Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts Image
Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 15 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 35 Ratings

  • Summary: The second release from French electronica duo M83 takes shoegaze classics such as 'Loveless' as an inspiration, with synths taking the place of guitars.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 15
  2. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Simply put, this album sounds absolutely huge, its relentless attention to detail eclipsed only by the stunning emotional power it conveys.
  2. A Herculean instrumental epic of beautiful depth, staggering grandiosity and extraterrestrial soundscapes. [#7]
  3. Dead Cities reinforces the French pair's penchant for distorted vocals and cheesy synthesizers, but the tracks here ultimately add up to far less than the sum of their assorted parts.

See all 15 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 20
  2. Negative: 3 out of 20
  1. RickyR.
    10
    Electronic music was never meant to be this beautiful. Some parts of the album sound so huge it's almost frightening in it's vastness. Listen to this album in a comfortable chair with the lights off and your mind will swim with beautiful images. Expand
  2. LawrenceP
    8
    Best electronica LP of the year??? I think so.
  3. JerradH
    5
    I like the quality and the instrumentation, but the melodies sound very flat and uninspired, and after a few listens, it all sounds very plain and blah. There's just not enough musical variation, and too many of the instruements play the exact same note throughout each song. Expand
  4. turtlehead
    3
    every few months i will put this on again, attempting to figure out what exactly is so appealing about it. I can't believe every person who gave this a 9 or 10 would have were it not for the huge critical reception. I find it almost impossible to make it from one end of the album to the other. Despite it being synthesized organ tones, it somehow manages to be more abrasive -- probably a result of its one (1) dynamic -- than any punk or metal or noise I've heard. Nobody I know ever actually listens to this. M83 did a song called "slowly" that i love, a good party song, but this album just wallows. I just wanted to say, to anyone considering buying this, to listen to some of it first, because its not really relaxing, interesting, fun...it's huge synth organs with synth blips and bleeps. you've been warned. DO NOT believe the hype surrounding this album. if you want epic, get some godspeed, if transcendant, maybe johann johannsen or the soundtrack to 2001 or something. The rating of their follow-up album reflects how well the debut keeps, i think. Cut the gimmick loose. Collapse

See all 20 User Reviews