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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Arular
Universal acclaim
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 188 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Beggars Banquet / XL
Release Date: 22 March 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic, Dancehall, Rap
Summary
This short but wildly eclectic debut album from Maya Arulpragasam, a Sri Lankan-born, London-based artist and daughter of a Tamil Tiger revolutionary, is preceded by enormous buzz in both the U.K. and the U.S.
Also By This Artist: Kala
Also On The Web: M.I.A. @ XL 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...
Spin
Will likely be the best political album this year. [Mar 2005, p.88]
Stylus Magazine
It’s a swaggering, spitting, utterly contemporary album of politically dissident, sexually forthright Anglo-Sri Lankan dubstep bhangra hip-pop IDM in which M.I.A. stars as protagonist, antagonist, chanteuse, MC, exotic schoolgirl tease, graphic artist, chastiser of the immoral, and fun-loving London-living party girl. And all in under 40 minutes, too. It’s special. We’ve not heard it’s like before.
Read Full Review >Trouser Press
This is probably as close as anyone has yet come to achieving the visions of revolutionary global pop once advanced by the Clash and Afrika Bambaataa; it's equally enlightening to urban street kids and university eggheads.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
As instantly infectious as it is hard to pin down. [15 Apr 2005, p.85]
Uncut
M.I.A.'s vivid debut already sounds like a booty-shaking milestone to rank alongside The Streets and Dizzee Rascal. [May 2005, p.98]
Dot Music
“Arular”, as well as being a particularly great and brave album, could well be this year’s Portishead or Massive Attack.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
It's the best kind of pop album imaginable. It can be enjoyed on a purely physical level, and it also carries the potential to adjust your worldview.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
The only problem with this album is the difficulty you're going to have explaining what the hell it sounds like to your friends after they hear you raving about it.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
It's an accessible album, but one containing challenging contrasts. In the end, what's most impressive is how Arulpragasam powerfully weaves a consistent theme of rootlessness throughout the record, drawing on her experiences in both the third world and modern London, from civil war to Western urban culture, and her own, highly unique, bastardized form of pop music is the extraordinary end result.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
Fortifying her monstrous singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers" with further molten munitions, Arular is primed for worldwide insurrection.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
With all the column inches and message board posts arguing about whether M.I.A. is an opportunist or a clever contextualist, genuine or a fraud, full of good intentions or no specific intentions at all, the closest thing to a truism about Arular is that it's a taut, invigorating distillation of the world's most thrilling music; a celebration of contradictions and aural globalization that recasts the tag "world music" as the ultimate in communicative pop rather than a symbol of condescending piety.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Arular beats out most everything I’ve heard this year in terms of creativity, energy, dance-ability and fun.
Read Full Review >Billboard
All the elements are deftly held together by the MC/songstress' ability to make each track her own.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
What makes M.I.A. so good is her simplicity. Not quite electro-clash, not quite hip-hop, not quite grime, she's a world onto herself with little more than a groovebox and her voice to sustain her.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
When 'Arular' works - a good three-quarters of the time - it's unmissable.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Arular's irresistible blend of crafty refugee chic and subversive digital skipping rhymes will do very nicely for the moment. [Jun 2005, p.108]
Planet
Sounding as unfinished as if it never made it out of her bedroom before it was pressed up, this very rawness is part of why Arular makes as bold a statement as it does. [#9, p.71]
Junkmedia
Arular is what The Coup’s second record set out to be but wasn’t: Party Music, both for the warehouse hedonists and the basement dissidents.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
As an MC, M.I.A. sounds brash and sassy, a party-starter first and a polemicist second.
Read Full Review >Splendid
At first listen, it's thrilling, but not quite the statement we were made to believe would shift the world's axis by its very existence. The best thing to do is clear your mind of hype and expectations, and listen to this record -- this fun, addictive, thoroughly entertaining record -- again and again.
Read Full Review >The Wire
A thrilling affair. [#252, p.63]
Blender
It doesn't feel like soapboxing; it feels like life. [Mar 2005, p.142]
Dusted Magazine
What's more remarkable than her fascinating biography is her bold music. Like her life story, there's hardly anything like it.
Read Full Review >Urb
M.I.A.'s singsong cadence is both child-like and streetwise, perfectly mirroring the smiley-faced menace of the electro-informed palpitations behind her. [Mar 2005, p.113]
Village Voice
Not for a moment does the violence seem vindictive, sadistic, or pleasurable. It's a fact of life to be triumphed over, with beats and tunelets stolen or remembered or willed into existence.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
Arular is an impressive first outing, even if it does suffer from repetitive drill syndrome... and too often favors a smart hook over offering anything politically relevant to say.
Read Full Review >E! Online
Like the Streets or Dizzee Rascal, Arulpragasam's beats are minimal, but tracks such as "Pull Up the People" make use of every ounce of groove as tight, crisp synth lines backing her catchy raga delivery.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
It's not the mindblowing masterpiece the critics are so dizzily carping about, but as a milepost of the current state of world electronica it remains strong throughout.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express (NME)
There is a fatal flaw with 'Arular' which means it never makes the step up from 'solid debut' to all-time classic. MIA clears her throat, grabs your attention: and then has nothing to say. [16 Apr 2005, p.49]
Q Magazine
M.I.A.'s style mag-cool pop-rap doesn't have the substance to carry the dark subtext of the title. [May 2005, p.107]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 188 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kealani P. gave it a10:
The first time i heard this album it was October 1, 2006 midnight. She is one of the reasons why my husband is my husband now. Oct. 1, 2007 is the day we got married a year after we started our relationship. I love it..
Julia A. gave it a9:
she made the somewhat-meaningless-worthless-look-alike lyrics with brash music,that what makes people said she's just being overhyped...but sometimes the most 'obvious' lyrics could be the most subtle in its own way of deliverance. Sunshowers on you Maya!
Big D H A Dub gave it a1:
Seriously, if you want to be effective as a revolutionary...especially with music (which is not likely to happen unfortunately)...you have to make it simple. Dumb it down so that you're audience can relate, then as they get used to you grow more complex. From the beginning of this CD artists that I played it for were ignoring the message. But artist show talent and convince groups, and CDs are made...so I can't say that the message is not worthy to atleast a good amount of people.
PenaltyKillah (Jw21) gave it a10:
Very political if one is experienced in deciphering with lyrics. Whoever who gives a '0' rating didn't really study this album a lot, no?
Anonymous gave it a0:
Can anyone even understand what she is saying? I am shocked to see that so many people like this kind of music. And I use the term music lightly, because to me this is just random noises thrown together. If anyone listens to Dane Cook, then they will understand when I say that this is the kind of noise that makes you want to punch a baby.
Sophie B. gave it a10:
Wow. When I first heard this, I would have given it about a 5/10.. it wasn't unbearable, it was unique, but I just didn't get it at all. Now.. after replaying it, this is an AMAZING, ORIGINAL album.
Vani K. gave it a10:
Very Good.
