Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 15
  2. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. OK Cowboy is a full-fledged album, with a satisfying ebb and flow that shows that Arbez's sound has several sides to it.
  2. Turns out that OK Cowboy is a good deal like the better house sets you’ll hear at a take-your-pick hot-house European club: pretty exhilarating, though once you’re licking the dry salt off your partner’s cheek you realize that only parts of it are truly inspiring, though all of it was pretty hottt.
  3. Beyond the grooves etched in this record, what is most exciting is the ease with which Arbez brushes aside the canon of 90s giants.
  4. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    A wicked, old-school set of club-ready, throw-your-hands-up electronica. [10 Mar 2006, p.69]
  5. New Musical Express (NME)
    90
    This is an album that leaves you in absolutely no doubt that, at the very least, Pascal Arbez-Nicolas is the best thing to come out of France since Daft Punk. [30 Apr 2005, p.63]
  6. A record that's in the same league as Homework or Discovery.
  7. A tour de force of infectious acid techno and head-rush-inducing electroclash and, as likely as not, this year's essential dance purchase.
  8. Q Magazine
    40
    Sound[s] like out-takes from [Daft Punk's] Discovery. [Jun 2005, p.118]
  9. 83
    While Vitalic may add little to electronic music or its various subgenres, he interweaves effortlessly their prevailing styles into complex arrangements that are neither kinked-up innovation nor neutered homage.
  10. What makes OK Cowboy worthwhile is not a greater emphasis on the chilly tones that made Vitalic’s initial singles so impressive and characterized some of his savage DJ sets, but the demonstration of a surprising degree of variety and even humanity within those seemingly narrow colonnades of rising and whiplash synths over soulless, mechanical drums.
  11. This debut album took three years to make and could almost be his greatest-hits collection. It's a cracker, too; all clean, punchy metal beats and blistering, drunken synth lines in the finest italo-disco style.
  12. The Wire
    70
    A sound thrumming with bold analogue synthesizers and beefy rock drums. [#254, p.67]
  13. Uncut
    80
    Arbez not only shatters the risible notion that dance music is currently unwell, he also presents thrilling new ways of approaching pop, folk and rock'n'roll. [May 2005, p.100]
  14. Urb
    80
    You could buy this album just for "Poney Part 1," and really, it'd be worth it. [Jun 2005, p.81]
  15. Listening to it from start to finish is so bracing it's overwhelming; it sounds like what it would feel like to drink six cups of black coffee chased down with a bucket of ice water.

Awards & Rankings

User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 38 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 38
  2. Negative: 1 out of 38
  1. CramerC
    Jul 28, 2006
    10
    so deeply high!
  2. Mar 18, 2021
    7
    Choosing between 6 or 7 out of 10 was a hard task. The album appears to be paradoxically as varied as repetitive. The main flaw according toChoosing between 6 or 7 out of 10 was a hard task. The album appears to be paradoxically as varied as repetitive. The main flaw according to me is that if you don't get into the vibe of a track after twenty seconds then you will surely not enjoy it at all until the end. I do like the overall bizarre side of the album, like if nothing was made to be logical nor consistent. Its unexpected and challenging nature is its strength. Some phases all along the project are truly remarkable.

    As much as I hate to compare DJ's each other I have to admit that 'Newman' totally has a Daft Punk energy (but that's almost the only one, I honestly don't get why everybody compare Vitalic to Daft Punk further than their common nationality). The track 'Poney Part. II' showcases what I think to be horrible 'singing' voices. If 'OK Cowboy' tries to craft some innovative patterns the major part of the tracks certainly end up being messy, constant and lurid. The first beat always remains the same as each song goes on and on and it is completed by several varied effects that doesn't sound like Vitalic was about to create something absolutely brand new.
    Full Review »
  3. Jan 28, 2013
    8
    With highlights like: "My Friend Dario, The Past, Poney Part 1, Newman and La Rock 01", Vitalic proves that he knows what he's doing. OKWith highlights like: "My Friend Dario, The Past, Poney Part 1, Newman and La Rock 01", Vitalic proves that he knows what he's doing. OK Cowboy is a marvelous, riveting experience. Full Review »