Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Music

All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000

Upcoming &
Recent Releases

sort by namesort by score

70 AFI
65 Air
71 Alice In Chains
77 Amerie
85 The Antlers
75 Arctic Monkeys
68 As Tall As Lions
82 Atlas Sound
75 The Avett Brothers
67 Backstreet Boys
56 Bad Lieutenant
68 Devendra Banhart
72 Lou Barlow
88 Baroness
69 Basement Jaxx
81 David Bazan
72 Brendan Benson
72 The Big Pink
96 Big Star
46 Billy Talent
75 The Black Crowes
51 Black Mold
68 Blitzen Trapper
75 BLK JKS
77 A.A. Bondy
73 The Bottle Rockets
63 Box Elders
65 Boys Like Girls
76 Brand New
73 Tyondai Braxton
87 Brother Ali
70 Ian Brown
75 Michael Buble
78 Built To Spill
61 Colbie Caillat
79 Califone
68 Mariah Carey
84 Brandi Carlile
73 Julian Casablancas
83 Rosanne Cash
69 Castanets
65 The Cave Singers
84 Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79 Vic Chesnutt
75 Choir Of Young Believers
81 Circulatory System
68 The Clean
84 The Clientele
71 Cobra Starship
85 Converge
71 Eric Copeland
80 Cymbals Eat Guitars
71 Datarock
59 Dead By Sunrise
76 Dead Man's Bones
88 Destroyer
63 The Dodos
77 Drive-By Truckers
66 Bob Dylan
44 The Entrance Band
67 Esser
69 Fanfarlo
63 Felix Da Housecat
68 Fink
78 The Flaming Lips
66 Flight Of The Conchords
79 Florence And The Machine
67 John Fogerty
83 Fuck Buttons
71 Nelly Furtado
47 Gary Go
68 Ghostface Killah
79 Girls
69 Gossip
62 David Gray
66 David Guetta
79 Richard Hawley
74 Mayer Hawthorne
66 Headlights
79 HEALTH
77 Joe Henry
66 Hockey
69 Whitney Houston
68 Imogen Heap
59 Jack Ingram
79 Islands
73 Jessie James
74 Jamie T
65 Jay-Z
51 Jet
69 Daniel Johnston
76 Karen O And The Kids
72 Toby Keith
69 Kid Cudi
65 Kings Of Convenience
62 Sean Kingston
64 KISS
76 Kris Kristofferson
68 KRS-One & Buckshot
76 La Roux
84 Miranda Lambert
72 Ledisi
75 Sondre Lerche
56 Juliette Lewis
82 Lightning Bolt
73 Little Dragon
44 Pixie Lott
73 Lyle Lovett
66 Lovvers
75 Baaba Maal
77 Madness
84 Madonna
85 Manic Street Preachers
62 Maps
55 Massive Attack
57 Matisyahu
67 Reba McEntire
66 Tim McGraw
65 Brian McKnight
79 Mew
77 Malcolm Middleton
77 Mika
68 Amy Millan
76 Mission Of Burma
76 Molina And Johnson
80 Monsters Of Folk
62 Morrissey
85 Mount Eerie
78 The Mountain Goats
62 Múm
72 Muse
66 Willie Nelson
78 Nirvana
97 Nirvana
72 Nisennenmondai
80 No Age
71 Noah And The Whale
75 Noisettes
79 Nudge
47 Dolores O'Riordan
74 Os Mutantes
73 Osso
81 Owen
76 Paramore
76 Pastels And Tenniscoats
51 Sean Paul
80 Pearl Jam
66 Jemina Pearl
72 Jack Penate
65 Phish
82 Pissed Jeans
61 Pitbull
79 A Place To Bury Strangers
66 Robert Pollard
79 Polvo
72 Porcupine Tree
80 Q-Tip
80 R.E.M.
89 Raekwon
69 Rain Machine
70 Ramona Falls
75 Dizzee Rascal
75 The Raveonettes
76 Jay Reatard
82 Reigning Sound
81 Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79 Russian Circles
69 Buffy Sainte-Marie
73 Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61 Sally Shapiro
78 Shudder To Think
70 Simian Mobile Disco
58 Simple Minds
72 Six Organs Of Admittance
69 Slaughterhouse
80 Slayer
61 The Slits
62 Mindy Smith
78 Soulsavers
77 Speech Debelle
58 Spiral Stairs
58 Squarepusher
55 Steel Panther
73 Sufjan Stevens
52 Rod Stewart
65 Joss Stone
75 George Strait
83 Barbra Streisand
76 A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74 Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78 The Swell Season
76 David Sylvian
83 Taken By Trees
78 Tegan And Sara
68 The Temper Trap
72 Themselves
82 They Might Be Giants
67 Third Eye Blind
66 J Tillman
69 Times New Viking
57 Tokio Hotel
67 Trey Songz
71 The Twilight Sad
58 Carrie Underwood
56 The Used
68 Various Artists
70 Various Artists
74 Various Artists
77 The Very Best
71 Kurt Vile
67 Vivian Girls
71 Volcano Choir
76 Rufus Wainwright
59 Weezer
80 White Denim
76 Why?
83 Wild Beasts
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59 Andrew W.K.
71 Patrick Wolf
67 Wolfmother
84 The xx
79 Yo La Tengo
83 Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51 Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59 Zero 7

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

EMAILPRINTby Spoon

Spoon reviews
84
8.5 User Score:

Album Info

Label: Merge

Release Date: 10 July 2007

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock, Indie

Summary

The Austin band serves up their latest album hoping fans go ga ga over it.

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...

92

Filter

Even when they’re forging new ground (which is often) or mixing it up with any of the aforementioned conversation points, they still manage to sound exactly like themselves.

Read Full Review >
91

Entertainment Weekly

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is one of those ''taking stock'' records that collates and refines everything that came before. But what an inventory of sounds they've built.

Read Full Review >
90

All Music Guide

Concise and lively, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a remarkable blend of focus and creativity.

Read Full Review >
90

PopMatters

Fresh and familiar is a consistent hallmark of the Austin band, and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga proves to be no exception.

Read Full Review >
90

Drowned In Sound

What’s really on display here is a well honed, experienced band flexing their muscles and creating tightly controlled, good old fashioned rock ‘n’ roll music (of a rather cerebral variety) on their own terms, free from the weighty plague of fashion.

Read Full Review >
90

Tiny Mix Tapes

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is Spoon’s finest release since 2001’s "Girls Can Tell" and fills me with a happiness rarely delivered in a genre filled with groups that never improve upon their debuts.

Read Full Review >
90

cokemachineglow

I think Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the album of this year and maybe of the next.

Read Full Review >
90

Delusions of Adequacy

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is painfully short; a lean, black-tie rock album, and one of the year's best in a year full of great records.

Read Full Review >
89

Austin Chronicle

Thirty-six minutes of a detailed, agonizing shot in the arm, a veritable buffet of musical stylings, each song bettering the one before, from a band that just as easily could've released a new version of "Gimme Fiction."

Read Full Review >
85

Pitchfork

Through whatever process they use, the band has also managed to create yet another wonderfully singular indie rock record, unafraid of unfettered passion or self-sabotage, and which affirms a shrouded, hybrid style as unquestionably theirs.

Read Full Review >
83

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is more scattershot, as though Daniel weren't sure whether he wanted to make his big pop push, keep pursuing rhythmic deconstruction to its logical end, or just give up entirely and make "A Series Of Sneaks" again.

Read Full Review >
83

Stylus Magazine

1997's "I Could See the Dude" was abrupt, intriguing, emotive, and obtuse - these have always been within Spoon’s grasp, but rarely have they felt as unified as they do now, a baby’s first word burped up five times.

Read Full Review >
83

MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

A trifle brighter, quicker and fuller than "Gimme Fiction."

Read Full Review >
80

Spin

The tug-of-war between bristly unavailability and candid confession mirrors a musical duet between post-punk snarls and genial pop charms. There's no resolution, but the struggle is endlessly compelling.

80

Dusted Magazine

The good news is that Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is Spoon's best record in a while - if you liked "Gimme Fiction," you'll probably like this too.

Read Full Review >
80

Q Magazine

There is no waste here. [Sep 2007, p.96]

80

Amazon.com

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the mark of men confident enough to give their album one of the world's goofiest titles.

Read Full Review >
80

Rolling Stone

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga might be Spoon's commercial breakthrough, doing for them what "Good News" did for Modest Mouse, but for certain it's one of the Austin, Texas, trio's finest records.

Read Full Review >
80

Hartford Courant

There's plenty for everyone to love here, actually, and despite the silly title, Spoon's latest is worth going ga-ga over.

Read Full Review >
80

Lost At Sea

Spoon has again produced a collage of songs that may be proverbial, but are not paint-by-numbers.

Read Full Review >
80

Prefix Magazine

They've found the blueprint to the instantly memorable rock song - and Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga contains several - and continued to follow the instructions.

Read Full Review >
80

New York Magazine

Each and every hand clap and piano chord on their foot-stomping, flawless new album, now streaming on their label's Website, is obsessively placed.

Read Full Review >
80

Billboard

"Ga Ga" stand out as a fun, if somewhat peculiar, addition to the Spoon catalog.

Read Full Review >
80

Village Voice

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, the group's sixth album, boasts an instrument roll call that might look swollen - trumpet, Chamberlin, cello, koto, flamenco guitar - but Spoon wear it well.

Read Full Review >
80

musicOMH.com

There are moments of sheer brilliance on Ga... and due to the band keeping things short and sweet (the album clocks in at about 36 minutes) those moments are rarely far apart.

Read Full Review >
80

The New York Times

The result is an indie-rock album that sounds mysterious without being diffident or difficult, without piling on the noise or retreating into whimsy.

Read Full Review >
80

Boston Globe

From the terrific pulsing opener, "Don't Make Me a Target," to the curt horn and acoustic-guitar stomp of "The Underdog," these wonderfully produced and arranged songs brim with optimism and are pounded out purposefully.

Read Full Review >
70

Under The Radar

While the band's attempt to branch out and modify their approach is admirable, some of Ga's nonsense causes the record to fall just short of being the accomplishment of which the band has long been capable. [Summer 2007, p.84]

60

Blender

Despite Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's adventurousness, it's highest points end up being the most conventional. [August 2007, p.112]

60

Paste Magazine

While any given song on the album contains a memorable melodic passage or a compelling idea, some of them are more mixed in their results.

Read Full Review >
60

The Guardian

The album has an energy both attractive and intimidating.

Read Full Review >
60

NOW Magazine

It's not the best album of Spoon's career, but it's far from a misstep.

Read Full Review >
60

BBC collective

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga sees Britt Daniels channelling his persecution complex into more piano-driven 60s pop songs, screaming "Don't make me a target!" at the heavens as his girlfriend walks out. His band prove surprisingly versatile.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 102 User Votes

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

Max gave it a10:
It's rare I get this obsessed about an album. The detail and production is astounding.

Rusty Fish gave it a9:
This is my fist Spoon album and I'm very impressed. 'The ghost of you lingers' is really memorable for me. I rated this album on the quality of the music it contains without worrying about it's duration. If a short album is a poor album, why buy it and then whine about it?

Will gave it a10:
Good fun and better than the other Spoon disk I own 'Girls can tell'. Standout track for me is 'Finer Feelings.'

Lord Poppycock Von Tinsel Drawers gave it a6:
I like Spoon, but this album is totally overrated. It could have been an extra disc for the superb Gimme Fiction.

Mateusz S. gave it a6:
For me? - good, but this is nothing special.

Mark D. gave it a5:
This album is mediocre at best.

Vincent H. gave it a5:
For most bands, this album would probably be considered a masterpiece and be showered with universal acclaim. But compared to Spoon's previous work, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga rates quite low. The thing is that Spoon has released 3 albums (A Series of Sneaks, Kill The Moonlight, Gimme Fiction) that are easily 3 of the most memorable, creative, and brilliant indie rock albums of the past 10 years. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga ranks slightly below "Girls Can Tell" in my opinion, and actually kind of reminds me of the earlier album, especially in its overall laid-back, groove-pop style which is different than the frenzied 5 hooks-per-minute "Series of Sneaks" or the sonically and melodically transcendent "Kill the Moonlight" or "Gimme Fiction". A lightweight Spoon album, but an excellent and rocking indie rock album if you are unfamiliar with their previous work, but as a hardcore fan, it is difficult to be more objective as I am aware of what this band is capable of. "The Underdog" is their weakest single ever, with the super glossy Jon Brion production being too much for me. "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" is mildly diverting, but is being overrated as the standout track. "Don't You Evah" is for me the standout by far, with it's louder-than-hell bassline and just a great melody. I don't know exactly what "hooks" people are talking about...in fact, I think this is their least catchiest album since "Telephono".

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use