Neon Golden - The Notwist
Metascore
89 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 0 out of 20
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  1. Dot Music
    100
    A unique and beautiful work that will be returned to again and again. Definitely, already, an album of the year.
  2. PopMatters
    100
    Neon Golden is one of the most exquisite electronic albums to come out in ages.
  3. Drawer B
    100
    Every single song is an hummable masterpiece of pop experimentation.
  4. Dusted Magazine
    100
    With Neon Golden, the Notwist have created a daring album full of different sounds and textures. While this might sound like a textbook post-rock album, it is without a doubt a record firmly anchored by its pop sensibilities.
  5. Splendid
    100
    The Notwist can sculpt more emotional sounds and music into a compact and cutting four minutes than most can do in a career.
  6. Pitchfork
    92
    A decade into their career, the Notwist have created a masterpiece by pulling the same trick they pulled on Shrink: mixing things that might not seem to fit together into a beautiful, seamless whole.
  7. Billboard
    90
    Not only shares some textural similarities with Radiohead's "Kid A," but rivals it as an art-rock classic.
  8. Salon.com
    90
    Elegant and subtle, "Neon Golden" convincingly balances the scales of pop and glitch electronics and is the best argument yet for combining the two.
  9. Junkmedia
    90
    Halfway through the album, it's clear that this is a glimpse into the future of pop music.
  10. The A.V. Club
    90
    The Notwist's previous stabs at fusing pop, techno, punk, and jazz were dominated by post-adolescent melancholy and petulance. Though Neon Golden obsesses over locked rooms and missed chances, it also acknowledges the pleasures of stasis, the distant possibility of change, and an overall affinity with the "freaks."
  11. Village Voice
    90
    Album number five dwarfs its predecessors because the members have started treating this group as the sun around which their musical projects must inevitably revolve, and the home to which they must return.
  12. Planet
    90
    The vocals are really what seem to live with you after one listen, making Neon Golden memorable beyond its audio gimmicks. [#3, p.87]
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  13. Almost Cool
    88
    With Neon Golden, The Notwist have done something that's not exactly an easy task; they've created an album that's mixes electronic and organic music in a way that makes each better.

User Reviews

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User Score
9.0 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 60 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 37
  3. Negative: 2 out of 37
  1. Vampire25
    9
    The Notwist swirl through ambient pastiche with this album and Markus Acher's vocals keep it going with little to no ease. I felt a Kid A vibe throughout the whole album. Each song fits perfectly in this album. A-… Full Review »
  2. SethN
    10
    Awesome, cant believe I had to listen through the whole track. Once I heard the first song, it was unfortunate that I was just sitting in my car in the drive way and didn't even want to get out.… Full Review »
  3. EzraM
    9
    Just one of those truly excellent pop albums. The only real problem is that they don't have so much to say, directly. They come across to me like those Medieval craftsmen whose message and reward were in the act of creation. Not to sound like a jackass... Generally a less sugary Postal Service without the terrible lyrics.… Full Review »
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