Playland
by Johnny Marr
User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 15
  3. Negative: 2 out of 15
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  1. altecsole
    Oct 7, 2014
    9
    I stumbled upon this on Spotify and decided the give it a go. What can I say? I love this album! The guitar sound is brilliant and who knew Johnny could sing so well?

    This prompted me to take a listen to The Messenger too and that's a firm favourite now too.
  2. FIF
    Oct 7, 2014
    8
    Very solid solo effort from one of the greatest guitarists on planet Earth! His previous album, The Messenger was good too. He seems to be very much alive and kicking!
  3. Spoonman3068
    Oct 24, 2014
    9
    "altecsole - I stumbled upon this on Spotify and decided the give it a go. What can I say? I love this album! The guitar sound is brilliant and who knew Johnny could sing so well?" It's scary how close my experience of this album is to yours. Totally agree. Additive, great fun, **** brilliant!
  4. StevenX
    Dec 27, 2017
    9
    A worthy successor to his amazing album "The Messenger", Marr shows here that there's no fluke at play, as if his decades of stellar guitar work with others didn't prove that already. While some songs have obvious precedents on the previous record - "Candidate" could easily have come from the same session as "New Town Velocity" from "The Messenger", and so on - the writing is right-on, andA worthy successor to his amazing album "The Messenger", Marr shows here that there's no fluke at play, as if his decades of stellar guitar work with others didn't prove that already. While some songs have obvious precedents on the previous record - "Candidate" could easily have come from the same session as "New Town Velocity" from "The Messenger", and so on - the writing is right-on, and the cinematic production gives clear ear to every instrument, not least of which is Marr's voice, obviously happy to speak for himself for a change. As adept at joyful pop-rock like "Dynamo" as he is at the atmospherics of the aforementioned "Candidate" and the brilliant "The Trap", Marr's palette is broad enough to keep the greats coming within a pop framework he's working now. Looking forward to the next installment.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Mojo
    Nov 6, 2014
    60
    He may not be a born singer, or particularly vocally charismatic, but he sounds like he means it, and that's more than enough. [Nov 2014, p.94]
  2. Magnet
    Nov 5, 2014
    80
    A gorgeous, seductive album. [No. 114, p.56]
  3. The Line of Best Fit
    Oct 17, 2014
    70
    Playland then is an enjoyable rock record with occasional dips into complacency that are sometimes matched by its moments of bravado and energy.
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