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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Echoes
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Mercury / Strummer
Release Date: 21 October 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The Brooklyn band's dance/punk/80s hybrid debut follows months of hype and anticipation fed by several years of touring. Included here is the single "House Of Jealous Lovers."
Also By This Artist: Pieces Of The People We Love Tapes
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...
Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
This is mannerist DOR more accomplished and less sentimental than its sources.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Almost by accident, it seems, The Rapture have pulled it off: the album of the year.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
This perceived, grand-scheme "Importance" of Echoes is irrelevant: what matters is that it wants you to get off your ass and work it, and that you will be thrilled to oblige.
Read Full Review >Uncut
A record which transcends any scene's fleeting credibility. [Oct 2003, p.122]
Outburn
When you strip away all of the hype and everything you've heard about The Rapture, one thing still remains: Echoes is outstanding. [#23, p.98]
Entertainment Weekly
Sounds fresher and more diverse than previous releases or live shows would've suggested. [Listen 2 This supplement, Oct 2003, p.14]
Launch.com
Luke Jenner's vocals may drive you insane, but he is to be ignored anyway. Echoes is all about perp-walking bass, funky white-boy cowbell, and enough brain-goring good guitar riffs to make Keith Richards collapse in amazement.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Echoes ultimately showcases a more sophisticated, restrained, and successful take on the fusion of guitar riffs and electronic beats.
Read Full Review >Urb
While a handful of tracks may... seem familiar to fans of PiL, Dinosaur L, ESG and Primal Scream, Echoes manages much more than aping influences. [Oct 2003, p.83]
Planet
Filled with thoughtful electronic counterpoint and personable songs. [#5, p.104]
Q Magazine
Not quite a masterpiece, Echoes still shows why New York rock currently feels a million times more exciting than Britain's woefully safe equivalent. [Oct 2003, p.114]
Stylus Magazine
People are claiming The Rapture are geniuses, saviours and innovators but the simple truth is that they aren’t. [Review 1, score=70] One hates to frown on a band’s ambition, but you may find yourself hoping that next time out the band plays to their strengths the whole way through. [Review 2, score=75]
Mojo
If The Rapture haven't quite transcended their influences yet, they are at least making a thrilling, febrile noise on the way. [Sep 2003, p.106]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Rapture's much-anticipated Echoes doesn't represent a significant landmark along the way, but its pastiche-like approach to early-'80s Anglophilia is promising.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Fus[es] mean guitars and disco trance for a ferocious new breed of punk funk.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
The Rapture may not quite be wholly heavenly, but they've made an album that's entirely admirable and often lovable.
Read Full Review >Blender
With so many hip people in the studio, it's no wonder Echoes sounds like such a party. [Nov 2003, p.119]
Village Voice
What makes Echoes more than the sum of its inspirations... is that the band audibly, valiantly struggle to create something bigger than they are.
Read Full Review >Spin
Unfortunately, many of the underdeveloped rockers and plaintive ballads here are dance-floor-clearing duds. [Nov 2003, p.111]
ShakingThrough.net
Bottom line: Some great beats propping up a not-so-tight band, making it sound much cooler than it actually is.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
Sure, the group can rock out at moments, but the majority of the 11 tracks on this release just feel warmed-over. They feel like they've been reworked countless times to make them better (and they have), but instead of actually making the tracks better, the life and vitality was sucked out of them.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
These flashes of greatness don't quite add up to what could have been, but the album as a whole is still quite exceptional.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
Echoes works only when it grasps punk-funk's spirit, rather than its sound.
Read Full Review >Splendid
You say you don't give a shit about lyrics? That's good; most of Echoes' lyrics aren't worth giving a shit about.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
An astonishingly boring band. [#5, p.103]
Drawer B
For every badass mind-fuck like “Out Of The Races And Onto The Tracks”, there are twice as many unlistenable duds in the band’s arsenal.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Mihai V gave it a10:
This album is a classic. I love it. I hope they won't dissapoint with their next.
Dimitar D gave it a10:
hellz yeah
Leonardo F gave it a10:
a classic!
matt a gave it a5:
Totally overrated. A few decent tracks but mostly just noise. Can't be compared with other good bands out of N.Y. like Stokes, CYHSY, etc.
[Anonymous] gave it a10:
I really loved this album. It really grew on me the more I listened to it.
Naj A gave it a 10:
Amazing. I can't stop bobbing my head. It's todays swing of the 50s, rock of the 70s, and heavy metal of the 80s. Dancepunk is exemplified by this album, by the Rapture.
liz gave it a 10:
This album has really grown on me. It has become one of my favorites.
