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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Obliterati
Universal acclaim
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 16 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Matador
Release Date: 23 May 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
While the trio of Roger Miller, Clint Conley and Peter Prescott typically wait a few decades between albums, this third LP follows just two years after their second.
Also By This Artist: ONoffON
Also On The Web: Mission Of Burma @ Matador 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...
The Onion (A.V. Club)
As the price of success, The Obliterati faces significantly higher expectations. Once again, though, Burma succeeds and surprises by playing to its strengths while moving forward.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
Last time, the surprise was that after 20 years of hiatus, the band was just as good as ever. This time, they're even better, more cohesive and confident, louder and funnier, still learning from life and each other, and using that experience to create ever more compelling music.
Read Full Review >Drawer B
This is Mission of Burma’s most aggressive and impassioned record to date.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
The Obliterati succeeds in proving that Mission of Burma is not only capable of a comeback and a return to form, but also has exponential potential to evolve and thrive as a working band.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
They’ve managed to produce the best American rock record of the year so far.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
The Obliterati's first half makes 2004’s stellar comeback ONoffON seem tentative.
Read Full Review >Uncut
MoB have... not lost a cent of their turbulent, controlled-chaos energy. [Jul 2006, p.101]
The Wire
Packed with energy and furious with ideas. [#269, p.45]
Alternative Press
Yet another rock-solid album. [Aug 2006, p.204]
Mojo
Equal parts bludgeoning Art Brut and soaring pop grace. [Aug 2006, p.94]
Under The Radar
Everything is crisp and fits nicely together to make this a really enjoyable album. [Summer 2006, p.92]
Paste Magazine
Making up for lost time never sounded so good. [Aug 2006, p.88]
Austin Chronicle
Standouts "1001 Pleasant Dreams" and "13" wipe down the band's more melodic side, while "Spider's Web" and "Let Yourself Go" sound just as urgent and bottom-heavy as anything MoB throttled 20 years ago.
Read Full Review >Spin
Fifty-year-old men rarely sound this enraged and energized. Neither do twentysomethings. [Jun 2006, p.82]
New Musical Express
Kicks with a passion and inventiveness that's seen them steam up the specs of everyone from Moby to Graham Coxon. [17 Jun 2006, p.39]
Delusions of Adequacy
So whilst The Obliterati is certainly not a patch on the seminal Vs. - given that it lacks the same magical combination of cerebral claustrophobia and kinetic psychosis - it’s easily more potent than the over-oiled ONoffON.
Read Full Review >Billboard
The melodic yet dissonant sea of guitar attack Burma brings to the table sounds arguably more relevant today than it did 20 years ago.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
These broiling drum-led riffs offer curdled cries, much volume and even humour. [Aug 2006, p.113]
Blender
A fierce, arty mix of melody and brute clatter. [Jun 2006, p.141]
Slant Magazine
The Obliterati is underwhelming not because it's bad, or weak, or mediocre, because it's none of those: it's just not essential.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
What really lifts this out of the ordinary is the undeniable craft that has gone into the song writing.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Thom G gave it a10:
Almost as good as Vs.
Brendan D gave it a10:
While the Burmese dudes and the ex-Grandaddy fellows battle it out for best album of the first half of 2006, I'd like to take a moment to explain why this record is a masterpiece. It is for precicely the reason that Lee W gave it a 1, except for one thing that Lee overlooked: there are few albums that rock this hard and can claim to have killer melodies on every single track. That's a feat never accomplished by even the best of the grunge-era bands, and even punk masters like the Ramones weren't always able to stay tuneful. Mission of Burma, however, always has, and they've now proven it with three masterpiece albums. Don't fool yourselves; this is nowhere near the greatest record of all time, and it still can't compare to "Signals, Calls and Marches." But take a gander at "Donna Sumeria," my favorite track on here, and you'll hear the full difference between punk and post-punk. Both punk and post-punk are all about big, exciting, tuneful choruses; but whereas punk songs get to those choruses as fast as they can (or, in the case of the best of punk tunes, they just begin with the chorus), post-punk songs take their time, building it up until you feel like you're about to burst, then taking your head off by making the chorus better than you ever could have imagined. Mission of Burma pulled this trick geniously on one of the greatest songs of all time, "That's When I Reach For My Revolver," and they pull it off again on "Donna Sumeria." But that's not to say that the rest of this album doesn't kick every listener, male of female, in the figurative balls. Beginning with the unreal "2wice," there are licks that Kurt Cobain would have killed for (and Cobain had some pretty great licks himself); "The Mute Speaks Out" plays like the greater psychedelic period of the Smashing Pumpkins never existed; and even the worst track on the record, "Period," could have been a big underground hit at the '70s CBGB scene. This album is absolutely stellar, a third masterpiece for the reunited geniuses.
Calmea T gave it a10:
Great album! I'd give it an 11 if I could. Way better than OnOffOn and up there with Vs.
Lee W gave it a1:
Since this album got such good reviews here, I tried listening to a few songs. "Nancy Reagan" was like hearing The Shaggs fronted by a man having a late mid-life crisis.
Spencer O gave it a10:
Best album of 2006. MoB proves that their reunion was not a mistake. Still putting out classic rock albums that will be looked back upon as classics. You do yourself a disservice by not going out and buying this album immediatly
Tom C gave it a9:
This has definitely suprised me. I absolutely love it and cannot stop listening to it. Definitely one of my favorites of the last few months, for sure.
Ancient Pistol gave it a10:
Easily the best album of the year. Considering the dreck that seems to pass a popular music these days, this cd shines light into the dark corners of current music in a way that makes you believe that their is hope for aggressive sonic experimentation in music today.
