• Record Label: Superego
  • Release Date: Sep 18, 2012
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 19
  2. Negative: 0 out of 19
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  1. Q Magazine
    Oct 23, 2012
    60
    She's good and snarky on Charmer. [Nov 2012, p. 101]
  2. Magnet
    Oct 22, 2012
    85
    A sameness of style makes things feel a little redundant, but taken in discreet portions, these tunes are unimpeachable. [No.92 p.55]
  3. Oct 15, 2012
    50
    It doesn't really work for either audience it aspires to please, and I'm left feeling a bit bored.
  4. Oct 1, 2012
    80
    Once again, we have a very good recording from a very talented singer, songwriter, and performer.
  5. Sep 25, 2012
    50
    There's little new here, and even less charm.
  6. Sep 24, 2012
    70
    For all of the down and doubtful lyrics on Charmer, Mann has never sounded like more of a natural.
  7. Sep 20, 2012
    78
    Thirty years in, Mann continues to charm, a hidden glint in her eye.
  8. Mojo
    Sep 19, 2012
    80
    Charmer is in essence an Americana and power-pop confection with piano and tasteful guitars swaddled in the choicest vintage tones. [Oct 2012, p.83]
  9. Sep 19, 2012
    80
    The music on Charmer could be classified as pop psychedelica (think of The Beatles circa 1965 with modern synths and production). The instrumentation is always bright, even when the lyrics get dark.
  10. Sep 19, 2012
    78
    The simple fact that Aimee Mann continues writing songs around these distressing observations and putting them out on such achingly beautiful records seems proof that-despite all the twisted, cutting truths she's spied under the lens of her artistic microscope--she still somehow clings to the sable cloud's silver flash.
  11. Sep 18, 2012
    50
    Too many tracks flirt with flat inconsequentiality, and too often the lyrics slip by without the sting of Mann's normally incisive wordsmithery.
  12. Sep 18, 2012
    60
    Charmer, her eighth studio album, represents a sunny turn for her, at least in relative terms.
  13. Sep 18, 2012
    75
    More often than not on Charmer, though, she is able to match her ideas to music with real kick.
  14. Uncut
    Sep 17, 2012
    80
    Charmer plies the familiar recipe on a bed of pealing guitars and burbling synths. [Oct 2012, p.84]
  15. Another sweet viper's bite of post-Freudian dyspepsia from the singersongwriter who loves to mistrust.
  16. Under The Radar
    Sep 17, 2012
    60
    The record doesn't veer far from the template Mann has established over the last decade. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.122]
  17. Sep 17, 2012
    80
    Her livelier numbers, of which there are quite a few, aren't exactly frivolous, but they have a pulse and plenty of color which, combined with album's concise running time, give Charmer the feel of an immediate, engaging pop record.
  18. 60
    Charmer is at its finest during the most subdued, quietly detailed stretches, which veer closer to what we've heard from Mann on past efforts.
  19. Sep 17, 2012
    60
    There is some magic to Mann's music and it's often hard to define.
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Nov 12, 2021
    8
    After the ho-hum "The Forgotten Arm" and the sleepy "Smilers," "Charmer" offers a refreshing change of pace. It's a very underrated album. IAfter the ho-hum "The Forgotten Arm" and the sleepy "Smilers," "Charmer" offers a refreshing change of pace. It's a very underrated album. I mean, can you believe that after NINE years, mine is the very first user review??? Well, as they say, there's no accounting for taste. ;)

    This album has a lot of variety, and it's Mann's most entertaining. The first two songs are the standouts—especially the haunting "Disappeared." All the songs here are pretty good, though. Toward the end, "Barfly" and "Gumby" are sort of silly, but still not bad. And "Gamma Ray" has a ton of energy. Even the bonus tracks are worth hearing.

    In a nutshell, this is a fun album worth checking out.
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