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
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
62
50 Cent
70
AFI
65
Air
70
Alice In Chains
53
Kris Allen
78
Amerie
79
Annie
76
Anti-Pop Consortium
86
The Antlers
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound
77
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
59
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
71
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan
72
Beak>
72
Brendan Benson
84
Biffy Clyro
72
The Big Pink
95
Big Star
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
72
The Black Heart Procession
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
53
Bon Jovi
76
A.A. Bondy
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
83
Brother Ali
72
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
77
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
78
Califone
69
Mariah Carey
81
Brandi Carlile
72
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash
71
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
82
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
64
Exene Cervenka
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System
67
The Clean
84
The Clientele
72
Cold Cave
85
Converge
71
Eric Copeland
76
The Cribs
79
Cymbals Eat Guitars
62
Dashboard Confessional
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
77
Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One
88
Destroyer
73
Do Make Say Think
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
67
Bob Dylan
58
Echo & The Bunnymen
61
Electric Six
44
The Entrance Band
69
Fanfarlo
71
Jay Farrar And Benjamin Gibbard
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
66
Orenda Fink
79
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
83
Fuck Buttons
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
65
Calvin Harris
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
67
Hockey
67
Whitney Houston
80
Hudson Mohawke
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
74
Jamie T
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
68
Daniel Johnston
76
Norah Jones
77
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
75
Kid Sister
66
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
63
Mark Knopfler
73
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
85
Miranda Lambert
72
Ledisi
71
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
62
Leona Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt
74
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
83
Patty Loveless
73
Lyle Lovett
79
Lucero
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna
85
Manic Street Preachers
61
Maps
73
Mario
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
62
John Mayer
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
75
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
75
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
66
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie
76
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
82
Nirvana
96
Nirvana
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
64
OneRepublic
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
78
Osso
67
Alec Ounsworth
81
Owen
73
Paramore
78
Pastels And Tenniscoats
54
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
69
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
72
Port O'Brien
79
Q-Tip
79
R.E.M.
88
Raekwon
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
74
The Raveonettes
79
Real Estate
76
Jay Reatard
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
66
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
78
Russian Circles
69
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
78
Say Anything
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
55
Steel Panther
75
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
68
Joss Stone
83
Barbra Streisand
77
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
79
The Swell Season
80
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees
80
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
78
The Dutchess & The Duke
71
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
74
Them Crooked Vultures
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
73
Frank Turner
71
The Twilight Sad
60
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
69
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
70
Kurt Vile
65
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
73
Rufus Wainwright
78
Wale
57
Weezer
81
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
69
Robbie Williams
59
Andrew W.K.
65
Wolfmother
84
The xx
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
52
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Riot On An Empty Street
EMAILPRINTby Kings Of Convenience
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Astralwerks
Release Date: 27 July 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Pop
Summary
The Norway-based indie-folk duo of Erlend Øye and Erik Glambek Bøe reunite for a third album, following some detours by Øye into more electronic-based music.
Also By This Artist: Declaration Of Dependence Quiet Is The New Loud
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: Erlend Øye: Unrest Röyksopp: Melody A.M.
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
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...
Entertainment Weekly
Riot's tales of lost loves and existential confusion shimmer with precise harmonies, memorably melancholy melodies, and rich but restrained arrangements. [6 Aug 2004, p.80]
Dot Music
This still isn’t the kind of music that you’ll hear looped on adverts or behind sporting highlights, but instead simple, affecting songs that use the human heart as an instrument as surely as acoustic guitars.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
The Kings of Convenience don’t stray too far from their basic formula of guitars, upright bass, twinkling piano, viola, cello and soft percussion in the background. It’s consistent and it works.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
Given how many of their contemporaries have attempted to xerox a winning sound and got it so far wrong, the fact that the Kings can still turn their hand to such magnificent lost hits as 'Misread', spin out obtuse, imaginative imagery as they do in 'Surprise Ice' and sculpt such tender ruminations as 'Stay Out Of Trouble' is cause for serious celebration.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
This new album picks up exactly where the Kings left off, with warm melodies and exquisitely detailed ruminations.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
If you sort of liked the first record but wished it was more interesting, that it had more punch of both the sonic and emotional variety, then your wishes have come true.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
At this point, we can assume with a fair amount of certainty that they won't be throwing a diverse masterwork our way any time soon, and if the most we can ask for is a consistent run through low-tempo folk, Riot is probably as good as they're going to give us.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Kings of Convenience would do well to assimilate more of Øye's electronic leanings into their original sound, rather than merely mining sad troubadours past for inspiration and leaving these tracks as sparse source material for the obligatory remix album.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Another bittersweet, finger-picked confection that shows their chemistry is still there. [Jul 2004, p.101]
Q Magazine
Sweet, nostalgic and relishing the strength of words softly spoken. [Aug 2004, p.112]
Rolling Stone
Shimmers with melancholy beauty. [16 Sep 2004, p.80]
Under The Radar
While there is nary a weak offering, five songs in, Riot threatens to be a rehash. [#7]
New Musical Express
Hushed vocals, strummed guitars, creeping cello, and an all-encompassing sense of politeness are the order of the day. [19 Jun 2004, p.57]
PopMatters
It's just that 44-odd minutes of affecting, tasteful acoustic minstrelry is rather, well, inertia-inducing.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
The majority of the record is solid and enjoyable, but taken in its entirely, Riot is a bit tiring.
Read Full Review >Urb
For those who used to throw parties, but now have dinners, Kings Of Convenience will bring desert and a bottle of expensive red wine. [Oct 2004, p.103]
Alternative Press
Weak. [Sep 2004, p.140]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Bert L gave it a10:
The albums released by Kings Of Convenience have been some of the most beautiful and mis-understood of this decade. Critics seem to miss the obvious point that they want their music to sound like it sounds, and they inforce their own production restrictions, to keep it to the minimum needed. It's the same with Erlend's other project, The Whitest Boy Alive, ctics seem to thing that their chosen minimalism is some sort of lack of song writing ability or effort, but in their case less is definately more. But it really doesn't matter what the critics say, these albums go out and are played for years by people, as their soothing, haunting melodies are timeless and don't need the usual hype that today's music relies on. They're just great, simple songs.
A H gave it a10:
The first time i played this record i thought it was just good...But this is the kind of record that has the quality to reveal more of its qualities, every time you listen to it. Then you'll discover what a beautiful, rare diamond it is. This is one of the truly great records of recent pophistory. 22 July 2007
Andy gave it a10:
My favirote album of the past five years, no joke. This album doesn't seem to be understood by critics, its the perfect mix of folk, jazz, and shoegaze. The instrumentation is gold.
Ali C gave it a9:
One of the finest records of the decade to date, and probably the most under-rated. They are hardly fashionable, sounding more like Simon and Garfunkel than anyone else: but they are at least as good as that duo. The two line guitar arrangements are some of the best you will ever hear. The vocals are haunting, with beautiful, poetic lyrics: 'Homesick, 'cause I no longer know, where home is'. And no, I am not Norwegian.
Frank gave it a10:
As a child, dad used to sing Simon and Garfunkel songs to me in the car when we went on drives. Track one of this cd made me smile and fondly remember those road trips. That kind of warm fuzzy, taken with a good cup of green tea when settling in to read a good book...this is what the album seems to have been written for.
Ashley G gave it a 10:
Just a brilliant album just as good as their Quiet album. Though this one is more upbeat it still completely the sound of Kings of Convenience. I love it!
J Stocker gave it a 10:
One of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard
