Happiness
by Hurts
  • Record Label: RCA
  • Release Date: Sep 6, 2010
Metascore
58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 9 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    Only a joyless weirdo could deny that these are fearsomely well-crafted songs, as clean-lined and immaculate as a well-cut suit.
  2. PopMatters
    90
    Singer Theo Hutchcraft's voice is dramatic but elegant and carries each melody with a sense of purpose. His delivery is calm and composed, but he lets the words he has written speak for themselves; there's no ambiguity in these words.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 57 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 53 out of 57
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 57
  3. Negative: 1 out of 57
  1. Fuerstenberg
    Feb 13, 2022
    6
    Almost twelve years later, no album sounds more like 2010 pop than Hurts' debut album "Happiness", which is all about loss and love.Almost twelve years later, no album sounds more like 2010 pop than Hurts' debut album "Happiness", which is all about loss and love. Unfortunately, only a few songs are delicately crafted. Overall, the music is too thin and sparse as well as lacking thematic depth and versatility.

    "Happiness" is carried by "Wonderful Life", "Better Than Love" and "Stay", since the rest of the songs are just not consistent enough and are overshadowed by the aforementioned. All in all, the amount of synth sounds wants to be more epochal, monumental and defining than it really is.

    My favorites:
    "Wonderful Life"
    "Better Than Love"
    "Stay"

    ~ Fürstenberg
    February 13, 2022    … Full Review »
  2. owenrw89
    Dec 11, 2016
    8
    It's filled with bold, dark, electronic joy. It unapologetically makes nods to the synth pop masters of the 80's, and it's all the moreIt's filled with bold, dark, electronic joy. It unapologetically makes nods to the synth pop masters of the 80's, and it's all the more loveable for doing so. It does to sway towards the dull and dreary near the end, but the first part is so exciting that you can easily forgive this.… Full Review »
  3. le_one
    Jul 22, 2013
    10
    Masterpiece. The perfect simple synth-pop album with lyrics of love and loss. This album is everything that today's pop music wish it was, butMasterpiece. The perfect simple synth-pop album with lyrics of love and loss. This album is everything that today's pop music wish it was, but it ain't. I have no words to express how much I love it and there's no way I could give it less than a 10. Every single song here is exceptional and unforgettable in my life. I beg you: Buy it.… Full Review »
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