> Switch to Advanced Search

New & Current Releases
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

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

sort by name

sort by score

55 3 Doors Down
69 9th Wonder & Buckshot
69 Adele
70 Adem
75 Alkaline Trio
76 Alphabeat
78 Animal Collective
54 Ashanti
68 Atmosphere
76 Beck
67 The Black Angels
83 Bonnie "Prince" Billy
71 Booka Shade
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
64 Delays
66 dEUS
79 Neil Diamond
57 Dirty Pretty Things
57 Disturbed
59 Does It Offend You, Yeah?
73 Dresden Dolls
69 Dub Pistols
71 Duffy
69 The Duke Spirit
81 Jakob Dylan
76 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
46 G-Unit
65 Albert Hammond, Jr.
72 Ed Harcourt
78 Emmylou Harris
82 HEALTH
57 Heloise And The Savoir Faire
85 Hercules And Love Affair
77 John Hiatt
64 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
73 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
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
63 Alanis Morissette
57 Motley Crue
65 Jason Mraz
74 The M's
79 Mudcrutch
77 Mudhoney
51 The Music
71 My Brightest Diamond
70 My Morning Jacket
64 N.E.R.D. [The Neptunes]
83 Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
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
43 Katy Perry
71 Phantom Planet
84 Sam Phillips
56 The Pigeon Detectives
67 Plantlife
72 Plies
69 Robert Pollard
83 Ponytail
85 Portishead
75 Prodigy [of Mobb Deep]
71 Pyramids
48 The Rascals
73 Ratatat
86 Robyn
79 The Roots
48 Gavin Rossdale
72 Russian Circles
66 RZA
76 Santogold
78 Ron Sexsmith
86 Shearwater
81 Sigur Rós
78 Silver Jews
60 Carly Simon
62 Ashlee Simpson
76 Sloan
73 Sam Sparro
76 Spiritualized
89 Steinski
76 Subtle
66 Donna Summer
66 Supergrass
61 Tapes 'n Tapes
63 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)
68 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
79 Wolf Parade
63 The Zutons

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Employment
by Kaiser Chiefs


7.4

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 59 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Yours Truly, Angry Mob

Official Artist Site

Stephen Street (Blur) produced this debut disc for the Leeds, England five-piece.

LABEL:	Universal
RELEASE DATE:	15 March 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock, Britpop

NOTES: Shortlisted for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize.

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...

The Guardian

That Employment is derivative is both undeniable and irrelevant. It is so confident, so smart, so full of life, that a more enjoyable 45 minutes is hard to imagine.

Village Voice

Kaiser Chiefs flow so well that even given the nonstop electro-like riffs, hooks, and knowingly cornball solos played by guitarist Whitey, the songs as a group can over-egg the pudding as only powerpop can. But as a record-making matter, Employment is nearly without flaws.

E! Online

Employment is thrilling from beginning to end, packing in 45-minutes of exuberant Britpop melodies, na-na-na choruses and buzzsaw guitars that make Franz Ferdinand look like a bunch of stiffs.

Spin

Frontman Ricky Wilson is an average singer but an extraordinary melodist. [May 2005, p.102]

Mojo

Smelts the classic rock canon (Madness, Blur, Bowie, Small Faces) into an infectious, head-spinning punch. [May 2005, p.109]

Urb

They have a clever way with words and pleasantly surprising musical depth. [May 2005, p.92]

Alternative Press

Kaiser Chiefs melt their influences into something entirely non-derivative--and thoroughly fun. [May 2005, p.172]

Drowned In Sound

Try not to worry too much about where it comes from, or who else it may or may not sound like. Instead, enjoy a record that is quintessentially British, without pretension and most importantly, a whole lot of fun.

Playlouder

Essentially, 'Employment' is a very British record; an entirely Britpop creation spawned ten years after the event.

Blender

[Kaiser Chiefs] are smug, preening and shallow, and so eager to entertain that they nearly piss themselves with pizzazz and energy. [Apr 2005, p.119]

Uncut

A gem. [Apr 2005, p.105]

Dot Music

They develop, mutate, and swell in confidence until you’re faced with the last thing you expected - finally, a worthy successor to Blur.

cokemachineglow

This is an not an album designed for navel gazing introspection, but rather one to be played at neighbor-annoying volumes before you hit the town on a Friday night.

Billboard

At least until that new Coldplay record drops, the Kaiser Chiefs have positioned themselves to hold the title of Baddest Musicians in the World With a British Return Address.

Rolling Stone

The Kaiser Chiefs make you want to sing along with practically every song by the second chorus.

Entertainment Weekly

Certainly makes for a fun time. [8 Apr 2005, p.64]

Los Angeles Times

It's also a nice change of pace that the Chiefs avoid the '80s post-punk clichés so much in fashion with their peers, though you have to wonder about the instincts of a band that leads off with its most gimmicky and least involving songs and buries its best toward the end. [10 Apr 2005]

Tiny Mix Tapes

Employment feels more like a patchwork collage of past Brit-rock stardom... than a fully-formed statement of their own. But maybe that's missing the point. When a band has this much fun and crackles with this much energy, you don't ask questions.

All Music Guide

Employment is an uneven but still very promising debut that suggests that one day the Kaiser Chiefs will pull off something even more ambitious.

Prefix Magazine

There are no bad songs on Employment. There are maybe a couple not-good ones toward the end, but even those are so tightly wound and polished they could end up lodged in your head for days.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

A mini-compendium of Britpop from the '60s to now.

Pitchfork

It's deadly entertaining in bursts-- especially if you pick out the right bursts.

Lost At Sea

Kaiser Chiefs manage find their footing early on and this success forgives them their meanderings later on the disc.

Under The Radar

The rest of the album, however, never quite lives up to the manic energy of "Riot." [#9]

Q Magazine

Employment is an album that demands furious scrawls of red pen in the margins. [Apr 2005, p.120]

Stylus Magazine

This is the kind of post punk that loves The Specials and XTC rather than Wire and Joy Division.

PopMatters

If Franz Ferdinand were Pearl Jam, these guys would be the Stone Temple Pilots.

The average user rating for this album is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 59 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Garry K gave it a0:
When I first listened to "I predict a riot" I didn't even want to listen to the rest. Too poppy and cheesey.

ixat a gave it a9:
at first listen this album sux big tym.. but after frequent listening, it actually rocks! the unes are cetch, though some of them sounds kinda foolishly weird(Na Na Na-sounds like an asylum anthem). but ultimately, this album is fun, colourful and worth ever penny

Chad S gave it an8:
I've had "Employment" for about eighteen months now and "I Predict a Riot", in particular; still sounds great, kind of like a less brainy XTC and a guitar solo that sounds inspired by the B-52's "Rock Lobster". "Modern Way" is almost as good. Catchy pop songs are always better than atonal dirges.

Luke T gave it an8:
Kaiser chiefs make a good first impression with their debut album 'employment.' Apart from one or two songs all of the tunes are catchy and get stuck in your head and the lyrics are written well. One of the best british bands of their generation.

Kate B gave it a9:
The best album in my CD rack at the moment! Although it takes ideas from bands in other decades, Employment is catchy and entertaining, and all of them are good musicians. Ricky Wilson is a great lead singer, and a thouroughly nice person. Everyone should get this album and support this British band so they can go far!

jarrod w gave it a9:
"Employment" is one of the greatest albums of 2005. The opening three songs are brilliant. The song, 'Modern Way" which is not as popular as the first two: "Every Day i Love you Less and less" and "I Predict a Riot", however it is my favourite on the album. The Kaiser Chiefs are not unique, but they stand out against similar acts such as Maximo Park, The Futureheads, and bloc party.

Doug A gave it a10:
I have never heard an album that made my happier. Despite a couple "fillers" this album is as bubbly and fun as they come. Can't wait for the follow-up

Employment by Kaiser Chiefs

Employment
by Kaiser Chiefs