Loud Like Nature
by Add N to (X)
  • Record Label: Mute
  • Release Date: Oct 29, 2002
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Ink 19
    90
    A brave and inventive album that refuses to be held down by conventional barriers of genre or style.
  2. AllMusic
    90
    This time the group finds a better balance of the simple and the strange, making Loud Like Nature their most exciting album since Avant Hard.
  3. Playlouder
    80
    Compelling. Devastating. Amazing. And rocks like a bastard.
  5. Resonance
    80
    This is some of the most fascinating stuff that these freaks of nature have come up with yet. [#36, p.62]
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  6. Mojo
    80
    Has more to do with Primal Scream's Evil heat than any arched-eyebrow electro-clashers. [Dec 2002, p.113]
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  7. Alternative Press
    80
    Loud Like Nature contains all the traits that make Add N To (X) so captivating: blood, brains and lots of loin friction. [Dec 2002, p.77]
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  8. Splendid
    80
    Add N to (X) have retained their sense of direction and honed their sound into a powerful and persuasive entity.
  9. Q Magazine
    80
    This is an album which manages the rare trick of being accessible and head-warpingly barmy both at the same time. [Nov 2002, p.96]
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  10. Billboard
    70
    "Loud Like Nature" is hard to take seriously, but it shows that those old analog treasures still have a few good songs left in them.
  11. Pitchfork
    68
    All this variety is to be commended, but a lot of the tracks here sound like unfinished sketches.

Awards & Rankings

97
#97 Best Album of 2002

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. kristo68
    Oct 29, 2010
    8
    After rthe otherwordly magnificence of "On the Wires..." & "Avant Hard" and the wildly uneven, quasi-prog "Add Insult to Injury " came theAfter rthe otherwordly magnificence of "On the Wires..." & "Avant Hard" and the wildly uneven, quasi-prog "Add Insult to Injury " came the break-up album. While far from a classic, or their best album, there is plenty here to love. The shuddering, chaotic reinvention of uber-weirdo Kim Fowley's "Invasion of the Polaroid People" is a tour de force, as is the Dalek-vs-Glitterband stomp of "Take Me To Your Leader", with it's Oi chorus and boll-weevil lead vocals. By far the highlight of the album are tracks 6 to 8 - the unpredictable "Quantum Leap", the wonderfully pretty "Pink Lights" and the scratchy but cool "Up the Punks" - light years away from the ear-bending electro of their early albums and singles and far better than anything else being done in 2002. It will probably be another 10 years before people "get" them but I'm sure that one day hordes of people will cite them as an influence. Just as long as they don't re-form!… Full Review »
  2. BenjaminBunny
    Aug 12, 2003
    6
    Not anywhere as fresh or exciting as their first two records, "Loud Like Nature" continues their slow descent into listenable blandness.
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