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Made In The Dark
by Hot Chip
This is the third album for the English electro-indie rock band.
| LABEL: |
Astralwerks |
| RELEASE DATE: |
05 February 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Indie, Electronic |
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...
90
PopMatters
Made in the Dark is a great album, varied and surprisingly heartfelt.
90
Slant Magazine
Hot Chip boldly expand and louden up their sound significantly here, while admirably retaining full command of the forms they've already mastered.
90
Alternative Press
Dark is one of the first great records of 2008. [Mar 2008, p.146]
90
Delusions of Adequacy
This is evidence of a group that has really come into their own and while they were at it, refined their skills. It’s to the point that I feel this album is head and shoulders above any of their erstwhile releases.
88
Lost At Sea
But what makes Made In the Dark their best album to date is how great the ballads are, a trick no mere techno act was supposed to master.
86
Filter
Dark isn't a huge departure from the previous record, and it doesn't mark some major step in Hot Chip's evolution either. But there's something to be said for holding your liquor, keeping momentum, and showing the world that this whole ride is as wicked-fun as you thought it would be. [Winter 2008, p.92]
80
Blender
Even as they cherry-pick from seemingly incongruous sources (deep house, hard rock, smooth R&B), there’s a newfound decisiveness, a move toward heavier beats, meatier grooves and warmer sentiments.
80
Boston Globe
Made in the Dark announces its intent early: it's straight electro, with a naked disdain for the minor key.
80
Vibe
They grab hold of genres long stuck in straitjackets and, if only for a few minutes a pop, let them run amok. [Mar 2008, p.99]
80
Prefix Magazine
This album stands out because of its stadium-worthy aspirations.
80
Q Magazine
For the most part, Made In The Dark pulses with an unusual intelligence and creative bravery. [Mar 2008, p.101]
80
Uncut
As a listener, it’s equally hard not to feel the love. With Hot Chip, it now feels like the right time to commit.
80
Hot Press
In almost every respect, Made In The Dark is an immaculately poised record, the poptronica super geeks at last striking the perfect balance between head and heart.
80
NOW Magazine
Made is at once more adventurous and more accessible, with a greater respect for straightforward(ish) pop.
80
Observer Music Monthly
Perhaps Made in the Dark's greatest achievement is to keep back a bit of mystery for itself above and beyond the enveloping sense of destiny fulfilled.
80
Rolling Stone
'Wrestlers' epitomizes what makes this quintet the sharpest dance rockers this side of their pals LCD Soundsystem: catchy tunes, monster grooves, and lyrics resolving the heartfelt and the smartass.
80
Urb
Hot Chip hasve always guaranteed a certain degree of respect for the listener's intelligence, even on their most fance floor ready album yet. [Jan/Feb 2008, p.102]
80
Paste Magazine
On Made in the Dark, Hot Chip has stopped trying so hard to integrate the dance and bedroom sounds it loves, instead segregating them to eliminate the compromises of the first two albums.
80
Billboard
This is the same pop-wise Hot Chip, only wilier and with a more dastardly sonic arsenal.
80
Spin
This is some serious whimsy. [Feb 2008, p.92]
80
All Music Guide
They're still a quirky band, no doubt, but now they're using those quirks to make their most accomplished album to date.
75
Los Angeles Times
On its third album, the Londoners struggle a bit to escape the cold climate of the digital domain, but the band does manage to get the molecules agitated.
75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
From the unguarded yelps and wiggling drums that mark its first track, Made In The Dark sounds more forceful and lithe than anything in Hot Chip's past.
75
The Phoenix
At their best--during the disc’s torch-lit forays inward, the piano-ballad title track and the forlorn 'We’re Looking for a Lot of Love'--Hot Chip get serious, delving into the up-late tangles and riddles of the 21st-century heart.
70
Tiny Mix Tapes
Hot Chip sound like such a broad swath of pop music on this album that you can’t quite call them out for biting any single obnoxious influence too much, even when they do get so hyperactive it’s annoying.
70
Village Voice
They're very much of their time--friendly indie kids from the Go! Team to Hot Hot Heat are cheerily dabbling in dance music nowadays--and much better than most of those peers.
70
Dot Music
Amid such hi-octane dancefloor tracks such as this, current single 'Ready For The Floor' is, in context, pedestrian--its uncomfortable resemblance to Russ Abbot's 'Atmosphere' becoming more apparent with every listen.
70
musicOMH.com
Whilst this isn't the album many may have expected, it should match their hopes in a different and, ultimately, fulfilling way.
70
Drowned In Sound
Made In The Dark must rank as something of a missed opportunity, but as a bigger, bolder (if overlong) follow-up to a deservedly popular second album, they’ve succeeded admirably.
70
Pitchfork
Good record but not a great one.
70
Dusted Magazine
Though it may hardly win over detractors, there's not much of Made in the Dark that can be lambasted as puckish or precious.
69
cokemachineglow
So Hot Chip have built a very admirable sound. What confuses the issue with Made in the Dark is that it presents so many glaring kinks that still need working out.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Hot Chip's signature balmy synths and daydream-dizzy vocals are still body-moving, but less heart-stirring. [8 Feb 2008, p.68]
60
Under The Radar
At times, the sheer busyness of the album’s songs prevents the listener from becoming fully immersed. [Winter 2008, p.82]
60
Mojo
They wear their ideas on their sleeves, certainly, but under all the layers, a heartbeat is sometimes hard to find. [Feb 2008, p.104]
60
The Guardian
There is merely a niggling sense that certain songs could be better.
60
The Wire
Their focused, cleverly crafted pop fiffs are impressive, for a time.... But by the fifth track, things start to go wrong. [Mar 2008, p.48]
60
Almost Cool
Discombobulated and downright clunky, Made In The Dark is a bit of a step back for Hot Chip.
60
Sputnikmusic
There’re a lot of fumbles here unfortunately, a couple tepid ballads, a lot of irritating goon-hop, and a couple songs that go on for far too long (though most of those fall under one of the former categories.) However, the band impress again on ‘Touch too Much’, possibly the album’s best track.
48
cokemachineglow
There is nothing here but a band very awkwardly trying to have a good time, and that’s the kind of party you always leave early.
The average user rating for this album is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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