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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Stealing Of A Nation
by Radio 4
This third album for the Brooklyn five-piece post-punk/dance-punk outfit was produced by Max Heyes (Ocean Colour Scene, Doves).
| LABEL: |
Astralwerks |
| RELEASE DATE: |
07 September 2004 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Indie, Rock |
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...
90
Tiny Mix Tapes
Both infectiously danceable and highly intelligent.
80
Drowned In Sound
Unlike other would-be indie-dance pretenders, this is properly danceable stuff; fat basses and catchy percussion beats are punctured by intoxicating keyboard motifs.
80
Playlouder
Their zeal is such that, for the most part, we can overlook their failure to be flawless.
70
Dot Music
The album's sinewy rhythms and monochrome production sheen start to fade into the background after a while, but as far as capturing a certain political and musical zeitgeist, "Stealing Of A Nation" does so accurately, and with more honesty and integrity than most.
70
New Musical Express
They sound like they actually mean it. [11 Sep 2004, p.57]
60
Urb
Too often we get ill-fated experiments in electronic circa 1997 and overly polished replications of their biggest hit to date, "Electrify." [Sep 2004, p.116]
60
Splendid
If you'd never heard Gotham!, you might very well find much to like about Stealing of a Nation.
58
Spin
They've de-funned rebellion and turned it into a task. [Oct 2004, p.109]
55
Lost At Sea
Overly polished and far too artificial.
50
Under The Radar
By the time the fifth track plays, I feel like I just listened to the same song five times in a row. [#7]
50
Stylus Magazine
The material lacks the gauzy groove of Gotham!, replaced by techno-savvy beats and a synthetic sheen so soulless it C3PO’s all of the group’s human swagger.
40
Blender
Roman's politically spiked lyrics sound shrugged-off and flimsy. [Sep 2004, p.141]
40
Alternative Press
Often feels like the soundtrack for a party that's running short on ideas. [Oct 2004, p.132]
40
Mojo
Heyes has polished the band into tedium, with live guitars and drums drowned out by high sheen studio gloss and painfully dated loops. [Sep 2004, p.104]
40
Q Magazine
They've lost the spark. [Sep 2004, p.122]
40
PopMatters
Stealing of a Nation has some nice melodies, driving rhythms, hooky choruses, and fuzzy explosive guitar, but the sameness of the beats, the laziness of the lyrics, and Max Heyes' (Doves, Primal Scream) clipped, staccato production are enough to do the album in.
40
All Music Guide
Stealing of a Nation is a slick, calculated record that misses its target on all accounts.
40
Rolling Stone
Radio 4 show a real lack of gusto. [28 Oct 2004, p.98]
30
Junkmedia
Shiny, soulless dance tracks that would have been mediocre even as Rick Astley backing tracks.
30
The Guardian
However tiresome the slogans, worse is the fact that the beats are lazy.
21
Pitchfork
Radio 4 can be commended for at least trying to move past the purposeful lo-fi of Gotham! and into fresher territory, but there's no bell or whistle in the world that could energize the utterly impotent songs at the core of Stealing of a Nation.
20
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Shows how slavish reproduction curdles into artistic bankruptcy.
The average user rating for this album is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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