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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Melody A.M.
Universal acclaim
Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Wall of Sound / Astralwerks
Release Date: 15 October 2002
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Electronic
Summary
This is the debut album for the downbeat electronica duo from Norway, which has drawn comparisons to bands such as Air, Groove Armada, and Boards of Canada. Erlend Oye (Kings of Convenience) provides vocals on several tracks.
Also By This Artist: Junior The Understanding
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...
Playlouder
Quite unlike any other chill out album you're likely to hear, 'Melody AM' takes low rider funk and splices it with 80s synth-pop ambience and analogue dub techniques to create a truly inspiring epic pop landscape which neither strays into questionable light classical territories, nor worrying prog rock terrain.
Read Full Review >Mixer
A work of exquisite, afterparty brilliance. [Oct 2002, p.84]
Billboard
Like debuts from Zero 7 and the Avalanches, Melody A.M. is well-situated to sit pretty in many critics' annual top 10s come December.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Picking up the ball right about where Air dropped it after Moon Safari, Röyksopp produced one of the most intriguing downbeat albums of the year.
Read Full Review >Trouser Press
Wildly experimental and unique, Melody A.M. belongs in the collections of fans of lush keyboard instrumentation, '70s soul, new age and Boards of Canada-style strangeness alike.
Read Full Review >Blender
[They] channel post-adolescent despair into 10 groove-centric tracks that will gladden anyone who misses Play-era Moby. [#11, p.141]
Q Magazine
Without a single piece of filler here, this is the musical equivalent of meeting a stranger you feel you've known all your life. [Nov 2001, p.128]
Launch.com
Nu electro, crunchy big beat, oddball Irish jigs, Royksopp covers a lot of territory but always with its signature, blissful blend.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
But even when hitting on well-worn genre exercises, the duo tweaks its formula in small ways that lead to big returns.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Even when hitting on well-worn genre exercises, the duo tweaks its formula in small ways that lead to big returns.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
The music is a spectral combination of bleepy 80s synths, lightly crunching backbeats and dreamy vocals; the mood is pure post-clubbing afterglow, in bed with your loved one, in some snowbound Ikea log cabin.
Read Full Review >CDNow
Unlike most acts who tend to get over-hyped and fall far short of expectations, Norway's Röyksopp does not disappoint.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Röyksopp are, ultimately, too beautiful to hate and too harmless to really love.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Settles into a stream of pastoral, boutique techno that's both soothing and derivative. [1 Nov 2002, p.70]
Stylus Magazine
Unlike the playgrounds inhabited by those chillout bands--and other post-Air types, for that matter--the rhythms aren’t just here to keep time. Instead, they add texture and purpose, swinging from chunky bass lines to dub soundscapes.
Read Full Review >Urb
[The appeal] is in the warm, '70s synths that float melodies into the druggy stratosphere, giving the band's shifty downtempo rhythms and vaguely experimental production a retro-sexy touch. [Nov 2002, p.98]
Alternative Press
When these Norwegians try to make more conventional haunted soul-diva stuff, it sounds rote by comparison.... But when they follow their own muses, they come up with genius tracks like "Remind Me." [Dec 2002, p.96]
New York Magazine
Röyksopp is savvy at pulling out the joker in the pack just when the music threatens to become cutesy.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Royksopp show a debt to art rock, but they replace Pink Floyd's paranoia with a mood of late-night sorrow.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
josif d gave it a10:
this is a great album
ashmind gave it a10:
One of the best electronic albums I had ever listened to.
Frank gave it a10:
Had a rough day at work? Need to listen to something to unwind, and take that stressed out feeling away, replacing it with a knowing smile? Here's your album. From hearing the first track on an Ultra Chilled compilation, I had to go buy the cd, and have never regretted that move.
Lawrence P gave it a 9:
dance music for people who don't like dance music.
rocio gave it a 10:
Super album! Remember, ever I downloaded that album already but for some reason didn't record it. Now I've made a CD with this album. It's really worth it! One of the best electronic things I've ever heard!
Adam W gave it a 10:
I accicdently found out about royksopp and I haven't stopped listening since
Gary S gave it a 10:
dont look at what the critics say, look at what the masses do, this album is perfect. illmatic.
