Our Earthly Pleasures
- Maximo Park
- Band Name: Maximo Park
- Record Label: Warp
- Release Date: May 8, 2007
- Critic Score
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90Our Earthly Pleasures, in contrast to the water-tight radio punk of its predecessor, overflows with ideas, even if it's to the detriment of the material.
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Maxïmo Park haven't just avoided the sophomore slump, they've made a follow-up that suggests that those who threw their lot in with the band instead of, say, the Futureheads made the right choice. Almost as exciting as the music on Our Earthly Pleasures is the potential.
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On the whole, Our Earthly Pleasures is a sprightly, winsome record, even if, in second-album terms, it's more Pretenders II than The Bends.
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80Stick with it, and about four spins in, the album reveals itself.
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80Repeated listens--it's a grower--reveal a number of meatier, surprisingly hard-rocking songs. [May 2007, p.99]
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80The rest of the band haven't progressed quite as speedily as their frontman - although they've added some welcome Johnny Marr-type guitar flourishes - and remain perplexed by anything at less than breakneck speed.
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It doesn't break any new ground, but it's not a retread. It's just good, for you and your soul.
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Doesn't quite have the same impact as their debut.
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The U.K. indie band's second album has beefed-up sound and increasingly brilliant, not-at-all-pretentious gems like "Girls Who Play Guitars," "Russian Literature" and "Karaoke Plays."
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70Maximo Park... safely explore new territory without being too obvious. [12 May 2007]
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63With their new album, Maxïmo Park avoid both utter disaster and absolute success by playing it safe. Nice and safe.
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Ultimately, Maximo Park have bravely taken a chance with this album, trying to experiment with their sound rather than settling for what had previously brought them success. Shame they weren't up to the task.
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60It's an engaging listen, sure, but sadly Our Earthly Pleasures lacks the euphoric punch to make a listener jump up and down vigourously.
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60Yet, for all the dumbing down, they have much going for them. [May 2007, p.122]
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60Even with the occasional middling moments, it's hard to deny the band's clever, boisterous spirit. [May 2007, p.86]
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Pleasant but edgeless. [Jun 2007, p.149]
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Simplicity is king, as a relentlessly jaunty onslaught of jangle-pop hurtles ever onwards. [May 2007, p.96]
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60An album which makes you feel like Maxïmo are parked when they should be in the fast lane.
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60Despite its flaws, Our Earthly Pleasures is a good record of mostly up-tempo UK indie rock.
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60It's too early to write Maxïmo Park off, or to turf them into the ever-growing pile of indie also-rans. But they'll need to pull out all the stops to recover their poise after this worrying misstep.
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The sound's a bit harsher, more abrasive this time around; the songs blur by with melodies that seem half-baked; and the mood's shifted from wistful self-deprecation to paranoia. [#17, p.86]
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[Producer] Gil Norton... [has] an enviable track record, but he's not doing Maxïmo Park any favours with this soft soak finish.
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40The tunes dry up alarmingly. [Jun 2007, p.108]
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30This air of superiority is pervasive on 'Our Earthly Pleasures', which is a pity when you consider contemporaries such as Franz Ferdinand can do clever without it getting in the way of the fact all they're really doing is making good pop records.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 15 out of 18
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Mixed: 1 out of 18
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Negative: 2 out of 18
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Jellogibby7
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philg10