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Razorlight

EMAILPRINTby Razorlight

Razorlight reviews
60
6.4 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 33 votes
Read user comments
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Album Info

Label: Mercury

Release Date: 22 August 2006

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Alternative, Rock

Summary

Chris Thomas (U2, Pulp) produced this brief, self-titled follow up to the Johnny Borrell-led band's 2004 debut 'Up All Night.'

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

Q Magazine

In its progress from raw ambition to actual intent, this mirrors U2's great leap forward from Boy and October to War. [Aug 2006, p.108]

80

The Guardian

[It] touches on everything great about classic, epic rock from the past 30 years.

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80

New Musical Express

It's a soulful, romantic album about what happens when the lights come up at the end of the night and life smacks you in the face.

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80

Observer Music Monthly

Razorlight have dropped the urgency and brashness of indie-disco floor-fillers like 'Rip it Up' and traded it for the boldness of tracks such as 'Somewhere Else'. It isn't easy to graduate from teenage bedrooms to coffee-table status without compromising on credibility, but the quartet have managed it somehow.

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75

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Razorlight ultimately has more in common with Wham! than The Jam, and Bay City Rollers more than The Strokes. But the band can write a hook.

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70

Spin

[Razorlight] give post-Strokes neo-garage rock a tidy soul makeover. [Sep 2006, p.111]

70

All Music Guide

They make honest indie rock for those looking for a solid, good song. There's no frills, no fancy production, just the purity of these songs.

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67

Austin Chronicle

Razorlight shoots from the hip noticeably more immediate than the group's more manicured 2004 debut.

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60

Prefix Magazine

The thinness of the sound, the lack of any edge, and the fact that most of these songs start off terribly prove too much to overcome, but Razorlight is not nearly the disaster that it could've been.

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60

Uncut

It strives shamelessly for the widescreen appeal of U2's Big Music. [Aug 2006, p.88]

60

Mojo

On the downside, Razorlight is lyrically hamstrung. [Aug 2006, p.104]

50

Drowned In Sound

They’ve merely decided to exchange one set of quite transparent influences for another, less-effective set.

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50

Under The Radar

Up All Night is far from terrible and often a pleasant listen, but there’s nothing particularly enchanting about singer Johnny Borrell’s “vox,” and if anything seems to be lacking here, it’s perhaps a sense of musical identity. [#15]

40

musicOMH.com

It's those lyrics that make much of this second album such a disappointment.

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40

Rolling Stone

The tight arrangements are impressive in their guitar-bass-drums spareness, but the overall feel still falls somewhere between sterile and silly. [7 Sep 2006, p.107]

30

PopMatters

Razorlight is a bloodless, careerist record that has nothing to say that you haven’t heard a million times before.

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28

Pitchfork

They've jettisoned nearly all their Strokes, Television, and other grab bag post-punk propensities, turning instead to adult alternative as a foundation for this late-20s midlife crisis. I guess if ya can't beat 'em, just quit and make soft rock!

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0

Stylus Magazine

The solipsism and trite accounts of benders from the first album are still there, but the music has gone exceedingly soft.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 6.4 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes

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

Gabi P. gave it a10:
<3 genius

mark p gave it a10:
Thank god Razorlight have grown up a bit.. a far better second album, their first still lingering in teenage angst (groan... cliche etc...) Bubbling with excellent melodies and likeability, it was the best album of 2006, er, along with Lilly Allen and Joanna Newsome. A mix of Talking Heads 77, Violent Femmes in their fresh, playful way. The difficult second album is a timeless classic. 10/10

Jurgen B gave it a2:
This album is full of trite lyrics although some good hooks arise from time to time, never convinced by singer's voice, bland soft pop/rock, plenty of pointless guitar melodies strewed over.

Review Boy 15 gave it an8:
This is different. But a good kind of different. I dont like the way razorlight are being pasted by reviewers. Their music has a kind of warm feeling to it, particularely in songs like : " 'in the morning', 'America', and 'Los Angeles Waltz' "

dave r gave it a5:
i didn't much like the first album, bar a couple of diamonds in the rough. this is a watered down and even less varied effort which, despite its occassional peaks, kind of comes and goes without you noticing or really caring. that said, anyone who reviews an album on the strength of hearing just 3 songs (Guy H) and rates it '0' is a tit.

Ben Q gave it a2:
Average. It's all too soft. It's put me right off razorlight now. Don't buy it.

Guy H gave it a0:
I can't believe Q has given this album 5 stars... then again they judged REM's 'Reveal', the Chili Peppers 'By The Way' and the latest by Muse as five star albums (all disappointing albums... doh!). I have only heard three songs off this album including the single and 'America' and they are pitiful. Please can someone stop the televised advertising campaign...

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