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

The Guardian

Career-defining stuff.

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100

Los Angeles Times

Dear Science, the third album from the Brooklyn-based art rock band TV on the Radio, is a vivid, angry, sensual soundtrack to the haunted life.

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100

Q Magazine

No two tracks are the same, none could be anyone else. This is one irresistible party: the joy Adebimpe was looking for is right here. A great, great record. [Oct 2008, p.154]

100

Slant Magazine

TV on the Radio have finally made an album that someone other than hyper-analytical music critics might actually enjoy.

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100

Hot Press

Dear Science, has all the euphoria and cosmic soul searching hinted at but not delivered on by lesser chancers such as MGMT.

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100

MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

The thing about the indie-rock life is that even its depressives, not just mere realists like these guys, have a pretty good time.

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Pitchfork

Yes, this is shit-hot thrilling music. But it's also brainy and ambivalent, and more engaging for it.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

On Dear Science, TVOTR finds a more traditional consistency, transmuting that dirty experimentalism into a lush cleanliness that eases--rather than hurls--its songs into the art-making ether.

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Entertainment Weekly

TV on the Radio may still--and always--make capital-A art, but they've found something universal, even joyful, in the noise.

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Urb

Overall, Science expands the band’s already-vast palette that continues to defy and recontextualize any definition of a “rock” band.

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Drowned In Sound

Whether Dear Science stands the test of time like classic records must is impossible to predict right now, but, at this moment in time, it's sounding like one of the albums of the year, and its makers' latest, greatest masterpiece.

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PopMatters

There’s a sense of purpose here, of direction and clarity, shafts of accessibility that relegate the din to the background without ever compromising the potentially hostile underbelly of the band’s core sound.

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Spin

Throughout Dear Science, TV on the Radio--which includes the rhythm section of bassist Gerard Smith and drummer Jaleel Bunton--flesh out Adebimpe's and Malone's ruminations with relentlessly inventive arrangements that make even familiar sentiments seem fresh.

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Sputnikmusic

One of the best albums of 2008, Dear Science, is an album you can ramble on about for nearly 600 words before you realize you forgot to mention 'Golden Age,' arguably the best song on the album.

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Sputnikmusic

For all its musical precedents (first and foremost, this is an auspicious, brilliantly-executed dance album), what makes Dear Science so hefty and relevant is its beating heart.

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Delusions of Adequacy

Dear Science is a stirring addition to their ever proliferating catalog; a stalwart continuation of the band’s hooking groove, and easily one of the best releases of the year.

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Prefix Magazine

Dear Science is another highlight from a band whose career has essentially been an extended one.

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All Music Guide

'Dancing Choose's' title is pointed enough that the song almost doesn't need to prove that dancing on your troubles is powerfully therapeutic as thoroughly as it does, but that's just another example of this album's rare balance between craft and passion.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

Dear Science is all the more satisfying for providing a sense that the next leap will be just as rewarding.

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NOW Magazine

The most engaging film characters have likeable qualities that conflict with something that’s inherently hard to stomach. Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio masterfully employ this tension in Dear Science,--apparently their major breakthrough album.

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New York Magazine

The whole record is about the band skillfully weaving in and out of dramatically different textures and arrangements; each song plays with several musical ideas, not just one or two.

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Dot Music

TV On The Radio sound wise beyond their years, youthful stars whose mouthpiece contorts itself into funk shapes and whups without sounding like an out-of-depth chancer.

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Boston Globe

It's that sprawling sense of humanity that makes Dear Science such a rich listen.

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Hartford Courant

Dear Science finds the band pushing still further, using its big beats and graffiti textures in service of its most accessible songs to date.

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Rolling Stone

Dear Science is a brilliant balancing act between pop aspiration and music-geek aesthetics.

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musicOMH.com

Deep Science should enhance TVOTR's reputation as one of the finest, forward-thinking bands around, along with fellow Brooklyn acts Animal Collective and Liars.

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Observer Music Monthly

It's a real thrill to find TV on the Radio pushing through the portal into the ethereal space-rock paradise that they always seemed destined to inhabit.

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Uncut

All are very good indeed.

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Mojo

Malone excels himself with the brassy pop of 'Lover's Day' and 'Golden Age.' [Oct 2008, p.112]

New Musical Express (NME)

Dear Science cuts through genres like a laser through a music encyclopaedia, making strange connections, but always with pop clarity as the ultimate aim. As ever, Sitek’s production shines.

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Blender

They've toned down the distorted-guitar squall and ash gray skronk that blanketed their first two albums, the rhythms are friskier, more vigorous; the hooks accessible and easier to love. [Oct 2008, p.77]

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The Phoenix

Although it’s not a major departure, Dear Science, does have a more open, brighter sound than "Return to Cookie Mountain."

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Paste Magazine

It stands as a sometimes-confusing document of a particular time and place in the story of this constantly evolving art project.

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cokemachineglow

Dave Sitek’s production is the magnetic north of this musical universe, and with it the band is never lost. They would be well to sound more so; to get lost, rather than cluck with pleasure at how well they know themselves.

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Billboard

It's all well and good, but we've mostly heard it before.

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Almost Cool

If you're a fan, there's certainly stuff you'll enjoy here, but if you're looking for them to take another step forward, this might not suffice.

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Austin Chronicle

On third full-length Dear Science, the Brooklynites have turned a corner, safe in the knowledge they can pen a good pop song. Not everything works, of course.

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Filter

Dear Science has its moments, but these moments means less and weigh more. Pretty cool? Well, it's pretty alright. [Fall 2008, p.91]

Under The Radar

Dear Science, spends its 50 minutes in flux between several worlds, none of them particularly memorable. [Fall 2008, p.78]

No Ripcord

They haven’t exactly lost their sense of intrigue, it’s just that on Dear Science it all sounds a lot less intriguing.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 191 User Votes

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

Toby H gave it an8:
A great album, if a little irritating at times. Bursting with infectiously creative energy, the best tracks are Crying, Red Dress, Love Dog, and the horrendously-aggressive-but-scarily-catchy DLZ. TV On The Radio are much better when they go for excitement over contemplation (with the exception of Family Tree, the slow tracks, Stork & Owl and the overly-long Lover's Day, just dont work for me). Anyway, well worth getting, mostly brilliant! Guaranteed to cheer you up!

Ming V gave it a6:
In my definition, music is all about to erupt emotions but not to engulf us in thoughts. If the reverse is true then I'll consider this album to be great. What it lacks is any truly emotional tune-ups at any moment. A little bit of dullness and a lot of turgidity, to sum up.

Michael gave it a5:
The critical babble heaped upon Dear Science is concerning, as it is certainly not the absolute best album of 2008, as many will tell you. Almost by default, it has attained this status. If you have enough critics and fans plumping it their top 25 or 50 of the year, of course it will end up it the top ten of that list. If you look at the overly positive critic reviews, they actually don't make any sense! Greatness is measured in the music itself, not because someone tells you it is. There was beauty abound in TV on the Radio's previous work. In Dear Science, the band's trademark atmosphere is all but lost to anonymous/annoying beats and over-reaching lyrics. But the greatest criticism I have for this album is its indifference. The band never sticks its neck out on Dear Science in search for something potentially great. But as I said earlier, much worse than the actual album is the generally very poor critiquing of it. Oh well.

ex e. gave it a10:
I can't stop listening to this amazing collection of songs. Hearing most of this album performed live certainly helped me to appreciate the music more as a living breathing thing, where as a lot of songs from Return To Cookie Mountain (an album I find to be without flaw) were not as satisfying on stage. Anyway, it's not it's predecessor, without a doubt, but I'm into TVOTR's journey and see no reason to pick apart one of the few bands I can still get excited about. To each his own.

krishan s gave it a10:
Been listening to this for almost 6 moths now. Everyday. Still not bored. Maybe never will be.

DJ DJ gave it a10:
GLC what the heck are you tliking about!!! this is one of the best albums of the last 10 years. OVERCOMPRESSED,CRAPFEST!!! the production shimers and the songs are perfect. If you dont want to listen to this then don't, but I most certainly will be.

Scott W. gave it a10:
One of the best constructed rock albums of the 2000s. TV On The Radio's best so far. Its artsy but still very much good rock. The band has fun with the songs, yet keeps them coming with a experimental freshness that very few bands can pull off.

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