User Score
Universal acclaim- based on 171 Ratings
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 148 out of 171
-
Mixed: 16 out of 171
-
Negative: 7 out of 171
Buy Now
Review this album
-
-
Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.
-
-
Submit
-
Check Spelling
- User score
- By date
- Most helpful
-
Jun 30, 2011Immaculate, affecting, addictive. James Blake takes the cake. I Never Learnt to Share is perfect. Lindesfarne II is gourgeous. I'm not sure if the album is greater than the sum of its parts because I can't count that high.
-
Jul 7, 2011I love his album. And also his releases with Hemlock. His music sounds deep, making my soul vibrate. I wasn't interesting in electronic music before I listened to him. Now I'm crazy about it!
-
Jun 2, 2011
-
Oct 26, 2012
-
Oct 30, 2012Certainly one of the best albums of 2011.
I usually like Dance-Pop, but this album has really stood out. I just love the use of the Electronica in songs like the powerful 'Unluck' or 'I Mind'. The echoing and the pauses create a haunting, beautiful effect.
I guess some people will inevitably give it 10/10, but I don't see it as flawless. -
Nov 25, 2015
-
Dec 27, 2013
-
Feb 9, 2011A truly brilliant album. Blake has taken the most distinctive elements of dubstep, stripped them down to their most minimal core, and infused the result with a soulfulness rarely found in contemporary music. It's beyond words and beyond anything anyone has done, and is undoubtedly the best album of 2011.
-
Apr 3, 2011
-
Feb 19, 2011What a brilliant album. The vocals are mature, subtle, toned down, patient. James Blake has really come into his own with this. Absolutely ground breaking.
-
Feb 10, 2011This album really bares no relation to dubstep. I'd call it post-millennial R&B. It's brilliant, experimental, exploring the use of silence as a rhythm tool. The last section of "I never learnt to share" is probably the filthiest beat I've heard in the last year. The fact that this is a 22-year old kid puts us into Aphex Twin territory.
-
Mar 4, 2011There's an overriding impression that Blake is trying desperately hard to create an album of sonic originality, but textured calculations, modernist machine beats and vocoders can't replace traditional songwriting, of which there's simply not enough of on this debut
-
Mar 23, 2011
-
Apr 3, 2011The best song on this album is a cover, but the same was true of Terence Trent D'Arby's debut. I'm not comparing them (maybe a little) but I like how they are inheriting soul and making it new.
-
Feb 9, 2011
-
Sep 5, 2011Why do i have to write 150 words when James Blake's soulful, exciting and saddening album can only be expressed through the word - WOW.
-
Feb 9, 2011
-
Mar 27, 2011
-
Dec 21, 2011I found this album boring and full of useless electronic arrangements that makes this album unpleasant. In my opinion this album is extremely overrated and I can't see any future in this artist.
-
Jul 30, 2012I really tried to like this album. After two full listens, I found myself floating inside an utterly boring record, with uninspired melodies and poor produced songs. The only positive view I could give is about the high level of Blake's songwriting and his voice, that has a special tone within. But, it is still one of the most over-hyped albums of past year.
-
Feb 12, 2012James Blake is an overhyped indie artist with nothing really behind his pretentious music style... People praise The Wilhelm Scream without actually realising that it was his father who wrote the song. The production is dull, and overall, this release is boring.
-
Nov 20, 2011The debut studio album by James Blake surprisingly managed to climb to the UK Top 10. It was also the first release of 2011 to receive a 9.0 rating from Pitchfork. Now, if this is not an accomplishment, then what is? But James Blake deserves all the buzz for one reason only: itâ
-
Jun 3, 2013With stark minimal beat, fuses with James' deep soulful voice made his debut album a piece of distinctive record. It has its complexity as an electronic music yet somehow managed to stayed light, like post music in general. A marvel. Highlight tracks: I Never Learnt to Share, Unluck, Limit to Your Love, Wilhelm Scream
-
Jun 20, 2013This album, My favorite of 2011, unlike anything I've heard. Maybe I haven't listened to enough to say that, but James Blake has created such an incredible bridge between soulful singing and wonderful electronics- he should collaborate with other artists more often, his beats would do beyond justice to other's talents.
-
Apr 21, 2015
-
Oct 25, 2021Beautiful. Affecting. Gorgeous .
Highlights :Lindesfarne I&II,I never learnt to share,Wilhelm screan -
Oct 29, 2021
-
Feb 25, 2020James Blake can really touch your soul with few notes. Sometimes his works looks so simple... but they are also deep and addictive! "Limit to Your Love" is the best example.
Awards & Rankings
-
The WireApr 28, 2011Like Portishead, this album may very well achieve background ubiquity, but that should not be allowed to obscure the strangeness and currency of this record. [Mar 2011, p.46]
-
Entertainment WeeklyApr 8, 2011An intriguing concept, not always fully realized. [1 Apr 2011, p.77]
-
MojoApr 6, 2011London singer-songwriter attempts to annex the middle ground between Benga and Anthony Hegarty. [March 2011, p. 96]