One Plus One Is One - Badly Drawn Boy
One Plus One Is One Image
Metascore
60 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 23 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 11 Ratings

Your Score
0 out of 10
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  • Summary: Apart from demonstrating that his addition skills are as poor as Radiohead's, 'One Plus One' finds Damon Gough returning to the more low-key, lo-fi sound of his earlier work after the much glossier 'Have You Fed The Fish?' failed to win the British singer-songwriter new fans in 2002.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 23
  3. Negative: 3 out of 23
  1. ShakingThrough.net
    84
    One Plus One Is One may not sparkle with surprising brilliance, as Bewilderbeast did, but it is certainly the most thematically and musically grounded album Gough has yet created.
  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    A record which is closer in spirit to the rustic eccentricity of his '...Bewilderbeast' debut, while still moving things forward. [19 Jun 2004, p.57]
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  3. Blender
    60
    Get past the sometimes cloying pastoral arrangements and the often cornball sentiments and there are moments of ragged glory. [Sep 2004, p.132]
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  4. Pitchfork
    30
    With their staid textures, the songs tend to blend into one another, sounding at best like a spiritless hodgepodge of About a Boy's weaker moments.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 2 out of 7
  1. JaredSS
    10
    Splendid! I had pretty high expectations for this CD (well before they dropped a notch bc of some lame critics regarding it as "boring") and it delivered through to its promise. This collection of songs totally hit the spot for me at the time I was listening to it, and it worked even better for me the following day. Rock on BDB, this was your best since "Bewilderbeast".… Expand
  2. matta
    7
    Not as strong as his previous outings but still, pretty inventive stuff. Plus, I'm a little biased because I saw him live and not only did he play 14 classics from previous albums, but then he came back out and played this entire album from start to finish. Who else does that? No one. That is why I love him, he is a genius, and Pitchfork are still a bunch of morons.… Expand
  3. Ricko
    6
    A collection of acoustic songs - very much stripped down in comparison to previous efforts. There are some nice moments on this but overall it lacks ambition. I lost interest in the artist after this record.… Expand
  4. Alexis
    2
    I wanted to like this album, I really did. "Bewilderbeast" is one of my favorite albums, period; but, both compared to his previous work and on its own, "One Plus One" is nothing but a dud. The lyrics are so trite and cliche it's almost unbelievable that anyone could find them appealing - I find myself cringing as I listen to this. The songwriting is good at best, but more often uninspiring and derivative - and the awful lyrics ruin what might otherwise be the few decent songs. I have tried listening to this CD several times in the hope that it might get better, as some reviewers have suggested, but it just doesn't. Disappointing is right.… Expand

See all 7 User Reviews

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