Menos el Oso - Minus the Bear
Metascore
74 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 10
  3. Negative: 1 out of 10
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  1. Alternative Press
    100
    There's a constant sense of forward motion to Menos El Oso that suits the whole metaphor of growing up and growing out. [Oct 2005, p.156]
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  2. Lost At Sea
    85
    Their trademark wit is still present but less forced; instead it is more intelligent and reflective, and as the band produced this album themselves, the reward is apparent: they sound more self-assured and strong than they ever have.
  3. Drowned In Sound
    80
    The potential and promise that was spoken of so fervently when Minus The Bear arrived is slowly being fulfilled.
  4. Urb
    80
    A sublime success. [Jul/Aug 2005, p.103]
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  5. The A.V. Club
    80
    Prior to this record, Minus The Bear had a reputation for jokey song titles and bloodless precision, but here, the band reinvents itself as a purveyor of nightmares.
  6. Pitchfork
    71
    Menos el Oso ultimately stumbles on its own self-conscious maturity.
  7. Prefix Magazine
    60
    What's really preventing Minus the Bear from making a breakthrough with El Oso is the band's unwillingness to head in new directions.
  8. PopMatters
    60
    While not all of the songs on Menos el Oso are winners, the album as a whole holds up much better than any of their previous efforts.
  9. Splendid
    40
    They hit all the right notes and create the right hooks for success, at least in theory, but for all the passion in Jake Snider's voice, he might as well be singing about the ham sandwich he ate for lunch.
  10. Tiny Mix Tapes
    30
    Menos el Oso takes the act of melodizing the banal to dizzyingly silly new heights.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.9 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. BrandonC
    10
    One of the greatest CD's I've listened to in a long time. Simply AMAZING!!!
  2. Brian
    9
    This band deserves credit, I always come back to their LP's and find myself diggin them more as time goes by. Listen to Minus the Bear and you too will see how inventive rock...rocks.… Full Review »
  3. Andy
    8
    No one plays their instruments better than these guys. Go see them live and be amazed.
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