London Zoo
by The Bug
User Score
6.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 84 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 48 out of 84
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 84
  3. Negative: 24 out of 84

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  1. JaneMetascore
    Dec 18, 2019
    4
    Avoid shows by the Bug, they're awful. There's not any meaning to the many colors in this music, like any real abstraction is lost. When the Bug clicks away that is good night to Irene, and others, and it just sounds awful. When the Bug grinds what does it matter any more? The Bug's music completely lacks eloquence of any kind.
  2. TImA
    Apr 17, 2009
    5
    I am a big fan of Ninja Tunes (the label this was released on) and have an incredibly broad taste in music so consider myself open minded to most stuff. I am also from London and therefore not unfamiliar with the style of vocals that are used here. That all said however this album is horrendously over rated where the critics got the ratings from I will never know. It is essentially some I am a big fan of Ninja Tunes (the label this was released on) and have an incredibly broad taste in music so consider myself open minded to most stuff. I am also from London and therefore not unfamiliar with the style of vocals that are used here. That all said however this album is horrendously over rated where the critics got the ratings from I will never know. It is essentially some decent (and only decent) dub-step style tracks with reggae/Rasta vocals over it. The vocals do not work at all … Expand
  3. kilas99
    Oct 29, 2008
    4
    Really hard on the ears. I think if the pace and tempo was quicker I could handle it, but after several listens I still hear abrasive MC's over very, very grime-y beats that never really take off. Really depends on what you're looking for from electronic/hip-hop/producer etc.
  4. TomP.
    Sep 9, 2008
    5
    As I said in regards to DragonForce, that many critics just can't ball up to without sounding biased and losing their jobs. Is that a great album, in a garbage genre, is still garbage. Nuff said.
  5. DomB.
    Sep 2, 2008
    5
    Totally overrated. Next!

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Album of 2008
50
#50 Most Discussed Album of 2008
47
#47 Most Shared Album of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Drowned In Sound
    90
    The cumulative effect--somewhere around being lifted into the heavens by sunrays--is at odds with the continuous black clouds that come before. Yet it’s a necessary chink of light to conclude a journey so oppressive you may just forget to breathe through its duration.
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  2. Dusted Magazine
    90
    Considering the host of absolutely killer tracks, London Zoo might just be Kevin Martin's finest album, which is astounding considering the man has been making music for two decades.
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  3. Observer Music Monthly
    100
    London Zoo provides the perfect showcase for its colourful menagerie of MCs and singers. And the Bug's no-nonsense clank and grind production fosters a rare intensity of focus on this album's higher purpose, which is to take the eloquence of Linton Kwesi Johnson and Michael Smith's Eighties dub-poetry, and blast it into digital hyperspace.
    Read full review
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