Have You Fed the Fish? - Badly Drawn Boy
Have You Fed the Fish? Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

  • Summary: After wowing music critics and winning Britain's Mercury Music Prize for his 2000 debut album, 'The Hour of Bewilderbeast,' Damon Gough (who is the one and only member of Badly Drawn Boy) took a bit of time off, recording only the soundtrack for 'About A Boy' in the interim. He now returns with a proper follow-up, preceded by single "You Were Right." Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 23
  2. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. 100
    Arguably, not since early Costello has a British solo artist combined such bare-arsed soulfulness with such corrosively perceptive humour. Quite something. [Album of the Month, Nov 2002, p.112]
  2. It's not that Have You Fed the Fish? is vastly inferior to Gough's debut so much as it's an unbalanced and ultimately frustrating album.
  3. If he still sounds semi-conscious half the time, so be it. Three albums into his misleading career and Damon Gough, it seems, can still write strange, life-affirming pop music in his sleep.
  4. Where once the bark was of Beck, we have - and this hurts - Wings.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. I think this album is a victim of bad track ordering, the second half of the album doesn't quite flow as much as the first. Its still great, the songcraft is as good as HOTB but just not as frequent, You Were Right is his best song yet and arguably one of the most touching songs ever written. Expand
  2. matta
    8
    I will agree partially with some critics that have said that the whole affair just doesn't flow that well, but still, this album features, individually, some amazing songs (All possibilities, The Further I Slide) and a funny, recurring lyrical theme. He's still a genius. Expand
  3. 7
    The follow up proper to Hour of Bewilderbeast - It doesn't quite live up to his debut. There are some good idea's here but they aren't fully developed on here. Everything he got right on Bewilderbeast, doesn't quite come off for him here and at times the record has a bit of a dreary feel to it. Having said that there are still enough good tracks to make it a worthwhile listen. Expand
  4. MikeP
    4
    I really enjoyed The Hour of Bewilderbeast and the About A Boy soundtrack but he's lost something since then. This is quite a boring album with mildly irritating lyrics and weak tunes. There is none of the brilliance of Disillusion, Once Around the Block, Something To Talk About or Silent Sigh here. Expand

See all 9 User Reviews