Before Today
by Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
  • Record Label: 4AD
  • Release Date: Jun 8, 2010
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 81 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 81
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 81
  3. Negative: 5 out of 81

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  1. Tubie
    Nov 3, 2010
    10
    In my opinion the best album of 2010, not that this was a good year in music anyways, but still a great album with every song being unique and still related. Arial perfects the lo-fi formula with this album improving on his previous work and finally reaching his peak to this day.
  2. organum
    Jul 9, 2011
    9
    One of the best album of 2010 in my opinion and one of my favourite lo-fi albums of all time. It sounds a lot like music from the eighties, but there isn't a band from the era that sounds like them.
  3. SilverMan
    Jun 10, 2012
    9
    What a outrageous album! It's elegant, cool, psychedelic and at the same time, different, from anything I've ever seen (even if the album contains influences from the '80s and '90s. Love it, and you must love it too.
  4. Film_Fanatic_15
    Nov 22, 2010
    6
    It feels as if every alternative band nowadays tries to go 80's on us, and it isn't working. The album would be better off without any vocals, and the rhythms are the only thing that keeps this somewhat intelligent album afloat. But hey, it works a little bit.
  5. WhiteCannon
    Sep 10, 2010
    9
    Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti might seem to be a throwback to the previous decades of music, but in fact this is one of the most modern albums to come out this year.
  6. Ricko
    Nov 4, 2011
    7
    What a diverse album this is. Imagine a hybrid band of Joy Division and the Pixies with a synth player playing at a Halloween Disco party. Itâ
  7. rox88
    Aug 10, 2015
    10
    In my humble opinion, the best record of the decade. The lo-fi mingled noises confuse the listener into a maelstrom of memories and nostalgia, a lysergic trip from the past directed into the future of the music. Superficial? Irresponsible? Already heard? Maybe, but whoever expects the greatest record of the decade to perform a real shift in society may listen more carefully to the messageIn my humble opinion, the best record of the decade. The lo-fi mingled noises confuse the listener into a maelstrom of memories and nostalgia, a lysergic trip from the past directed into the future of the music. Superficial? Irresponsible? Already heard? Maybe, but whoever expects the greatest record of the decade to perform a real shift in society may listen more carefully to the message in the final track: revolution is a lie.… Expand
  8. All_ButTrU4
    Nov 29, 2021
    7
    solidly constructed than any of his past efforts. Even more importantly, it’s also more joyously musical than most full-lengths that have been coming out in recent years, aware not of self and scene but only of the fact that music is fun and feels good.
  9. kaana948
    Dec 13, 2020
    10
    This album is the reason why i'm obsessed with ariel pink it's so good and one of the best albums of all time with no doubt

Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Best Album of 2010
100
#100 Most Discussed Album of 2010
87
#87 Most Shared Album of 2010

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
85

Universal acclaim - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. cokemachineglow
    74
    While he may be fundamentally un-reconstructed, Pink’s clearly a more polished revisionist, more polished than he’s ever been, and while it may not be conventionally recorded, Before Today still feels punchily archetypal.
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  2. Drowned In Sound
    80
    This isn’t a few Eighties synth presets stuck through a distortion pedal--it’s music that resonates far beyond a simple aping of well established precedents, often managing to be funny, sad and thought provoking in the space of a single track.
    Read full review
  3. The Boston Phoenix
    100
    He’s no slouch in his endless catalogue of exhumed pop tropes, and here he treats radio pop’s past with the all-encompassing vagueness of its title.
    Read full review
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