Begin To Hope
by Regina Spektor
  • Record Label: Sire
  • Release Date: Jun 13, 2006
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 109 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 92 out of 109
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 109
  3. Negative: 12 out of 109

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  1. AndyR
    Jul 26, 2006
    10
    It may take some getting used to for extreme "Soviet Kitsch" fans, but it's still worthwhile to give this fantasic album a listen. It's inspiring and has also many "piano and vocal only" songs too for you purists.
  2. Yamabushi
    Jun 15, 2006
    10
    This girl from Leninsky Prospect in Moscow is simply fantastic! Bravo! The Album is wonderful, especially when she sings lyrics by Pasternak!
  3. Epic
    Apr 29, 2007
    10
    The best record of 06! I love this album!
  4. DBag
    Apr 9, 2007
    10
    Such a lovely, wonderful album by Regina. Beautiful gem and one of the best all around records of 2006. This is a must buy!!
  5. CorenD
    Oct 19, 2006
    10
    Regina remains one of the most talented artists working today.
  6. stevenb
    Oct 29, 2006
    10
    An extraordinary work, lavish and sparse in equal measure. An exquisite voice and wonderfully devilish sense of humour. The best thing I have heard since Jane Siberry's 'When I was A Boy'.
  7. AlexY
    Jun 13, 2006
    10
    Best album of the year! Hopefully her career explodes this year.
  8. JayB
    Jun 15, 2006
    10
    Fantastic Album!
  9. EricW.
    Jan 18, 2007
    10
    A truly manificent work. Combine Miss Spektor's pitch-perfect vocals, her fascinating lyrics, and her superb piano-playing talent, and you have "Begin to Hope," an album that is one the greatest collections ever recorded. Call me crazy, but Regina Spektor just might become the most influential act in music since The Beatles.
  10. DontrelleM
    Apr 20, 2007
    10
    One of my personal favorites. Gets better and better the more you listen to it.
  11. Roco
    Apr 29, 2007
    10
    A brilliant musical achievement. Beautiful songwriting and great, great songs. One of the best albums of 06, by far!
  12. SlayD
    Apr 29, 2007
    10
    A fine album, wonderfully put together. Regina is one of the best musicians right now in music.
  13. RonnieM
    May 7, 2007
    10
    A wondeful album!
  14. GustavoP
    Dec 29, 2006
    10
    Best album of the year. Talented, criative, inventive and truly beautiful work.
  15. MattD.
    Jun 14, 2006
    10
    Very quirky but accessible effort. Starts with 3 lovely pop songs, and the rest might satisfy those who don't like Liz Phair's new direction.
  16. MattyC
    Jun 15, 2006
    10
    Simply Amazing. Regina's new album retains everything that makes her unique but it has expanded the style and really redefined a genre.
  17. yune2
    Jan 19, 2013
    10
    A positive, bubbly, almost childish personality coupled with a great voice and spectacular song-writing skills make Regina Spektor one of the greatest musicians of our generation.
  18. BladeLover2049
    Aug 22, 2018
    10
    Like the minimalism in the stories of Raymond Carver, the precision in the lyrics and cleanliness makes us see the simplicity of the human soul through their loving or humanitarian actions. A very spiritual album.
  19. Grandiloquence
    Sep 26, 2019
    10
    Though taking a much more pop-oriented turn than Soviet Kitsch, Regina paints an album full of beautiful balladry, vivid storytelling, theatrical piano-playing, and beautiful anti-folk vibes that make a pop album worth universal acclaim. Samson is a poignant tear-jerker while Fidelity and On the Radio are upbeat perfection. One of my favorite albums of the 2000s.
  20. clarinhaaa
    Nov 22, 2021
    10
    Perfection, Regina Spektor is so talented and smart, I just love this album and all of its music!
  21. RoxanneKimberly
    Nov 24, 2021
    10
    Regina Spektor's charm is wonderful and her clever lyrics here are amazing as well
  22. EstellaKimberly
    Nov 25, 2021
    10
    I love this album, Regina Spektor is such a great song-writter and her personality is lovely and charming
  23. brubruzinha
    Nov 25, 2021
    10
    This album is a masterpiece, Regina Spektor is such a lovely talent and her lyrics are very genius
  24. CarynM
    Jun 19, 2006
    9
    I love this girl. Her personality just shines through her music and she's amazing. I do miss her anti-Indie stuff but she is amazing at the anti-pop. I will always love her music.
  25. bretts
    Jan 2, 2007
    9
    it was emotionally evoking, well done and intelligent. i really enjoyed it
  26. AustinA
    Jul 13, 2006
    9
    Amazingly beautiful.
  27. JeremiahW
    Jul 18, 2006
    9
    All her disconcerted critics can fuck right off.
  28. JP
    Apr 5, 2007
    9
    One of my favorite albums of the year. There's only one song that I skip over "Field Below"- it's not that it's a bad song, it just gets repetitive. I was worried that the transition from piano to pop would be awkward, but she pulled it off with charm! I like this album just as much as I liked Soviet Kitsch, maybe even better.
  29. AlexW
    Jul 25, 2006
    9
    She's friggen rad.
  30. RylandDinneen
    Jan 23, 2013
    9
    Begin to Hope is easily Spektor's best album. In it she covers all that is classically influenced, using her own odd vocal techniques and oral sounds to make a completely abnormal, yet entrancing piece of music.
  31. ChadS
    Feb 14, 2007
    8
    "Begin to Hope" has two amazing songs about being in love; "On the Radio" and "Hotel Song". Spektor takes a sweet-sour approach that her rhapsodies about love don't get too icky. The former has killer observations about the reciprocation about love, but it's framed within a narrative about drug addicts; the latter tells the story of some amorous escapades in a hotel room, but "Begin to Hope" has two amazing songs about being in love; "On the Radio" and "Hotel Song". Spektor takes a sweet-sour approach that her rhapsodies about love don't get too icky. The former has killer observations about the reciprocation about love, but it's framed within a narrative about drug addicts; the latter tells the story of some amorous escapades in a hotel room, but Spektor, again with the drugs, almost digressively sings " a little bag of cocaine", because her album, albeit teenager-friendly, is for adults. There's a few songs that go absolutely nowhere, but "That Time" isn't one of them. It redeems the latter half of a sometimes very beguilling album of commercialized eccentricity.… Expand
  32. ReubenF
    Dec 18, 2006
    8
    There is something special going down in the New York City's East Village anti-folk scene. The Russian born Regina Spektor is a good example of this movement, which is becoming known, at least by me, living on the other side of the world, for producing excellent female singer-songwriters who combine tinkling on the piano with alt. county style folk. Similar to a contemporary Martha There is something special going down in the New York City's East Village anti-folk scene. The Russian born Regina Spektor is a good example of this movement, which is becoming known, at least by me, living on the other side of the world, for producing excellent female singer-songwriters who combine tinkling on the piano with alt. county style folk. Similar to a contemporary Martha Wainright, she is carrying on the tradition that harks back via Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple and Ani DiFranco, with a touch also of PJ Harvey, to a little known and fairly inconsequential artist named Kate Wolf who sang a lovely song called 'Here In California'.… Expand
  33. timothys
    Dec 29, 2006
    8
    amazing vocal quality and diversity. many songs i just feel compelled to play over and over. fabulous!
  34. PilkingtonMedia
    Oct 2, 2010
    8
    The Mellow sounds of Regina Spektor are enough for anyone to instantaneously fall in love with, beware, once you've heard it you wouldn't dare listen to anything else from the same genre
  35. Elliott
    Jul 14, 2006
    7
    I actually think that the production makes it a more expansive and equally pretty, catchy and fun (if not spectacular) album as the rest of her pretty, catchy and quirky work.
  36. BrettB
    Jun 13, 2006
    6
    One dynamic song, one catchy song - the rest filler. What happened Regina?
  37. Bobichael
    Jun 16, 2006
    6
    Whoever mixed this should be spanked. It sounds like Regina Spektor recorded another solid album, only to have her record lable hire a two year old to add in some completely inappropriate synth effects with an old school casio. Of course, the songs themselves are still hauntingly beautiful; They just lack a lot of the power of her live performances.
  38. JohnathanE
    Jan 22, 2007
    3
    She annoys me...Her personality and voice are both highly irritating.
  39. DH
    Feb 27, 2007
    2
    Oy! This passes for intelligent music? Banging out piano chords, sliding your voice up and down hardly qualify as music. The lyrics are uninspiring; well, if you like unicorns and collect candles maybe they will speak to you. Shallow, dumbed down music suitable for anyone who wishes George Winston would sing. Regina Skeptor is the paradigm of faux indie music. On the plus side: your Oy! This passes for intelligent music? Banging out piano chords, sliding your voice up and down hardly qualify as music. The lyrics are uninspiring; well, if you like unicorns and collect candles maybe they will speak to you. Shallow, dumbed down music suitable for anyone who wishes George Winston would sing. Regina Skeptor is the paradigm of faux indie music. On the plus side: your mother probably loves her music.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

68
#68 Best Album of 2006
78
#78 Most Discussed Album of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    She displays a range fans old and new will find intoxicating. [16 Jun 2006, p.75]
  2. Amazon.com
    80
    It's a consistently intelligent and daring record, yet remains enormously listenable.
    Read full review
  3. Pitchfork
    75
    On the whole her performance throughout Begin to Hope exhibits new levels of control and direction, reaching a point where the song and the singing are inseparable.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »