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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
District Line

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Anti
Release Date: 05 February 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock
Summary
The first album on the Anti- label for ex-Hüsker Dü/Sugar member Bob Mould.
Also By This Artist: Body Of Song Life And Times Modulate
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...
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It plays much like a continuation of "Body Of Song," with the electronic elements even more streamlined and less obtrusive, save on the all-electronic 'Shelter Me.'
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
It's a consolidation of Mould's considerable strengths, an album that showcases his gifts as a writer and record-maker, one that touches upon almost every phase of his career, yet it's filtered through a maturity that feels vital because of its unadorned honesty.
Read Full Review >Spin
District Line is essentially the same furiously melodic pop Mould played way back when. [Feb 2008, p.98]
Read Full Review >Mojo
District Line is Mould's strongest song collection since Sugar's alt-rock paradigm, "Copper Blue." [Mar 2008, p.102]
PopMatters
Mould comes full circle on District Line, marrying his distant acoustic past to his current path and it seems as if he has found a happy medium.
Read Full Review >Amazon.com
District Line, Mould's seventh solo album, is a swell follow-up to his bracing 2005 return-to-rockishness record "Body of Song."
Read Full Review >Billboard
District Line is a fine showcase for the differing sides of ex-Hüsker Dü/Sugar frontman Bob Mould's repertoire.
Read Full Review >Filter
For the most part, he sounds fresh-faced and ready to charge back into the fray.
Read Full Review >The Phoenix
The keyboards that colored his swan dive into dance music before he re-embraced rock with 2005’s Body of Song are simply another subtle layer of muscle for this sinewy disc.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
Perhaps it's fair to say that sometimes it all sounds a little too comfortable for, erm, comfort (the line "growing old, it's hard to be an angry young man" is pretty telling).
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
The classic Mould you've sought is (mostly) back. [Mar 2008, p.145]
Delusions of Adequacy
A solid if not completely earth-shattering act of restitution for loyal Bob-watchers
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
District Line delivers the latest dissertation in cross-pollination and like past projects it’s a bit of a Frankenstein affair.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
District Line is a focused, gripping zigzag between fury and woe, scorched rock and folk-pop distress, much like the Hüskers' best records--now with a longer view.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
His latest contains some of the best guitar rock songs he's written in 15 years. [Winter 2008, p.88]
Pitchfork
It's not that it lacks tension--indeed, almost every song touches on relationship strife--it's just that the squabbles are gentle, the rage subdued.
Read Full Review >Uncut
It's as convincing and heartfelt as anything else here--and suggests that by incorporating disco into the rest of his music, even better things may lie ahead. [Mar 2008, p.96]
Q Magazine
This is his most pleasing solo album for a decade. [Mar 2008, p.108]
Observer Music Monthly
Though rather generic--grainy emoting; overwrought lyrics; crisp guitar-driven pop--at least Mould can claim that he virtually invented this stuff.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
Mould's ability with melody is much in evidence throughout District Line - there's a particularly glorious example on the closing 'Walls in Time'--though it's occasionally hard to escape the uncomfortable sensation of an artist trapped somewhere between his own urges and his audience's expectations.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
While District Line is by no means a classic, it’s a decent addition to the catalogue of a man who could’ve lived out the rest of his days without lifting another finger
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Andrew gave it an8:
A good listen. Not edgy, but enjoyable.
[Anonymous] gave it a9:
It's a return to form for Mould and hits the highs of Sugar.
E gave it an8:
DL is not a groundbreaking, earthshattering, disc of cutting edge visceral yet intelligent and emotional rock music - not in the sense of all of Bob Mould's albums between 1983 and 1993. But like Body of Song and Last Dog and Pony Show before it, it is a solid and engaging batch of songs from one of the finest rock musicians of the past thirty years. Is it one of his best? Nah. Is it better than most everything else in mainstream rock music today? Absolutely. And "The Silence Between Us" is his best single since "Your Favorite Thing". It is just Bob doing what Bob does...with a few more bells and whistles. (But yes, no one likes the vocoder fixation.)
