Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 33
  2. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Another fiercely satisfying Leo record.
  2. Spin
    90
    If 2004's killer Shake the Sheets was Leo's Give 'Em Enough Rope... Living With The Living is his London Calling, an hour-long Rolodexing of sounds and visions. [Mar 2007, p.94]
  3. Paste Magazine
    90
    Living With The Living rocks so much harder, spits more venom and cuts closer to the bone than just about anything else out there today. [Apr 2007, p.50]
  4. An impassioned, angry and devastating document.
  5. Alternative Press
    80
    Living With The Living takes steps back to New Jersey, with the sort of big rock 'n' roll, free of subcultural claim, that'd make the Boss proud. [Apr 2007, p.176]
  6. Filter
    80
    Most of Living With the Living is in fact very good--which is to say that only some of its songs emerge as equals with the best of Leo's personal catalogue. [#24, p.90]
  7. Blender
    80
    What elevates this power trio above any number of punk revivalists... are precision and craft. [Apr 2007, p.115]
  8. Uncut
    80
    Living With The Living finds them at their most assured. [Apr 2007, p.113]
  9. Living with the Living is Leo's most diverse album yet, a sort of musical "This is your life," where the artist revisits styles and forms that he's loved in the past.
  10. His most poignant and accessible album yet.
  11. Undeniably the most diverse album Leo’s ever made, Living with the Living leaves not one of Leo’s stylistic stepping-stones unturned.
  12. Mojo
    80
    A big-tableau statement that combines his musical and ideological passions. [May 2007, p.106]
  13. They sound like one brain playing machine-gun rhythms and echoing chords on a multitude of instruments, and their incredible fusion makes even the tunes with the simplest, most standard structures... exciting.
  14. Leo manages to skip from tender, unadorned romantic pop crooning to full-throttle punk yowling to Celtic-flavored folk-rock without losing the listener, the beat, or the message.
  15. So despite a pretty high hit/miss ratio, as a big-step-forward record, Living ain't exactly Armed Forces.
  16. The album features Leo's most meaty and confidant singing to date.
  17. You almost get the sense Leo must be embarrassed by how good his last record sounds, opting instead to appease some imaginary punk ethic to the detriment of his songs.
  18. Leo and company go over a lot of territory on this release, but it is not bothersome or a stretch; the band pulls off all of these styles very well.
  19. Under The Radar
    70
    Even more than its predecessors, Living is... a little bottom-heavy and sorely in need of an editor. [#16, p.92]
  20. Billboard
    70
    The first half of "Living With the Living" offers well more of everything that's made Leo and his Pharmacists such post-punk studs. [24 Mar 2007]
  21. It's different, its harder, and its honestly a bit of a disappointment.
  22. Yet although his mixture of politics, heart and intelligence with taut guitars and a sweet falsetto will presumably be engaging forever (and Leo hits much more than he ever misses), it's getting hard to ignore that little voice inside that wants something more from him.
  23. It's more blunt than 2004's already pointed Shake the Sheets, and more streamlined as well.
  24. There's as much silliness and attempted cred-building as there is genuine excitement.
  25. His songs here aren't always as memorable as on previous albums, but the good tunes are great.
  26. Living With the Living might agitate the lefty already inside, but you don't have to like Leo's politics to move to the music.
  27. Rolling Stone
    60
    Leo's melodic gifts don't keep up with his lyrics. [22 Mar 2007, p.80]
  28. Ted Leo again falls a few hands short of the definitive statement we insist on expecting.
  29. An album that’s a little uneven but manages to work more often than not.
  30. The songs are flat and unoriginal rock.
  31. The heart is here, but the lyrics have him sounding like a man who’s turned healing into a systematic process — a man who’s heard too much kind advice or maybe sat through too much therapy.
  32. This is a bloated, overlong rock record that shouldn’t have even considered breaking the 40-minute mark.
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 19
  2. Negative: 1 out of 19
  1. guidedbyv
    Aug 11, 2007
    9
    The only band that matters! An excellent effort from an equally excellent band
  2. VincentH
    Aug 7, 2007
    6
    I am (like many other people who reviewed here) a huge, die-hard Ted Leo fan and like you all, I worship this man and am always appreciative I am (like many other people who reviewed here) a huge, die-hard Ted Leo fan and like you all, I worship this man and am always appreciative that he is writing music and releasing it. But this is easily and by far his weakest album. Tyranny, Hearts of Oak, and Shake the Sheets are all masterpieces in my opinion. They are all literally amazing and life-changing albums. So of course anything less is gonna be dissapointing, but even with lowered expectations, this album just doesn't deliver like any of his previous work. There are a handful of instant classics (A Bottle Of Buckie, La Costa Brava, The Unwanted Things) but the majority of the album kinda drags. What it comes down to basically is songwriting: there's nothing wrong with experimentation and trying different things of course, but if the songwriting isn't there to begin with, all that stuff doesn't matter. I mean the first half of the album is alright, but none of the songs have that instant amazing-catchy melodic part to them. There is not one song on here that even touches "Me and Mia" or "Where Have all the Rude Boys Gone?" or "Parallel or Together". The best songs on here aren't even as good as some of the more forgettable songs from "Hearts of Oak or his last album. Obviously Leo still can write amazing songs, but I just don't think the songs on this album are really that captivating. I could listen to any of the previous albums over and over and never get tired of them, because the songs are just so fuckin' good. All in all, the best songs on the album make it a worthwhile purchase, but be warned if you are a hardcore fan of the last 3 albums, I think you will be ultimately dissapointed and (like me) take out the disc and listen to "Shake the Sheets" again. Full Review »
  3. WestonT
    Jun 4, 2007
    9
    The album is a 7 at best... with the regular hits and misses that TL/Rx is bound to have in any (read, all) of their albums. The Bonus EP is The album is a 7 at best... with the regular hits and misses that TL/Rx is bound to have in any (read, all) of their albums. The Bonus EP is raw and the amp clips hell out of the music, which makes it a hard listen in my book (like listening to a garage band a couple houses over through tin cans and a string) but the album is what I bought it for anyway. Oh yeah, I give it a '9' for the '10' that is seeing TL live. Even the cheesy "Bottle of Bucky" seems like talking to an old friend when Ted is howling a few yards away. Don't believe me? Go see him. Full Review »