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
75
Arctic Monkeys
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>
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
82
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis![]()
64
Exene Cervenka
79
Vic Chesnutt
81
Circulatory System![]()
67
The Clean
84
The Clientele![]()
72
Cold Cave
85
Converge![]()
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
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
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![]()
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
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
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
80
Pearl Jam
69
Jemina Pearl
65
Phish
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
75
Dizzee Rascal
74
The Raveonettes
79
Real Estate
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
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
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.
Surrounded By Silence

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warp
Release Date: 22 March 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic, Rap, Indie
Summary
Scott Herren's latest Prefuse 73 album features about as many guest appearances as you can fit on a single compact disc, including contributions from The Books, El-P, Ghostface, Aesop Rock, Broadcast, RZA, Beans and Café Tacuba.
Also By This Artist: Everything She Touched Turned Ampexian One Word Extinguisher Preparations Reads The Books [EP] Security Screenings
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: Savath & Savalas: Apropa't
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site Prefuse 73 @ Warp
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...
Alternative Press
A must-hear. [May 2005, p.138]
Urb
Prefuse 73 has defiantly asserted himself as one of the most important artists of his generation, ignoring boundaries and creating a landscape that recognizes hip-hop's original "anything goes" ethos. [Apr 2005, p.99]
Tiny Mix Tapes
Surrounded by Silence is at once more scatterbrained and fast moving than any other Prefuse album (even more so than the blink-and-you-miss-the-hook Extinguished), but the difference here is the cohesion of the radically different cuts.
Read Full Review >Filter
Track-for-track, Herren's stuttering production and Technicolor glitch madness turns the whole thing into some insane dance party. [#15, p.93]
Dusted Magazine
Silence easily matches, and likely exceeds, Mike Ladd’s recent Negrophilia in regard to hip hop’s lack of limits.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
The jewel in Scott's creative crown is that he has an uncanny knack of keeping it flowing, even when his beats and tones are jerking our sensibilities to shreds with their cerebral madness.
Read Full Review >Spin
Herren has the good collaborative instincts of Handsome Boy Modeling School, but none of their seedy, crowd-pleasing shtick. [Apr 2005, p.108]
Junkmedia
Silence's instrumentals - choppy samples, organs, and horns, set to the tune of a staccato digital pacemaker - sound great, but they hardly stray from the formula laid down by Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Surrounded By Silence is never less than pleasant, but with the exception of "Hide Ya Face," it's seldom more than that either.
Read Full Review >Planet
Fans of Handsome Boy Modeling School, DJ Spooky, RJD2 and other genre-melding, conscious hip-hop are gonna want to procure this one right away. [#9, p.71]
All Music Guide
Several of the instrumentals recapture something of the Prefuse 73 magic, but Herren isn't entirely successful even when in cut-and-splice mode.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Fruitful collaborations... invite the listener to keep that dial locked, despite the odd distracting lapse into free-form digital static. [Jul 2005, p.112]
Pitchfork
Whether Herren is using Surrounded By Silence to spread the word about some of his favorite acts, or to insta-build a portfolio of outside production work, or a little of both, it's a much different-- and far more inconsistent-- affair than previous Prefuse efforts.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
Those wanting significant progression will find Surrounded By Silence mostly lacking.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
Subtle contributions from left-field electronic artists like The Books and Broadcast add variety, but at 21 tracks, it's still a marathon. [Apr 2005, p.126]
New Musical Express
Will only sound sweeter as summer draws nearer. [19 Mar 2005, p.59]
Rolling Stone
Surrounded by Silence isn't exactly coherent, but it isn't supposed to be: Strictly for fans of fragmented, forward-thinking beatscapes.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
At longer lengths the jittery qualities of glitch-hop sputter, pushing patience towards intolerance.
Read Full Review >Uncut
There's a flightiness that lends the album a showreel quality. [Apr 2005, p.97]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
matt a gave it an8:
Sure it's weaker than his last album, but it's not a 71 weak. There are some fantastic tracks on here, but some of the collaborations were disappointing. I was excited for Hide Ya Face, and while it is good, it pales in comparison to Plastic from One Word Exstinguisher. Also, the instrumental numbers here aren't as good as they were on One Word. It just doesn't sound like as much time went into this one, and Herren attempted to hide that my including a plethora of guests. As much as I'm being critical, I did really enjoy the album and it's in my top 25 of the year so far. Best track-Pagina Dos with The Books guesting.
MC Travel gave it a10:
Critics tend to undervalue the immense amount of work that clearly goes into Prefuse 73's albums. Anyone with any experience with digital music-making is rightfully placed in awe by the apparantly grueling, painstakingly minute cutting, pasting and arranging that go into these recordings. What's more, the songs maintain a beautifully and listenable melodic quality unmatched by many of Prefuse's electronic contemporaries. This album is clearly the evolution of years of hard work and experience on Herren's part. The songs are beautiful, and with headphones on, practically exasperating in their compexity. It may be a little more than the average listener can handle. For the same reason I don't expect my little sister to like it when I play Aphex Twin in my car stereo, I can understand why many reviewers don't like it. Travel.
trent gave it an8:
The Ghostface/El-P collabo was, although not classic, still dope.Ghostface was all right, but El-P naturally matched the inventiveness of Herren's production. Instrumental tracks-most of them were excellent, although at times a little too laid back. Gza and Masta Killa- they took the day the day off. Their track was the only weak one on the album. I think critics had one of two expectations for Surrounded By Silence, an album that was a rehash of One Word Extinguisher, or an album that would erase the fine line between hip-hop and electronica for 21 tracks. Overall, a very eclectic and engrossing listen, but it doesn't match the all-around atmospheric quality of One Word Extinguisher.
Paper Cut gave it a4:
Pretty crappy work. Basically he mixes a few of his favorite artists over edgy glitch sounds, and it just doesn't react. Ghostface's verse from Hideyaface is ill on it's own,, and isn't really complemented by the beat, like a wanna be DJ mixtape exclusive. Favorite non-collab is minutes away without you (a reworking of 5 minutes away from Vocal Studies and Uprock Narratives). Certainly not much originality here.
jawz gave it a1:
this album is horrible.
Connor D gave it an8:
Contrary to the reviews, I think this is Herren's best work yet. Inconsistent? It flows pretty well to me. It's a little heavy on the collaborations, but most of them are RAD. I like it a lot.
Chris F gave it a10:
Scott develops his greatest snapshot portrait of hip hop here and in the process proves that all the mainstream music around him just adds up to silence.
