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Pieces Of The People We Love

EMAILPRINTby The Rapture

The Rapture reviews
74
7.2 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 31 votes
Read user comments
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Album Info

Label: Universal

Release Date: 12 September 2006

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Indie, Rock

Summary

The New York City dance-punk outfit returns with a sophomore album a full three years after their debut 'Echoes.' 'Pieces' sees them ditching The DFA for new producers Ewan Pearson, Paul Epworth and Danger Mouse.

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...

100

Urb

The first truly great album of the dance-punk movement. [Sep 2006, p.132]

91

MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

None of it means a damn thing beyond what it is. Which is just what they were trying so hard to achieve.

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85

Lost At Sea

The Rapture sound amazingly fresh right now.

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83

Entertainment Weekly

It's good to hear these hip-shaking hipsters cutting loose with such abandon. [22 Sep 2006, p.95]

83

Stylus Magazine

Pieces of the People We Love is a great funky dance record with guitars, and not much more. Luckily, it doesn’t need to be.

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80

The Guardian

Their second album ramps up the party beats, but at the core of delirious songs such as First Gear is a nerve-jangling twitchiness that reassures you the Rapture are still awkward guys at heart.

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80

BBC collective

A less angular, more grown-up album - something that won’t rattle your nerves.

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80

Rolling Stone

Lots of cowbell, lots of bass. [21 Sep 2006, p.82]

80

PopMatters

In the end, Pieces of the People We Love requires less investment from its listeners but offers all the dance-mayhem energy and the dueling guitar/saxophone bits that make up the band’s sound.

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80

Billboard

By refocusing on the dancefloor, the Rapture remains a step ahead.

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80

Mojo

Pieces... delivers greater consistency. [Oct 2006, p.104]

80

Paste Magazine

The Rapture cannily sidesteps the perils of trying to live up to its own loaded legacy by excising punk from its sound and focusing on what it arguably does best: outsized, blindingly-polished pop that shakes hips like a vibrating belt. [Dec 2006, p.96]

80

Under The Radar

The album offers huge choruses that suggest the New York City quartet might be the indie rock equivalent to K.C. & Tthe Sunshine Band. [#15]

78

Pitchfork

It's impressive then, that even with this newfound attention to detail, the Rapture still maintain a flailing energy and enthusiasm that most of the other dancepunk bands could only fake.... However, what ultimately makes Pieces a step or three down from Echoes is a drop off in consistency, reflecting a higher percentage of songs that fail to ignite.

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76

cokemachineglow

It holds together better [than 'Echoes'] as a complete document, it contains at least seven potential singles, and sounds like a crack band at the top of their game.

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74

Filter

The same wail-filled, guitar-driven dance music of yore, but this time with hints of rough Brit-rock sensibility, vague wafts of pared-down techno and two last tracks that make little sense to the rest of the album. [#22, p.100]

70

Spin

Their follow-up finds a better balance, albeit one that teeters toward a straight party groove. [Oct 2006, p.104]

70

Hartford Courant

Mostly, it's a trip into the not-too-distant past worth taking.

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70

Village Voice

Propulsive, addictive, ego-driven bursts.

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70

All Music Guide

The uniformity of the album is at the expense of clear-cut standout tracks.

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60

Blender

The best moments are [Jenner's] least intelligible. [Oct 2006, p.141]

60

Uncut

Overall there's a sense of a moment having passed. [Oct 2006, p.123]

50

Prefix Magazine

The Rapture has made a safe record.

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40

Playlouder

And so it goes on sonic cliche after awful lyrics after terrible synth settings after lazy drum beats after... well, you get the picture.

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40

NOW Magazine

It seems like they decided to go whole hog with the Duran Duran template. Not the best strategy, considering it isn't even working for Le Bon and company any more.

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30

Drowned In Sound

The Rapture have kept all the ingredients from their previous successes, but they have forgot to ignite the oven.

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30

Q Magazine

A serious let-down. [Oct 2006, p.119]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 31 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Thomas Y gave it a1:
aside from the single, this album is just really bland. plus i've met these guys and they're huge pricks.

Mihai V gave it a7:
This ain't no "Echoes".

[Anonymous] gave it a1:
I know what's old is new again, but crappy high school, psuedo funk-rock bands with an "awsome guitarist" and no hooks still suck.

steven s gave it a9:
one of the best albums ive heard in a while.... totally bored with the drivel that is churned out by the likes of james morrison, pussycat dolls, girls aloud and other pop acts... This album is really refreshing. (even though very different to their previous albums)

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
I really love it! Really grew on me.

Jackson G gave it a9:
This album is great. You can't expect everything to be deep, sometimes an artist has a different focus. But, the lyrics do have some great points in them. The album sets out to fix a problem in our musical world... they sum this problem up in "Whoo! Alright- Yeah...": "People don't dance no more, they just stand there like this, they cross their arms and stare you down, they drink and moan and piss."

paul gave it a4:
does anyone read lyrics anymore? this album is full of tread over, BORING lyrics. who cares if it is "fun" when it's not going to last the test of time?

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