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
Best of the Decade
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
75
Alberta Cross
70
The Album Leaf
69
Alkaline Trio
66
Animal Collective
84
Animal Collective![]()
50
Athlete
82
Beach House![]()
81
The Besnard Lakes![]()
75
Kasper Bjorke
65
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
64
Dan Black
75
Mary J. Blige
75
Blockhead
79
Blood Red Shoes
70
David Bowie
64
The Brian Jonestown Massacre
70
Broken Bells
65
V.V. Brown
72
The Brunettes
71
Basia Bulat
78
Carolina Chocolate Drops
79
Johnny Cash
79
Chew Lips
82
Chicago Underground Duo![]()
79
The Chieftains Featuring Ry Cooder
76
Citay
66
Clem Snide
77
Clipd Beaks
78
Clogs
66
Cold War Kids
75
Easton Corbin
80
Crazy Heart
90
Crime In Stereo![]()
70
Jamie Cullum
63
Fyfe Dangerfield
72
Delphic
89
The Dillinger Escape Plan![]()
64
Dinowalrus
77
Drive-By Truckers
59
Editors
71
Eels
74
Efterklang
83
Eluvium![]()
82
Erland And The Carnival![]()
57
Everybody Was In The French Resistance...Now
63
Excepter
78
Field Music
76
First Aid Kit
68
Josephine Foster
82
Four Tet![]()
71
Nils Frahm
77
Freeway & Jake One
75
Frightened Rabbit
82
Fucked Up![]()
64
Peter Gabriel
79
Charlotte Gainsbourg
80
Galactic
67
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
73
Ernest Gonzales
59
Good Shoes
79
Gorillaz
70
Adam Green
79
Patty Griffin
76
Groove Armada
67
H.I.M.
43
Hadouken!
73
Harvey Milk
68
Juliana Hatfield
67
Jimi Hendrix
88
High On Fire![]()
80
Hot Chip
66
The Hot Rats
88
Ray Wylie Hubbard![]()
54
Hurricane Chris
76
Jaga Jazzist
76
Jaheim
68
jj
79
Freedy Johnston
54
Nick Jonas And The Administration
57
Ke$ha
66
Alicia Keys
74
The Knife In Collaboration With Mt. Sims And Planningtorock
63
Lady Antebellum
65
Dawn Landes
82
Lawrence Arabia![]()
74
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
82
Liars![]()
72
Lightspeed Champion
37
Lil Wayne
82
Lindstrom & Christabelle![]()
68
Little Boots
78
Local Natives
75
Los Campesinos!
67
Lostprophets
65
Ludacris
72
Magnetic Fields
74
Massive Attack
58
Katherine McPhee
60
Tom McRae
66
Daniel Merriweather
76
Pat Metheny
72
Midlake
64
Holly Miranda
79
Allison Moorer
83
Motion City Soundtrack![]()
53
Mudvayne
65
Mumford & Sons
55
Never Shout Never
85
Joanna Newsom![]()
81
Scout Niblett![]()
76
Nneka
75
Oh No Ono
70
OK Go
71
Omarion
77
Owen Pallett
84
Pantha du Prince![]()
77
Past Lives
84
Pavement![]()
77
Phantogram
65
Pit Er Pat
86
Polar Bear![]()
64
Priestess
69
Quasi
77
Corinne Bailey Rae
71
The Red Krayola With Art & Language
81
Fionn Regan![]()
77
Retribution Gospel Choir
57
Martin Rev
64
Rjd2
63
Rogue Wave
82
Jack Rose![]()
77
The Ruby Suns
78
Sade
77
Gil Scott-Heron
80
She & Him
77
Shearwater
69
Blake Shelton
84
Shining![]()
68
Shout Out Louds
80
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
75
The Soft Pack
80
Spoon
63
Ringo Starr
68
Story Of The Year
71
The Strange Boys
74
Strong Arm Steady
78
Surfer Blood
60
Tape Deck Mountain
82
These New Puritans![]()
71
Robin Thicke
76
Tindersticks
82
Titus Andronicus![]()
72
Toro Y Moi
63
Josh Turner
81
Vampire Weekend![]()
79
Laura Veirs
69
Via Audio
79
Butch Walker And The Black Widows
59
The Watson Twins
69
We Are Wolves
66
Kanye West
64
Wetdog
51
The Whigs
67
White Hills
79
The White Stripes
72
The Whitefield Brothers
68
Wu-Tang Clan
75
Xiu Xiu
78
Yeasayer
77
You Say Party! We Say Die!
63
Young Money
61
Rob Zombie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Dragonslayer

Universal acclaim
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 52 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Jagjaguwar
Release Date: 23 June 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Indie
Summary
The third album for the Spencer Krug-led project is its first with newest member Mark Nicol.
Also By This Artist: Random Spirit Lover Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
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...
Drowned In Sound
Whatever all this means, Dragonslayer is an album to get your teeth into. As on the final chorus, it's: "a bigger kind of kill". You need this.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
It isn’t a song so much as a journey, and as with the rest of Dragonslayer, its epic ambitions are fulfilled.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
It’s another astounding album from a great band and one that we should get much, much more music from for many years to come.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Call it surprising/delightful, or call it thrilling/glorious. Either way, Dragonslayer‘s pretty great.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Dragonslayer is a shockingly good record, but it’s no surprise that things ended up this way.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Dragonslayer is a lither, more athletic Sunset record--easier to like, easier to understand.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
On Dragonslayer, perhaps more so than any of their previous albums, Sunset Rubdown is able to create memorable, multi-part songs that stay engaging throughout and that don’t meander aimlessly.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
His tendency to cram a million ideas into every song gets toned down, too, but fans of that aesthetic shouldn’t worry; the songs are as intricate and delightfully off-kilter as ever.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
As carefully crafted as it is, this is the group's most accessible record yet. And it's a damn fine one at that.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
Whether Dragonslayer is as great as any other work is almost irrelevant; it is great and it is grand, and it is all too welcome.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
While Dragonslayer might not be the best album in Krug’s robust oeuvre, there’s still enough here to convince us that Krug is still the ascendant king of indie rock, and that he might have a magnum opus yet to come.
Read Full Review >Filter
Krug's songwriting can't help but put a smile on your face when you really try to let your guard down, and if you want the summer documented by epic eccentricity, this is your callling. [Sep 2009, p.94]
The Phoenix
This, their third album is as ambitious as its predecessors but mutes the joy in favor of a more serious tone and tighter focus--well, as tight as an album with a 10-minute number called 'Dragon's Lair' can be. The results are mixed.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Dragonslayer eschews this cluttered approach, instead skittering through extended suites of build/release/build riff-rock that often leave Krug’s melody lines with no flint to start a fire.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Their grandiose Baron Muchhausen indie rock does tend to veer toward indulgent. [Jul 2009, p.101]
Under The Radar
By using fewer overdubs, Sunset Rubdown is actually undermining its strengths of expectation-defying structures and lavishly decorated arrangements. [Summer 2009, p.69]
Billboard
Nonsensical lyrics about butterflies and name-changing lovers on tracks like 'You Go On Ahead (Trumpet Trumpet II)' and 'Apollo And The Buffalo And Anna Anna Anna Oh!,' could serve as a distraction, but the songs are saved by beautifully frantic instrumentals.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
Overall, these tracks feel more like the B sides of Random Spirit Lover, maybe the acoustic B sides, the tracks that didn't quite make the cut but would definitely be of interest to ardent fans.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 52 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Kurt C gave it a10:
Exceptional album. This one really surprised me and continues to give me goose bumps while I'll rock out to it. One of the only albums I own with a perfect rating of 100. A must-by and my #1 album of 2009; it also placed at #4 for the decade behind My Morning Jacket, Wilco, and Fleet Foxes to give you some reference for what I'm in to.
Blue Meanie gave it a9:
Wow, as an old school punker around snice the '70's, I go pale when somebody says "The New Bowie' or "neo-glam". However, this is the real thing! I'm amazed that this is a current band. The have the retro chops but simultaneously sound like they dropped in from the future just as Ziggy did. Every song is great. This is a classic. No bull. Classy & sleazy all at once which the best rock n' roll always is.
Rory C. gave it a10:
Best album I've heard this year. On par with Wolf Parade's (One of Krug's other bands) last album, but more accessible and hopeful of finding beauty in the world. Hopefully the album that will give Sunset Rubdown the recognition they deserve.
Stian S gave it a10:
This album is amazing and it's getting even better for each listening, even after two months!
Pas gave it a10:
Perfect!
E S gave it a10:
This album through and through is the best of 2009. You go on ahead (trumpet trumpet II) is undoubtedly my favorite song. At first i liked silver moons the most, but after a couple listens i realized just how epic it is. On par with Shut Up I am Dreaming.
sharp math gave it a9:
Well. I never thought I would vote on mc as a user. But I have to say. This album made me realize how amazing Spencer Krug, and more importantly even, Sunset Rubdown is. Before this it was all Spencer, and Spencer is amazing. But this album was the one that, while Spencer still brought it all together, everyone else got to give a bit. 'Silver Moons' is amazing, forget how it ties into the last song. 'Idiot Heart' was my fave song at first easy. And that "hope you die line" was on par with previous amazing SR lines. But I totally fell in love with "Apollo..." because of the lyrics and the music. But the thing this album did the most for me, is made me realize just how awesome everything is Spencer Krug has done with Sunset Rubdown. Every single song on this album is one of my favorite songs.
