Miss Machine
by The Dillinger Escape Plan
  • Record Label: Relapse
  • Release Date: Jul 20, 2004
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. Drowned In Sound
    100
    It's the (insert made-up genre here, including the word 'progressive' and/or suffix '-core') album of the year.
  2. PopMatters
    90
    When a band like the Dillinger Escape Plan is able to duplicate the intensity of the previous album, yet at the same time create music that actually possesses (gasp!) commercial appeal, daring to cause an uproar among dyed-in-the-wool hardcore fans, you know they're on to something memorable.
  3. Playlouder
    90
    Giant mutant rats are running about the place with gasmasks and guns. Their eyeballs are electric red, firing lightning bolts of acid, spit and shit and blowing up the place and the furniture.
  5. AllMusic
    90
    After five years, the band has lost nothing, only gained.
  6. Spin
    83
    Gleefully impurist and highly addictive. [Sep 2004, p.122]
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  7. Dusted Magazine
    80
    Rage, speed, and math are still here; but there’s a cinematic scope and a real attention to mood and texture that’s new.
  8. Tiny Mix Tapes
    80
    Miss Machine simply crackles with stress; not stress over homework or girlfriends, but the kind of stress a bunch of semis put on a bridge.
  9. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    As intelligent as it is ferocious. [31 Jul 2004, p.40]
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  10. Stylus Magazine
    70
    The group’s move toward a math-metal-industrial fusion is a welcome one that should help to bring them fans that have never heard the group before.
  11. Pitchfork
    68
    DEP is still struggling to re-establish a unified and compelling sound, and their newfound penchant for melodic exploration seems out of place amid the album's most inspired thrash moments.

Awards & Rankings

77
#77 Best Album of 2004
78
#78 Most Shared Album of 2004

User Reviews

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User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 36 out of 39
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 39
  3. Negative: 3 out of 39
  1. Trilobite
    Aug 9, 2004
    8
    TDEP on a leash. I really wanted to rate this album an 8.5; the rating system, however, just like the album didn't give me much option TDEP on a leash. I really wanted to rate this album an 8.5; the rating system, however, just like the album didn't give me much option to really justify a 9.0 score. This is not a bad album, not by a long shot. It will probably also be somewhere in my top albums of the year. It is a refreshing, cacaphonic burst of sonic madness. A fullblown assault on the very core, the essence if you will, of most living beings, and it will severely shock most people upon first listening. It is a good solid album from TDEP, which, in all honesty, can't be compared with any band, except to its catalog. These guys have an instantly identifiable sound and style, are inspire people, and their impact has yet to be seen and appreciated. Here is where the criticism begins: compared with their previous outings and the leaps they made while making those albums (well, one album and a few EPs), MM does dissapoint. It is simply not TDEP at their best, period. Sure the album sounds good, but it?s absolutely a step backwards and that for a band whose blinders were always set on forward. I will not waste my time with explaining or plugging the back catalog, but their first full-length Calculating Infinity (1999) is just incredible (though sometimes I don?t ?feel? the vocals) and you can hear copycats ?inspired? by CC a mile away, and on The Mike Patton EP (irony is not a dead scene) they redefined themselves and pushed themselves to the next level. On MM the songs are more structured (not a bad thing necessarily) and Greg (the 'new' singer) prefers a singing style leaning towards hardcore, more in the style of Calulating Infinity. The end result, however, just doesn?t sound like the next level. The structuring of the songs (easier identifiable as a song) makes them sound as if they had barriers, hindered in some way. This combined with the hardcore-leaning vocals result in listening to a sort of castrated Calculating infinity; not because of the apparent less brutal sound, but because the band as whole leans towards that kind of sound, whereas with the IINADS EP the reinvented themselves. They still have the killer tunes (e.g., Panasonic Youth), but the overall impact is somehow not the same. One used to listen for hours to the albums trying to hear hidden sounds, overlapping riffs, and trying to find a structure, now it is practically on a plate. The Mike Patton EP (Irony is not a dead scene) was supposed to be bridge to MM, but in the end MM sounds more like a bridge album. Whereas TDEP normally sounds without boundaries, MM just sounds more confined, TDEP on a leash. But TDEP is still a thouroughbred. If you like TDEP, try this and don?t waste your time with anything else: Mastodon, Cephalic Carnage, Nasum, Mike Patton?s back catalog, Tzadik records, The Boredoms, The Ruins, Melt Banana, even try John Zorn, Zappa, Avant-garde, Acid Jazz. … Full Review »
  2. Xathiahs
    Jan 21, 2022
    10
    This is my favourite album ever. It has all i love in music: creativity, geniality, technical capabilities, emotions. Panasonic Youth is theThis is my favourite album ever. It has all i love in music: creativity, geniality, technical capabilities, emotions. Panasonic Youth is the song that brought me to this band.… Full Review »
  3. Kevbo85
    Jul 15, 2013
    7
    I was hesitant, at the time, to give Miss Machine the credit I knew it deserved. Between Calculating Infinity and the supremely satisfyingI was hesitant, at the time, to give Miss Machine the credit I knew it deserved. Between Calculating Infinity and the supremely satisfying Irony Is A Dead Scene EP and the magic Mike Patton brought to the fold, the new direction and stripped down nature of Miss Machine felt like a slap in the face. Over time and a series of albums that push the envelope further from where they began, however, I'm more comfortable with the idea that this record deserves to be heard. Even when compared to some of their more recent efforts, it truly does shine, especially along its superior first half. Tracks like "Panasonic Youth", "Sunshine the Werewolf" and its powerful industrial climax, and the twisted electric vibes of "Phone Home" help sell the new DEP with aplomb. I still miss the original machine, but Miss Machine at least is a competent move in another direction, with some truly fantastic moments within.… Full Review »
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