• Record Label: Epic
  • Release Date: Mar 11, 2013
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 55 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 46 out of 55
  2. Negative: 2 out of 55
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  1. Dec 11, 2016
    7
    A little dark for the sake of being dark at times, but the electro-haunt production is so rich, you can't help but admire it. Hurts have selected their style and stuck to it. A cracking and interesting follow up to the incredible 'Happiness'.
  2. Jul 22, 2013
    10
    They change their sound to a darker/heavier scenario. But the deep songs are still here. The album is divided with the following scheme:
    Track 1: Open the album
    Tracks 2-5: Pop songs (the one that could hit the radio) Tracks 6-8: The experiments they tried. The dark/heavy songs. Tracks 9-12: Beautiful deep songs. Highlights: Somebody To Die For, Blind, The Rope, Help, The Crow.
    They change their sound to a darker/heavier scenario. But the deep songs are still here. The album is divided with the following scheme:
    Track 1: Open the album
    Tracks 2-5: Pop songs (the one that could hit the radio)
    Tracks 6-8: The experiments they tried. The dark/heavy songs.
    Tracks 9-12: Beautiful deep songs.

    Highlights: Somebody To Die For, Blind, The Rope, Help, The Crow.
    Actually, all tracks are excellent, I just tried to reduce the list from 12 to 5. Buy it ASAP.
    Expand
  3. Mar 15, 2013
    5
    Hurts return with a much darker vibe Exile has less electropo and far less innovations than Happiness. It almost seems as the duo is burned out; you get the feeling of "been there, done that" way too often. Perhaps it would have been wise of their part to take a longer break and work out the kinks and come up with something truly innovational... Most fans will devour Exile with happiness,Hurts return with a much darker vibe Exile has less electropo and far less innovations than Happiness. It almost seems as the duo is burned out; you get the feeling of "been there, done that" way too often. Perhaps it would have been wise of their part to take a longer break and work out the kinks and come up with something truly innovational... Most fans will devour Exile with happiness, except for the more ambitious ones, who will most likely feel cheated. Expand
  4. Mar 16, 2013
    10
    This is so much darker than Happiness; but, maybe a bit better. They've change their sound and they've created something a bit different. Songs like "The Road" or "Mercy" or "Cupid" are the ones that will make you to love Exile more than you did with Happiness.
  5. Mar 16, 2013
    10
    great album. big departure from thei first work, happiness. it is somewhat funny that the critics continue to criticise hurts while they are full of praises of such bands as one direction. to me this is because today it is better to praise music you perfectly know will sale more than original bands that perhaps are not everybody's cup of tea. it is a little frustrating because inspirationgreat album. big departure from thei first work, happiness. it is somewhat funny that the critics continue to criticise hurts while they are full of praises of such bands as one direction. to me this is because today it is better to praise music you perfectly know will sale more than original bands that perhaps are not everybody's cup of tea. it is a little frustrating because inspiration is ignored in favour of market sales Expand
  6. Apr 14, 2013
    8
    I had never heard of Hurts, but after hearing their amazing remix of Lady Gaga's song, Judas, I became really interested to hear about what more they had to offer. Suffice to say, I was blown away. Hurts sound as if they've been very inspired by Depeche Mode and that is definitely a good thing. Track after track of pure synthpop/new wave bliss. The Road sounds so epic, Cupid sounds soI had never heard of Hurts, but after hearing their amazing remix of Lady Gaga's song, Judas, I became really interested to hear about what more they had to offer. Suffice to say, I was blown away. Hurts sound as if they've been very inspired by Depeche Mode and that is definitely a good thing. Track after track of pure synthpop/new wave bliss. The Road sounds so epic, Cupid sounds so erotic and heavily inspired by Personal Jesus, The Crow is so spiritual sounding and bonus track, Guilt, is such an emotional tear-jerker. And everything else is very good as well, with the only exceptions being Miracle and Blind, perhaps. Albums like these are proof that electronica can have soul and I'm intrigued to see what more Hurts can do in the future. Expand
  7. Mar 11, 2013
    8
    Exile is much darker than Happiness, but you would imagine this from the name; a slightly industrial sound with hints of more melancholic moments. A heavy sound from hurts this time round, and It must be said it is a great effort! brilliantly written music, brilliantly written songs and lets face it, even the album artwork is beautiful. Exile isn't as good as happiness, and why would it beExile is much darker than Happiness, but you would imagine this from the name; a slightly industrial sound with hints of more melancholic moments. A heavy sound from hurts this time round, and It must be said it is a great effort! brilliantly written music, brilliantly written songs and lets face it, even the album artwork is beautiful. Exile isn't as good as happiness, and why would it be they spend nearly 5 years on happiness compared to the 2 on exile. all in all an exceptionally good album, its just lacking the class and finesse of happiness Expand
  8. Apr 22, 2014
    7
    A very good second album from this band. What shines the most are the melodies and once again the voice of the singer, so haunting and beautiful. The worst part are probably the lyrics, they are weak when you look at the album as a whole. The best songs are Miracle, Help and Guilty.
  9. Mar 18, 2013
    10
    this album is really good. all the songs are somehow magical. there are few of them like somebody to die for which are kinda pathetic but they go with the album. it is a lot more darker than happiness. my favorites are exile, sandman, the crow and the road.
  10. Feb 16, 2015
    6
    They didn't know where they wanted to go with this album. Some songs are awesome, dark and magical, but some are just basic pop songs - bad basic pop songs. Exile is a mess. Rock, electronic, hiphop, terrible italo disco, pop, which reminds me of Eurovision and even DUBSTEP. This doesn't make any sense.
Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 16
  2. Negative: 1 out of 16
  1. Mar 27, 2013
    40
    This is an album that maintains the joyless musical brand Hutchcraft and Anderson crystallised with their two million selling debut.
  2. Mar 19, 2013
    80
    What's clear about Hurts on Exile is how skilled Hutchcraft and Anderson are at seamlessly incorporating their influences, so you can hear the bands' inspirations in every line even as you marvel that this album is like nothing you've heard before.
  3. Mar 19, 2013
    50
    No matter how many dark subjects are nested throughout, too often the music on Exile falls back into the same old tricks of bells-and-whistles pop choruses and obvious hooks.