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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
by Spoon


8.4

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 99 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

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

LABEL:	Merge
RELEASE DATE:	10 July 2007
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Indie

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...

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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.

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.

All Music Guide

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

PopMatters

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

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.

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.

cokemachineglow

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

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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

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

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.

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.

Q Magazine

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

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.

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.

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.

Lost At Sea

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

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.

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.

Billboard

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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]

Blender

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

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.

The Guardian

The album has an energy both attractive and intimidating.

NOW Magazine

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

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.

The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 99 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".

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
by Spoon