Penny Sparkle
by Blonde Redhead
  • Record Label: 4AD
  • Release Date: Sep 14, 2010
User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. micho224
    Sep 27, 2010
    5
    underwhelming and quite disappointing given the brilliance of their last album. Synths have basically replaced guitars leading to quite an icy and distant sound. Not really any standout tracks
  2. pdcuster
    Nov 29, 2010
    8
    criminally underrated album. i too was initially disappointed by this one because "23" was such a hard act to follow, BUT "penny sparkle" is a grower. yeah, it tapers off in the end, but the meat on this record is some of the dreamiest pop music being made today. if you get the chance to see these guys on their current tour the album will make a whole lot more sense. i saw them with aboutcriminally underrated album. i too was initially disappointed by this one because "23" was such a hard act to follow, BUT "penny sparkle" is a grower. yeah, it tapers off in the end, but the meat on this record is some of the dreamiest pop music being made today. if you get the chance to see these guys on their current tour the album will make a whole lot more sense. i saw them with about a dozen friends last night and we were all blown away.… Expand
  3. hydrawithears
    Oct 3, 2011
    4
    I guess that Blonde Redhead should have waited with release of a follow-up to their almost universally acclaimed 23 a bit longer. Despite a great start (Here Sometimes), the band fail to keep the listenerâ

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
64

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. cokemachineglow
    Dec 21, 2010
    70
    Instead of being doomed to tread a certain set of glossy, shoegaze-littered paths, and in that doom come off desperate to change, they search within their well-worn sound for a collection of songs with no aspirations to be anything more than the best at what they are. Now that's some progress.
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  2. Mojo
    60
    The album is a masterclass in elegiac navel gazing. [Oct 2010, p.90]
  3. Boston Globe
    80
    The exploration of yet another new form on Penny Sparkle shows how exquisitely Blonde Redhead can continue to add cogs to an amorphous musical wheel without tripping up.
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