company. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use