Rapprocher
by Class Actress
Metascore
69

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
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  1. AllMusic
    Oct 17, 2011
    90
    You'd have to go a long way to hear a better synth pop album, no matter what decade you examine.
  2. The Boston Phoenix
    Oct 18, 2011
    88
    Rapprocher does what last year's (s)excellent debut EP Journal of Ardency did so well, letting Harper be the pretty face of electronic compositions that, with her aid, become liberating, confident, oozing with inviting overtones.
  3. Paste Magazine
    Oct 19, 2011
    82
    For the most part, Rapprocher is a tight little album full of melodramatic pop tunes dripping in '80s loving.
  5. Drowned In Sound
    Oct 13, 2011
    80
    This is a fantastically arranged and conceptually exquisite record, and as much as it feels like anathema to say that a contemporary pop highpoint has sprouted below the surface, in the case of Class Actress it's true.
  6. musicOMH.com
    Oct 13, 2011
    80
    Like the recent offerings from the aforementioned pair, Rapprocher is properly cinematic.
  7. Pitchfork
    Oct 20, 2011
    71
    Class Actress still sound a little too weird to truly break through (and if they toned that weirdness down, this record just wouldn't be as interesting).
  8. CMJ
    Oct 19, 2011
    70
    This is a solid debut for the highly anticipated band.
  9. Spin
    Oct 13, 2011
    70
    Nothing on this full-length debut is so insidious, though several tracks come close.
  10. Filter
    Oct 20, 2011
    64
    The music is alive with all the right synth-pop touchstones: lots of mournful, ersatz orchestration; creepy, disfigured melodic overlays; and muscular funk undercurrents.
  11. Resident Advisor
    Dec 19, 2011
    60
    If there is one main flaw you could attach to Rapprocher, it's how Harper sticks so slavishly to the template laid out by her dance pop mentors.
  12. Q Magazine
    Dec 15, 2011
    60
    Harper recreated herself as a sultry electro diva ... it's a role she plays with panache on this full-length debut. [Dec. 2001 p. 125]
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  13. Magnet
    Nov 11, 2011
    60
    Especially in today's digital context, the album feels torn between big-P pop a la La Roux or happy-mode Goldfrapp (or, at least, Annie circa 2004) and the darker, broodier likes of Ladytron.[#81, p. 55]
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  14. New Musical Express (NME)
    Oct 17, 2011
    60
    It's a hit and miss affair.
  15. Slant Magazine
    Oct 14, 2011
    60
    Underneath the litany of angular instrumentation, Rapprocher is, both musically and narratively, conventional glam-pop fare, but it's difficult not to admire how well the bedazzled glove fits.
  16. Under The Radar
    Oct 21, 2011
    40
    Harper and her cohorts have certainly created a close approximation to the heyday of Depeche Mode and Human League--but ultimately their dated sound doesn't even come close.
  17. Uncut
    Oct 18, 2011
    40
    A return to the coffee shops beckons. [Nov 2011, p.83]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. Belmsher
    Jan 24, 2012
    10
    Were there any justice in this world and this album would have done so much better commercially than it actually did. Glamorous, simple andWere there any justice in this world and this album would have done so much better commercially than it actually did. Glamorous, simple and daring, Elizabeth Harper stepped it up a notch, despite every critic seems to like her previous EP 'Journal Of Ardency' better. Keep listening and growing, bit**es!… Full Review »
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