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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Happiness Ltd.
by Hot Hot Heat
The Canadian band's third studio album.
| LABEL: |
WEA/Warner |
| RELEASE DATE: |
11 September 2007 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Indie |
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...
80
Amazon.com
The disco-rock jitters come back soon enough with the next selection, 'Let Me In,' but there's no denying that the group's horizons have broadened. For every throwback Cure sound-alike, such as 'Give Up?,' there's a lush retort featuring the Abbey Road Orchestra-like 'Outta Heart.'
80
Under The Radar
Happiness Ltd. is an ambitious album that lives up to the high bar that it sets for itself [Summer 2007, p.73]
80
Hartford Courant
If Hot Hot Heat try a little too hard here, they still pile on infectious charm and solid songwriting until resistance seems futile.
80
Mojo
Happiness Ltd is all about neat production, inventive time changes and romantically inclined witticisms. [Oct 2007, p.92]
80
PopMatters
Sure, we can still dance, sing along and tap our feet to anything Happiness Ltd. offers, but it’s the band’s mature tone and dive into gigantic Springsteen-like stadium rockers that set their latest release above any of their others.
75
Entertainment Weekly
The booming choruses, expansive melodies, and serrated guitar lines of the band's past remain--only now they're accompanied by Edgar Allan Poe-faced couplets like ''Happiness is limited/But misery has no end.''
70
New Musical Express
The trademark tempo jiggery remains and it's all threaded together with airy production that underlines rather than overwhelms.
70
Magnet
For much of Happiness, Bays slurs his way through the best music Hot Hot Heat has ever made.
60
Uncut
Hot Hot Heat have recently toned down a lot of their jerkier tendencies and are a lot less annoying for it. [Nov 2007, p.107]
60
Paste Magazine
Happiness ultimately falls victim to a faintly generic feel. There’s nothing we haven’t heard before, so reserve the album for background music rather than close listening, and it shouldn’t disappoint.
60
All Music Guide
The result is a muddled album that gets even farther away from Hot Hot Heat's former glory even as it tries to recapture it.
60
Alternative Press
It's still a blast to listen to Hot Hot Heat when they sound like they're having fun, even if they have to fake it. [Sep/Oct 2007, p.169]
60
Spin
On Happiness Ltd., they admirably mess with success, loading up their spastic, skinny-tie ditties with epic heft. [Oct 2007, p.104]
58
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It's telling, though, that the best song on Happiness is a re-recorded '5 Times Out Of 100,' which originally appeared on the band's debut Sub Pop EP.
54
Lost At Sea
Happiness Ltd. is a big mess.
50
Pitchfork
Much of Happiness Ltd. suffers from one of the cardinal sins of radio-ready rock: stuffing unmemorable verses between overblown choruses.
40
Q Magazine
They've delivered their weakest set of songs to date. [Oct 2007, p.98]
40
Dot Music
Their third, Happiness Ltd, is a sulky teenager, and about as attractive and engaging as that suggests.
40
Blender
Now, on only their third major-label release, they sound almost middle-aged. [Oct 2007, p.110]
40
Village Voice
So while '5 Times Out of 100' and 'My Best Friend' revive old times, you miss Steve Bay's unhinged vocals and jagged keyboards elsewhere when HHH instead try to compensate with a funky chant- rocker ('Give Up') or a big-drama Raspberries tribute (the title track).
40
NOW Magazine
Replacement guitarist Luke Paquin is serviceable but stays in the shadows, while vocalist Steve Bays sheds more of HHH's former skin on a sonically big record that offers only rare doses of the pulsating new wave punk energy they once emitted.
The average user rating for this album is 6.4 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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