• Record Label: Fiction
  • Release Date: Jun 8, 2010
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. A long 14 tracks, it's fairly unfocused and though the pair have done enough to prove that they're not just out to annoy, there is still something fundamentally unsatisfying going on here.
  2. The music is dynamic, danceable and largely based around swelling arpeggios of stabbing synths, but it remains resolutely cold, major keys avoided.
  3. It’s a middling album that managed to get the best of collective consciousness.
  4. This album feels a little stranded, not quite pulling off the icy, slightly scary pop one suspects is the intention--good enough, but no Ladytron or the Knife.
  5. Uncut
    60
    Kath's basic approach to synth-pop means most tracks adhere to a glitchy arpeggiated formula that resembles a Faithless record, but with added indie weirdness. [Jul 2010, p.104]
  6. Q Magazine
    60
    The follow-up repeats the trick, scattering dreamy pop between industrial soundscapes. [July 2010, p. 129]
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 140 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 7 out of 140
  1. Dec 28, 2011
    10
    smoke weed everyday
  2. Dec 22, 2011
    10
    "Crystal Castles II" recorre una amplia gama de ritmos que van desde los ritmos sosegados y espaciales como "Violent Dreams" o "I Am Made of"Crystal Castles II" recorre una amplia gama de ritmos que van desde los ritmos sosegados y espaciales como "Violent Dreams" o "I Am Made of Chalk", tonalidades rítmicas y bailables ( "Celestica" , "Suffocation" o "Intimate") y llega hasta los extremos donde la distorción (Lo-fi) se remarcan y le añaden dramatismo al album ("Fainting Spells" o "Doe Deer"). Crystal Castles logra un álbum innovador de música electrónica con una temática muy oscura que puede volverse adicción en cualquier momento. Full Review »
  3. Oct 3, 2012
    8
    Crystal Castles sophomore effort is far from a slump. They take what made their first album so great, and add a polished, refined sound, butCrystal Castles sophomore effort is far from a slump. They take what made their first album so great, and add a polished, refined sound, but still manage to have that lo-fi, edgy sonic noise that only they can make. Do I prefer this album over their first? No. Is it a good album? Absolutely. All In All, Crystal Castles have yet to make a bad album. B+ Full Review »