Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 39 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 39
  2. Negative: 0 out of 39
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  1. Uncut
    Oct 18, 2011
    100
    It's this insistence on resolutely following her instincts that makes this record so lustily appealing from top to bottom. [Nov 2011, p.95]
  2. Oct 14, 2011
    100
    Ultimately, what it all boils down to is that, as much as an album can be, it's pretty damn close to being flawless; not only matching the quality of The Reminder but actually bettering it.
  3. 100
    What a beautiful record. Truly gorgeous, the kind that wins both hearts and awards--perfect for a dinner party, a drive along Pacific Coast Highway, or a good, healthy cry.
  4. Nov 4, 2011
    95
    Feist manages to deliver an understated, yet powerful resolution that ultimately defines Metals not so much as a break up album or a make up album, but as a journey to acceptance.
  5. 90
    On Metals Feist combines the sublime magic of her voice with songs that feature equally strong compositions to render an album that is easily one of the best of the year.
  6. Jan 3, 2012
    89
    Metals is darker, more contemplative, heavier, a heady, atomic blend of folk-pop and emotional menace.
  7. Oct 4, 2011
    83
    The music, however, remains sophisticated and rhythmically feisty (pun thoroughly intended) even when so thoroughly keyed down.
  8. Oct 4, 2011
    83
    The off-the-cuffness of her earlier work is missed a little, but there's a satisfying fullness to Metals, as Feist maintains the dramatic fragility of a moment even as the kettledrums boom.
  9. 83
    Metals, which borrows from jazz and blues, is an artfully arranged opus with such natural beauty, it should be certified organic.
  10. Oct 3, 2011
    82
    It's a lovely, weightless set of songs from an artist whom we can now reasonably assume is capable of producing consistently great music.
  11. Q Magazine
    Nov 8, 2011
    80
    The most powerful moments are frequently the most stripped-down, underlying the fact that Feist is surely one of the best singers working today. [Nov. 2011, p. 126]
  12. Oct 7, 2011
    80
    There's a more visceral quality that will help win over those that have been on the fence in the past.
  13. Oct 4, 2011
    80
    The last song, a sparse electric guitar ballad, identifies another dualism: it's called "Get It Wrong, Get It Right," and like most of the rest of this unsettled album, it gets it right.
  14. Oct 4, 2011
    80
    Its songs are more impressionistic, brash in their knotty arrangements and assured in their execution.
  15. Metals is, in its own right, quite simply the cat's pyjamas.
  16. 80
    Its louder moments--and there are plenty--are even better and feature stomping incantations that demand air and company.
  17. Sep 30, 2011
    80
    It is a work that will continue to surprise and delight over time. It is all about the small details.
  18. Sep 30, 2011
    80
    The album itself is worthy of praise from any angle you choose to view it.
  19. 80
    Feist here cements her position as the poster-girl for intimate US indie rock, with songs that peel back the skin of the human condition.
  20. Sep 29, 2011
    80
    There are worse crimes than being too subtle: there's something impressively soft and unspun about Feist's quirkiness. And besides, more often Metals just sounds fantastic.
  21. Sep 26, 2011
    80
    There is nothing quite as uplifting as those previously mentioned numbers, but Metals remains as wonderfully organic and distinct as its predecessors
  22. Oct 26, 2011
    79
    Leslie Feist has managed to produce an even more intriguing character, one with depth and doubt and apprehension and dread and all the other things that make up the other, harder, larger half of the human experience.
  23. Oct 3, 2011
    78
    The mood and music of Metals is somber and poetic-but not always quiet-finally matching the emotional excavation she's written about throughout her career.
  24. Oct 3, 2011
    77
    Metals is a vivid evocation of a place that touches on fittingly vast themes about nature, love, and life itself.
  25. Oct 31, 2011
    70
    Metals, in its muted, gray imperfection, feels vital--even when it isn't.
  26. Oct 5, 2011
    70
    It's an uneven record in some ways--that middle sequence weighs it down and Feist still feels undersold as a band leader in the studio too often--but while that may be what keeps it from the finding the same success its predecessor did, it's also what makes Metals the more exciting album to dig into.
  27. Oct 4, 2011
    70
    Metals has nothing with the instant appeal of the 2007 hit-cum-iPod-jingle "1234." But it's her best album, a mood piece that tosses in everything from folk to Malian-style desert blues.
  28. 70
    Her voice flutters, bounces, and hiccups through the twelve songs on Metal, and her singing is dynamic and never boring.
  29. Oct 3, 2011
    70
    There's a soft-spoken power to Metals, even if its songs are more liquid and atmospheric than the title suggests.
  30. Oct 3, 2011
    70
    Though this is a fair complaint against the record, Feist's plain talent is so good that even this album's relative quality compared to her other records doesn't do much to diminish her songwriting capabilities. Feist is as captivating as ever, which makes Metals a pleasure to listen to.
  31. Oct 3, 2011
    70
    Nothing will blow you away here but a good listen taken in total.
  32. Sep 14, 2011
    70
    Even with its sonic detours -- the slightly nutty percussion, a lot of general yelling -- the record feels a bit monochromatic, like a just-fun-enough surrey ride whose background keeps repeating.
  33. 63
    Metals packs more sonic punch than its 2007 predecessor, but the problem here is not with recording quality--it's libido.
  34. Magnet
    Nov 11, 2011
    60
    Most of the songs deal with romance in its more dysfunctional guises, but Feist's comforting vocals keep things from getting too forlorn. [#81, p. 54]
  35. Oct 5, 2011
    60
    It's a lovely collection of songs, but there's simply not enough happening to carry an entire album.
  36. Oct 3, 2011
    60
    However gorgeous and warm Feist's voice may be, Metals is just too dull for her to overcome.
  37. Sep 30, 2011
    60
    Nothing on this, her fourth album, rivals that hit [1234] for toe-tapping immediacy, but it is rich in atmospheric beauty.
  38. Mojo
    Sep 28, 2011
    60
    Metals is the product of a stock-taking pause, it's clear the former Canadian indie scenester had rediscovered her bearings. [Oct 2011, p.106]
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 45 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 42 out of 45
  2. Negative: 1 out of 45
  1. Dec 9, 2011
    10
    It's her best album (so far), and the most cohesive yet. All these songs are well done, but the truly exceptional ones are "The Bad in EachIt's her best album (so far), and the most cohesive yet. All these songs are well done, but the truly exceptional ones are "The Bad in Each Other" "Caught a Long Wind" "The Circle Married the Line" and, especially, "Anti-Pioneer" which may be her finest song to date (although it's slow buildup and subtle construction nearly ensure few people will hear it). She continues to be one of the finest indie solo artists out there, and her music continues to be wonderfully varied and high quality. Full Review »
  2. ndf
    Oct 4, 2011
    10
    The perfect follow-up to the reminder. There aren't any iPod commercials on this album but it is solid from beginning to end. Feist is makingThe perfect follow-up to the reminder. There aren't any iPod commercials on this album but it is solid from beginning to end. Feist is making great music. This is an album by someone in it for the long haul, not by a pop princess. Full Review »
  3. Oct 4, 2011
    10
    A beautiful assembly of songs that manages to skip back and forth between different styles while still feeling entirely coherent, and it endsA beautiful assembly of songs that manages to skip back and forth between different styles while still feeling entirely coherent, and it ends up all amounting to a gorgeously tragic musical exploration of solitude. Full Review »