• Record Label: Motown
  • Release Date: Sep 15, 2009
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 15
  2. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. There's a good, possibly even a great, album in here somewhere, but Kid Cudi doesn't get very close to finding it.
  2. Cudi too often assumes some sort of higher ground even though his self-pity is flaunted no differently than any other tacky rapper accessory.
  3. The rapper's delivery is confident in a poetic and artful way, channeled through a theatrical set of songs.
  4. This first official release is a soul searcher and may require more patience than your everyday debut. Still, the chilly, complicated Man on the Moon perfects the futuristic bleak-beat hip-hop Kanye purposed a year earlier, and rewards the listener with every tripped-out return.
  5. The music is engrossing and Cudi's angst genuine, but his raps get pedestrian.
  6. From its bombastic title to Common's annoying narration, Man on the Moon vies for both a bigger pop platform and indie credibility.
  7. Cudi deserves credit for such an audacious high-concept debut. It falls a bit flat, but at least it falls forward.
  8. Cudi turns out to be that rarest of rap phenomena: a hyped upstart who really does represent a promising new phase in the genre's evolution.
  9. It’s spacey, adventurous, and ridiculously intriguing if only because it’s so different.
  10. Man on the Moon, the debut album from this rapper-singer from Cleveland, is a colossal, and mystifying, missed opportunity, misguided if it is in fact guided at all.
  11. If you want to know further why this album is a classic you'll have to check it out yourself, but know for a fact it's well worth your fifteen dollars.
  12. Kid Cudi’s take on hip-hop hedonism has as its purpose the escape from one’s own fears and neuroses. He escapes the creatures that haunt him at night by turning himself into a larger-than-life entity: the man on the stage, the man on the moon.
  13. Despite the fat here, that thick layer of open, intense self-loathing is a clever way of unifying Man On The Moon as pure mood piece, a stream-of-consciousness pop voyage that’s more Phil Collins than rap.
  14. Mojo
    80
    What's so impressive about Man on the Moon, however, is that it's a complete vision, designed to be listened to as a whole. [Dec 2009, p. 92]
  15. Q Magazine
    80
    A refreshing listen. [Dec 2009, p.120]
User Score
8.8

Universal acclaim- based on 454 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 21 out of 454
  1. Apr 28, 2013
    10
    Probably the best debut album i have ever heard, Kid Cudi and his team (Emile, Pain Pat & Dot Da Genius) can't do no wrong. If you though KidProbably the best debut album i have ever heard, Kid Cudi and his team (Emile, Pain Pat & Dot Da Genius) can't do no wrong. If you though Kid Cudi's was just an one-hit wonder because of Day N' Nite you were wrong, most the songs on this album are much better. Full Review »
  2. Jan 9, 2018
    10
    An absolute classic. One of hip-hop's most important and pioneering albums of the modern era. Man on the Moon deserves all the praise in the world.
  3. Feb 12, 2012
    9
    Honestly, I don't really understand how people can even consider this album to be "mainstream music". How many of the songs from this albumHonestly, I don't really understand how people can even consider this album to be "mainstream music". How many of the songs from this album have you heard playing on the radio (with the exception of Day n Nite)? None, and it's not because they suck either. With that said, this is easily one of my favorite albums of all time and one of the most genuine lyrically. Cudi may not be for everybody, but this is a spectacular album. Full Review »