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Marauder Image
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 91 Ratings

  • Summary: The sixth full-length release for the New York indie rock band was produced by Dave Fridmann.
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Top Track

The Rover
Come and see me and maybe you'll die But I can keep you in artwork, the fluid kind That's enough for excitements today Frustrated, faded, it's... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 25
  2. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Aug 28, 2018
    90
    Treat it like a work-of-art, you might be moved to see shapes too. Treat it like a comeback album, and you might find you miss the point. Open your minds, your ears, your energy--and it will show you incredible sights.
  2. Aug 23, 2018
    80
    A mature album, rather than the work of people hemmed in by their past, cowed by the sense that they can never hope to be as exciting as they were on arrival. That’s something that most of their noughties NYC peers have thus far failed to achieve. It’s the sound of a band who have done the last thing you might expect them to do at this stage of their career: start moving on.
  3. Aug 24, 2018
    80
    For Interpol, embracing their veteran status doesn't mean a slide into complacency; if anything, it's the opposite. Marauder doesn't need to be qualified in terms of the band's former successes--on its own terms, it's one of the richest albums of Interpol's career.
  4. Aug 24, 2018
    75
    Like a wild party, the album gets looser and less coherent as it goes along. Still, fans should be pleased to hear that Marauder shifts the group’s focus while still remaining recognizably Interpol.
  5. Aug 22, 2018
    67
    Marauder is still Interpol, and it’s still pretty good. It’s got mood and emotion for days. But because the album is marred by nonexistent bass lines and, most concerningly, production and mixing choices that run completely at odds with Interpol’s natural strengths and most beloved idiosyncrasies, it’s nowhere near great.
  6. Aug 27, 2018
    60
    Flight of Fancy and Number 10 impress too, but elsewhere the quality is more variable: Daniel Kessler’s delicate guitar lines aside, the slower Stay in Touch lacks any light or shade. The equally uninspired closer is called It Probably Matters; on this evidence it probably doesn’t.
  7. Aug 22, 2018
    50
    Interpol are far past the point of trying to recapture their glory days, but even their attempts to change things up come off as a mixed bag. Prospective fans and diehards alike are better off starting at the beginning.

See all 25 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Aug 24, 2018
    10
    Interpol made an album for themselves. It’s what they’ve always done and it’s why they’ve got such a distinct sound. This album came offInterpol made an album for themselves. It’s what they’ve always done and it’s why they’ve got such a distinct sound. This album came off initially as muddled, rushed out, and congested. I felt as if the band just came into the studio and started playing with no direction or purpose. I was willing to give this a 6/10 from there on out. But then Flight of Fancy started to unveil in my mind. The outro constantly built upon itself in a beautiful, aggressive fashion. I loved it. It was the first time I got goosebumps from this album. I went back and listened and I got that feeling for other songs and the album got better. I listened again and it got better as well. And then it got better. And again. And again.

    What we have here is something completely new. While El Pintor was a rerun to safe form, carrying dark tones and clear-cut production, we now have an album that’s comfortable in its own disarray. It shares a lot of qualities as self titled, but without the dysfunction and depression (and I love self titled). This album sounds like it acknowledges the confusion, complications, and darkness of everyday life and culture but makes a BANGING album out of it. Every song starts out simple, but twists into an energetic or wallowing spark of pure passion. The band had fun making this. They took a lot of leaps and bounds over anything we’ve heard before. This isn’t boring or expected after a few listens. It’s diverse, fun, thought provoking, but overall a companion to confusion, mellodramatic thoughts those like me suffer from. The everyday burden of existence is eased and acknowledged by what Interpol made. It’s an album I know I can come back to if I’m feeling some way J can not explain, because it’ll either accompany those feelings and give me some semblance of understanding, or simply give me happiness hat some guys were able to make something so enjoyable, unique, and prosperous out of feelings that completely contradict those notions. I love you Interpol. This album **** rocks.
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  2. Aug 29, 2018
    10
    thinking back at what feelings previous albums from Interpol created in me i was hoping this album will do the same. send me back to somethinking back at what feelings previous albums from Interpol created in me i was hoping this album will do the same. send me back to some moments back in time, have those nihilistic views but also a certain joy that was surrounded with a bit of loneliness. but this last album Marauder is more mature, just like me. after all these years, listening to their latest oeuvre I begin to realize that some things never change: the desire to be alone, the desire to bring certain feelings out of me is something that manifests in every atom in me. and having these songs to wash my atoms is something that only Marauder can do. Expand
  3. Sep 1, 2018
    10
    What a triumph. Interpol is oftentimes sneeringly called a band that desperately struggles to re-capture the greatness of the first album andWhat a triumph. Interpol is oftentimes sneeringly called a band that desperately struggles to re-capture the greatness of the first album and that hasn´t had a real clue on how to accomplish that, After having to agree with that at least to the extent that none of the albums from Our Love To Admire to El Pintor have been on the same level as the first two, even though they still managed to be very good, I was prepared to listen to El Pintor 2.0. However, instead of a "classic Interpol-album" I expected off of El Pintor, with sleek and clean production and roughly even-handed switches from slower to mid-tempo songs, I was blown away by Marauder. Marauder, instead of starting fast and straight-forward, builds an atmosphere of both palpable gloominess and a yet assured confidence that things will blow over and be just fine in the end. As if you´re leaving a dimly-lit bar at the break of dawn when the evening really had its ups and downs, but in the end, you´re happy you experienced the whole thing. More than any Interpol-album after TOTBL, even Antics, Marauder never lets go of this atmosphere and experiments with the moods within the confines of it, rather than trying to stray from its central tone. It doesn´t need to. Marauder is confident that its sound will capture the listener and take her or him on a ride for this one special evening it creates. In sticking with one idea, it succeeds in rising above its concept.

    Marauder is not just a very good Interpol-album as its predecessors already were; it´s finally a special one once again.
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  4. Sep 16, 2019
    8
    If you like Interpol then you should really enjoy "Marauder" as it sees the band doing a good job of what they do best. It is every bit asIf you like Interpol then you should really enjoy "Marauder" as it sees the band doing a good job of what they do best. It is every bit as good as 2010's eponymous "Interpol" and 2014's "El Pintor", both of which have been harshly received and were very good records without hitting the incredible highs of the bands early output. "Marauder" sounds grim and dark but this is surely what you expect here. "If You Really Love Nothings", "The Rover", "Flight of Fancy" and "It Probably Matters" are all songs that would sit comfortably on a setlist next to the Interpol classics. 6 albums in and they still excite me. Expand
  5. Aug 24, 2018
    8
    Rolling in with a creative and booming effort, Interpol's sixth album proves that the band hasn't lost their touch, and they have much more toRolling in with a creative and booming effort, Interpol's sixth album proves that the band hasn't lost their touch, and they have much more to offer. This is an album with no filler and no holds barred.

    That being said, Dave Fridmann's production leaves a lot to be desired. While the mix sounds absolutely terrible on stereo, and will require some normalization to avoid the peculiarities (such as volume changes in between tracks), the collection of songs seem like they're more of live tracks, as even the early YouTube recordings of NYSMAW seem to capture the emotion of the song in a way that the album recording just doesn't seem to do.

    The mixing doesn't prevent Interpol from making several phenomenal songs. Surveillance is easily one of the best songs they've written, and It Probably Matters keeps up Interpol's track record of making kick-ass closers. The interludes don't really make too much sense here, they don't change the tone or set the mood, overall they're pretty insignificant, which is probably for the best. One of the songs that didn't make the cut was Real Life, a song that's been played extensively throughout Interpol's 2018 tour, which hints that there'll be another cut of bonus tracks like there was with El Pintor.

    This is no Turn on the Bright Lights, nor is it another Antics, if anything it's closer to a more-polished El Pintor, though the mixing wouldn't immediately show it. Regardless, it fits snug into Interpol's discography and is worth several repeat listens.

    Best Tracks: Surveillance, It Probably Matters, Flight of Fancy
    Worst Track: Complications
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  6. Sep 1, 2018
    8
    – ¿A qué época te refieres cuando dices “antes”?

    – Qué más da. Antes es antes. Hiromi Kawakami Antes esperaba con ansiedad los discos
    – ¿A qué época te refieres cuando dices “antes”?

    – Qué más da. Antes es antes.

    Hiromi Kawakami

    Antes esperaba con ansiedad los discos nuevos, revisaba fechas de salida, buscaba en revistas información sobre que bandas estaban trabajando en el estudio. Me gustaba sentarme a imaginar cómo sonarían las nuevas canciones de mis grupos favoritos.

    El tiempo todo lo cambia, por fortuna. Ahora con tanta tecnología consigo muchos más discos de los que puedo escuchar, muchísimos más de los que puedo procesar o incluso disfrutar.

    En los momentos que no son antes, me pongo a desear que no se acumulen los discos, que las bandas tengan paciencia, que no sean presas del impulso acelerado de la industria musical.

    Con evidente egoísmo espero que cada banda que me gusta se tome el tiempo para grabar, que no solo lo haga para satisfacer la necesidad de salir de gira y poder cobrar algo del dinero que ya no les deja la casi inexistente venta de discos.

    Pero no, siguen y siguen grabando, como si la cuestión creativa fuera algo tan sencillo de repetir, como si se tratara de un proceso industrializado de creación de canciones efímeras y olvidables.

    Parece que el mundo de los músicos no entiende que me he vuelto más viejo, no en el sentido negativo, sino en el sentido de que reconozco de manera más acertada sus trucos, que ya no me impresiona cualquier pasaje pegadizo de una canción mal grabada.

    Necesité seis párrafos para tratar de explicar por qué tenía casi diez años renegando de los discos nuevos de Interpol.

    “Turn on the Bright Lights” y “Antics” representaron dos discos completos y sorprendentes, ese sonido un tanto obscuro pero intenso que era conducido por la voz de Paul Banks representaron poder vivir esa emoción juvenil de descubrir canciones.

    Dos discos con piezas que tenían muchas apropiaciones de las bandas post punk que tanto me gustan, pero que a pesar de eso lograban tener algo nuevo, emocionante, algo que hacían de sus canciones himnos perfectos para recorrer la ciudad de noche, manejando a ningún lado.

    Después fueron tres discos de búsqueda, de mantener algunos lazos con su origen pero tratando de ganar nuevo sonidos, de incorporar algunas ideas, no siempre de manera correcta, pero siempre buscando.

    Sin embargo esa búsqueda dejó algunas buenas canciones y muchas más dudas, justo de ahí se alimentaba mi ansiedad por la salida de “Marauder”, no quería encontrarme de nuevo con un disco menor de un grupo que forma parte importante de la banda sonora de mi vida.

    Por fortuna ahora no solo son unas cuantas buenas canciones, sino que no hay tanta búsqueda, es más intuitivo, la mayoría de las canciones fluyen, no porque sean improvisadas, sino que esa tendencia de los últimos años de pensar demasiado las canciones ya no se impone por sobre la destreza de la banda para construir piezas que se queden rondando en la cabeza, que se recuerden en la piel.

    No es un retorno a un lugar cómodo, no son canciones que busquen emular la urgencia de las primeras grabaciones, es más la confianza de saber cuál es su lugar, cuáles son sus aciertos y debilidades.

    Es entender que eso que hacían, ese “antes”, no es un pasado, sino una identidad.

    Interpol ya no tiene que usar los discos como espejo donde reconocerse, se nota que saben quiénes son, igual tienen dudas, igual hay defectos que se notan en algunas canciones no tan buenas, pero al final son ellos, no hay que buscar la aprobación por aventurarse en terrenos ajenos.

    “Marauder” se puede escuchar con emoción, al terminar la mayoría de las canciones solo deseas que llegue a tu ciudad la gira que te permita escucharlas en vivo.

    Como bien dicen en “Flight of Fancy”, una de mis favoritas del disco, “This was made for me, This is make believe”, esta música está hecha para mí, este disco me hace creer.

    No es un disco perfecto, tiene sus deficiencias, pero posee esa magia que permite que “antes” sea hoy, permite volver a sentir lo que me dio Interpol, me deja cerrar los ojos y dejarme ir.
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  7. Jul 26, 2019
    5
    Not a necessarily a bad record, but pretty underwhelming to be honest. The album has its moments here and there, but it just feels likeNot a necessarily a bad record, but pretty underwhelming to be honest. The album has its moments here and there, but it just feels like Interpol isn't willing to take risks or try anything new. As a result, the sound can end up feeling a bit stale. It's a bit of a shame, since I do like Interpol. But again, the album is not all bad, and there are a few tracks that I thoroughly enjoy, such as "The Rover." I still think Interpol has potential to put out another great record, but to be honest, this does not live up to that potential. Don't mean to sound too negative, but these are just my thoughts after giving this multiple listens. Well, here's hoping for the next one! Expand

See all 14 User Reviews