Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
by M83
  • Record Label: Mute
  • Release Date: Oct 18, 2011
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
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  1. XLR8r
    Oct 13, 2011
    95
    It's a fantastical story of aliens, spirits, and children told by one breathtakingly gifted artist, and it's utterly remarkable.
  2. Filter
    Oct 17, 2011
    92
    Gonzalez has crafted an admirable paean to fuzzy memories, nostalgia, melancholic rumination and pop experimentation, imploring the listener to become the stories and places that populate dreams.
  3. Pitchfork
    Oct 17, 2011
    91
    Above all else, it's the best M83 record yet.
  5. Sputnikmusic
    Oct 18, 2011
    90
    In its execution, the record is near flawless, an essential distillation of the sounds of Gonzalez's youth, nostalgia and melancholy and happiness all mixed up into a sparkling pop stew.
  6. Prefix Magazine
    Oct 17, 2011
    90
    With less of the anxiety that marked his earlier albums, that world is a joy to get lost in over and over.
  7. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    Oct 17, 2011
    90
    It sounds like a soundtrack for the end of the world, or the birth of new worlds. Extraordinary.
  8. Under The Radar
    Oct 17, 2011
    90
    A remarkable accomplishment.
  9. The Boston Phoenix
    Oct 12, 2011
    88
    In the M83 universe, emotion comes before logic, and for all 72 fascinating minutes, Gonzalez has you in the palm of his sweaty hand.
  10. Beats Per Minute
    Oct 17, 2011
    86
    At this point, it's hard to know what to let go and what to hold onto as a listener of M83, but regardless, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is a pretty fantastic record.
  11. Entertainment Weekly
    Nov 15, 2011
    83
    Gonzalez wraps both hooks and hallucinations in bubbly melodies only occasionally bogged down by murky sprawl. [28 Oct 2011, p.73]
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  12. Blurt Magazine
    Jan 3, 2012
    80
    Gonzalez paints broad strokes on this vast musical landscape, and although a wee long, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming may be his conceptual masterpiece.
  13. Q Magazine
    Nov 8, 2011
    80
    Gonzales works with subsonic electronics, shoegazey ambiance and lush orchestration to create a wildly ambitious, often visionary record. [Nov. 2011, p. 136]
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  14. The Quietus
    Nov 7, 2011
    80
    The key success of Hurry Up is that his canvas has exponentially increased in size.
  15. NOW Magazine
    Nov 3, 2011
    80
    There is plenty of [crescendos], but Gonzalez also proves adept at pacing, surrounding M83's bigger, more anthemic moments with ambient instrumental interludes and balladic "comedown" tracks.
  16. Resident Advisor
    Oct 28, 2011
    80
    Gonzalez outdoes himself on Hurry Up, We're Dreaming: a double album in tribute to the hefty documents of pre-digital, pre-iTunes yesteryear.
  17. CMJ
    Oct 27, 2011
    80
    Though taken individually some tracks may have a strikingly similar feel with a lot of big, synthy crescendos, it's the cohesion of the release that makes it work in the "epic" way that Gonzalez envisioned it.
  18. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Oct 26, 2011
    80
    Because of its ambition and grandeur, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming might get criticized for its long runtime, for trying too hard to achieve aesthetic balance and thematic coherency.
  19. AllMusic
    Oct 18, 2011
    80
    While it may not be quite as striking as Saturdays = Youth, it delivers a welcome mix of classic sounds and promising changes.
  20. The Telegraph (UK)
    Oct 17, 2011
    80
    It's surprisingly exhilarating stuff.
  21. Consequence
    Oct 14, 2011
    80
    The end result is an incredibly ambitious and personal effort that shines, sparkles, and thrills.
  22. No Ripcord
    Oct 11, 2011
    80
    It's a sweeping, expansive album, that covers a lot of ground and leaves the listener satisfied.
  23. Paste Magazine
    Oct 17, 2011
    71
    With any dreams there are ups and downs, and the same can be said about Hurry Up, We're Dreaming.
  24. PopMatters
    Oct 27, 2011
    70
    The totality of sound on Hurry Up, We're Dreaming has a way of blinding even the most critical listener to the problems that underline many of the album's lesser songs--weak choruses, unfinished ideas, and a repetition of previously successful formulas.
  25. Boston Globe
    Oct 18, 2011
    70
    The album is ambitious and brimming with all sorts of stray ideas, but it's also suited to Gonzalez's expansive gifts.
  26. New Musical Express (NME)
    Oct 17, 2011
    70
    Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is itself the Little Prince: guileless and dreamy. Quite a bold statement to make, but this is an album of equal valour.
  27. musicOMH.com
    Oct 13, 2011
    70
    Hurry Up, We're Dreaming may have its flaws, but minor niggles aside it is a testament to the fine songwriting skill of Gonzalez.
  28. BBC Music
    Oct 12, 2011
    70
    While some consistency may have been sacrificed in favour of a space-filling selection of tracks, this set still represents a heaving, breathing journey through the introspective and the bombastic, the striving and the exhaustive.
  29. Spin
    Oct 11, 2011
    70
    Gonzalez sings mostly about memories (occasionally unintelligibly), but refuses to accept that some dramatic gifts don't necessarily have to be exhausting. Still, the album is full of goose-bump moments
  30. The A.V. Club
    Oct 18, 2011
    67
    For an album of such impressive scale and nanoscopic attention to detail, Dreams leaves a surprisingly light impression.
  31. cokemachineglow
    Oct 26, 2011
    66
    The cacophony raised by this album is not so much the kind that unsettles us in important and challenging ways, but is the commercial noise of a spectacle without a center, of emotion so generic we are instantly desensitized to it.
  32. Mojo
    Dec 22, 2011
    60
    The trade-off for this grandiloquent approach is that some of the songcraft has been swept away in the surge. [Nov 2011, p.93]
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  33. Uncut
    Oct 18, 2011
    60
    After a moment of comparative restraint he returns with a double album so spectacularly grandiose you have to wear 3D specs to hear it properly. [Nov 2011, p.91]
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  34. Rolling Stone
    Oct 18, 2011
    60
    When it's not luring you to the dance floor with thrilling 1980s pop, M83's widescreen music either sounds like a lost John Hughes movie ("Soon, My Friend," with its sweeping sunset synths, needs Molly Ringwald complaining over it) or gets trippy.
  35. The Observer (UK)
    Oct 17, 2011
    60
    Never shy of delivering an electro cri de coeur where a simple chord progression will do, Anthony "M83" Gonzalez fully indulges his fondness for the grand gesture on his sixth record.
  36. Clash Music
    Oct 11, 2011
    60
    There's a lot of slightly tedious ambient wallpaper. Sure, it works to unite an otherwise diverse set of songs, but you can't help but think there's a much better play list waiting to be whittled down.
  37. Drowned In Sound
    Oct 13, 2011
    50
    Double albums are necessarily somewhat hit and miss. That's part of their pick'n'mix charm. But M83 mostly miss me here.
  38. Slant Magazine
    Oct 12, 2011
    50
    Ultimately Hurry Up, We're Dreaming sounds much more like an M83 wannabe's poor imitation than the real deal.
  39. Austin Chronicle
    Nov 3, 2011
    40
    A single CD's worth on two discs, Hurry Up indulges many watery washes ("Wait") but restrains sound collage use ("Echoes of Mine") in waiting for another 21st century merry-go-round ("New Map").

Awards & Rankings

32
#32 Most Discussed Album of 2011
40
#40 Most Shared Album of 2011

User Reviews

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User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 223 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 204 out of 223
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 223
  3. Negative: 10 out of 223
  1. RichieEstrada
    Mar 26, 2013
    10
    In today's high tech world where everything and everyone moves so fast and sudden, it becomes harder for me to stay put. Although InternetIn today's high tech world where everything and everyone moves so fast and sudden, it becomes harder for me to stay put. Although Internet giants such as YouTube, Pandora Radio, and Spotify have made music more available, I also feel that they have made most songs we listen to equally forgettable; "well that was a cool, song. Okay, what's next?" The point I'm getting at is in today's world it takes a special kind of artist with a special kind of album to keep me seated from the opening track to the closing track. An album with music so colorful and sharp, with tales of dream scape and adventures, I literally say to myself "where have you been all my life!?" Case in point--M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Not since Radiohead's 2007 In Rainbows (or even Daft Punk's 2001 Discovery album) has an album captured me with overwhelming enthusiasm such as Hurry Up, We're Dreaming has. M83 effectively tell stories of childhood innocence ("Raconte-Moi Une Histoire"), space travel (Year One, One UFO), and a life beyond imagination ("New Map") with their dreamy instrumentation. The 2-disc album is reminiscent of Pink Floyd's 1973 classic Dark Side of the Moon, in that the each song in the album picks up where the other leaves off; as if developing stories in a novel, with each track unravelling something new and astonishing where the former track leaves off and the latter picks up. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is sure to be a beloved classic as time goes by. For now, it should be regarded as a modem classic in an age where music seems to bombard audiences with flavor of the month songs by artist who try too hard to be the next big hit; or already famous artist clutching onto relevancy with "today's sound." Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is ultimately fantastic because M83 doesn't seem to force the album upon it's audience (with perhaps "Midnight City" being an exception seeing how it's a radio-friendly tune). The entire album sings with a passion of patience, grace, love, and truth that expresses how much time and effort M83 has put into their songs. And that similar patience, grace, and love is emitted by me, the listener, through how relaxed and optimistic I am as I listen to the album. I'd go as far to say Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is more of a story being told through music than just "songs." A musical novel, if you will. And just as I reach the last pages of the final chapter of a fascinating book with that "wow! What a marvelous tale! I can't wait to tell someone about it!" feeling, M83's Hurry Up, We're Dreaming gives me that equal satisfaction. Simply put, M83 has given audiences a modern day classic. A musical treasure that's aesthetically pleasing to the ears, heart, mind, and soul. Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is an artistic inspiration.… Full Review »
  2. TheCoolFrench
    Oct 18, 2011
    9
    Hurry Up, We're Dreaming contains such a quantity of melancholia and mood we don't know where to head, and therefore preferred to cram up byHurry Up, We're Dreaming contains such a quantity of melancholia and mood we don't know where to head, and therefore preferred to cram up by choosing the dual format, even at the risk of upsetting the listener. A gamble at this time.

    Yet more than a collection of singles, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming should rather be seen as an affirmation: M83 is a significant group who has the necessary legitimacy to the achievement of an album of this magnitude.    … Full Review »
  3. Smick
    Jun 18, 2012
    10
    Best album I've heard since Radiohead's 2007 record "In Rainbows". I'm not usually a fan of such heavy electronic music, but this albumBest album I've heard since Radiohead's 2007 record "In Rainbows". I'm not usually a fan of such heavy electronic music, but this album absolutely blew me away. That's saying a lot, and yes, "Raconte-moi Une Histoire" is awesome.… Full Review »
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