Head First
by Goldfrapp
  • Record Label: Mute
  • Release Date: Mar 23, 2010
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 45 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 45
  3. Negative: 2 out of 45

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  1. marcmyworks
    Nov 13, 2013
    7
    A wonderful synth album that only suffers for not being synth enough. There is a mellowness and lightness that could have been richer and deeper. Overall though it is quite strong. Download: Alive, Shiny and Warm, Rocket.
  2. owenrw89
    Dec 18, 2016
    8
    Goldfrapp didn't make a synthpop album because everybody else was doing so, they did it to show them how it's done.
    It may lack the power of 'Supernature' and the beauty of 'Seventh Tree', but it doesn't lack in fun. It's a slickly produced retro-feeling record. It'll impress the older generation for it's nostalgia, and captivate the younger.
    A fine effort indeed.
  3. gagaforever
    Sep 13, 2010
    10
    Goldfrapp's 5th album is definitely amazing. From the head rocking "Rocket" to the soft, melodic instrumental "Voicething" , Goldfrapp once again releases an album that is not only worth buying, but worth keeping and listening to over and over again!
  4. Tubie
    Nov 3, 2010
    10
    An amazing album, I love and have played some of the songs in this album way too much. I usually don't like pop sounding albums but Goldfrapp manages to make their sounds so original and well crafted I just can't help but to love them.
  5. JenS.
    Mar 26, 2010
    9
    Fun, slick album.
  6. TomB
    Apr 7, 2010
    7
    Not their best, but still light years ahead of most of the comparable stuff out there!
  7. RonB.
    Mar 26, 2010
    10
    This is pure pop bliss. You can't help but be transported back to Xanadu. Well even if the movie wasn't great, the soundtrack was. This Goldfrapp record is truly a letter of love to that period in time. With repeated listens you learn to appreciate the little nuances of ELO, and find that the music is making you want to move in a late 70's swagger. This is just a fun This is pure pop bliss. You can't help but be transported back to Xanadu. Well even if the movie wasn't great, the soundtrack was. This Goldfrapp record is truly a letter of love to that period in time. With repeated listens you learn to appreciate the little nuances of ELO, and find that the music is making you want to move in a late 70's swagger. This is just a fun Goldfrapp record and a nice little depature from their last work. Americans should give it a try, because they're really missing out on a great duo. Go ahead, KIss a muse.… Expand
  8. AmosT
    Mar 27, 2010
    10
    Most people still don't get the sound yet... Back is the new forward?
  9. BradN
    Mar 31, 2010
    9
    I heard "Rocket" and "Believer" first. Loved them. When the album came out I was very underwhelmed. However after a couple times listening to it over and over again, (I can listen to every song on my way to work everyday) I am mesmerized by it. I feel like I am in a constant trance, dripping with ecstasy. I respect this band more and more each album for mixing it up a little each time I heard "Rocket" and "Believer" first. Loved them. When the album came out I was very underwhelmed. However after a couple times listening to it over and over again, (I can listen to every song on my way to work everyday) I am mesmerized by it. I feel like I am in a constant trance, dripping with ecstasy. I respect this band more and more each album for mixing it up a little each time while still keeping their sound. Best songs: Hunt, Rocket and Voicething.… Expand
  10. JeanM
    Mar 31, 2010
    9
    to be honest, this album didn't live up to my own ridiculously high expectations, but still, it's a pop masterpiece.
  11. uptonk
    Apr 12, 2010
    10
    This year's guilty, guilty pleasure. Love every dirty, synthetic gesture.
  12. memoalive
    Jan 6, 2012
    9
    In an era of synth junkies and electropop trashy artists it would seem like a bit of trend following what Goldfrapp did with 'Head first' although, there's always something about Alison and Will, they just seem to get away with it.

    Head first is the reflection of years and years of cutting edge production, lyrics and attitude from one of the greatest electronic bands in the world. The    In an era of synth junkies and electropop trashy artists it would seem like a bit of trend following what Goldfrapp did with 'Head first' although, there's always something about Alison and Will, they just seem to get away with it.

    Head first is the reflection of years and years of cutting edge production, lyrics and attitude from one of the greatest electronic bands in the world. The album itself is a fully loaded flashback to the 80's but with that single twist, that tiny thing that reminds us that our ears are being treated with something out of the ordinary.

    And yes, I might admit that making a synthpop album in 2010 is just running the same path as previous artists that conscious or unconsciously have been touched by Goldfrapp's influence, but I also think it's a bold and bad-ass decision, specially when a lot of people are making such amazing interpretations on the genre, but I'm guessing this is just a small part of the ingenious plan of Goldfrapp taking over the world with their music on the next few years, I'm guessing this is their way of saying they can do anything they want and getting away with it, but also beneath it all, I see this record, as a way of purging some feelings and the desire of making such music as this.

    And I say this right now, on the first week of January, 2012 after hearing the 2 new tracks on Goldfrapp's first compilation, and I might say that, even though they of course contain that electronic DNA, they seem more controlled, more refined, more appeased with their own identity as performers.

    Beautiful music will always come up, but let's just stop thinking about the future, and enjoy this amazing window to the past, that at the same time, can bring us much much further.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

68
#68 Most Discussed Album of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. New Musical Express (NME)
    60
    Head First, enjoyable though much of it is, is disappointingly determined to return the favour.
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  2. Alternative Press
    80
    Goldfrapp’s skill at adopting and fully embodying different styles is what makes them distinctive, not necessarily one signature sound. If the album seems somewhat slight, it’s purposefully so: Head First is a love letter to the frothy, fleeting, but very vital joys of pop music.
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  3. BBC Music
    80
    At an economic 38 minutes and free of anything in the slightest bit terrible, you should welcome Head First like the first sun of spring, know it inside out by the time the band are slaying festival crowds mid-summer and possibly buying copies to give to close friends and family at Christmas.
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