Ritual
by White Lies
  • Record Label: Geffen
  • Release Date: Jan 18, 2011
User Score
7.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 35 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 35
  3. Negative: 3 out of 35
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  1. safcgac
    Oct 26, 2011
    10
    Do not listen to the critics. There is a reason this band play sell out shows and this is it. Totally immense. The album starts strong and it ends strong, it just never lets up. A must have.
  2. kimmend
    Mar 3, 2011
    9
    Strong, mature album. Most of the songs are single material, but there are also a couple of misses, unfortunately. Overall a great follow up to the debut.
  3. Triatsila
    Jan 22, 2011
    9
    I'm a huge WL fan and this album didn't disappoint. They've changed they're style a bit and some of the songs seem almost positive on this record. I do miss their melancholic tones from their first album though. If you're a fan you will already have the album. Some songs flop which is disappointing and I'd say that the album is better received when listened as a whole and not just the oddI'm a huge WL fan and this album didn't disappoint. They've changed they're style a bit and some of the songs seem almost positive on this record. I do miss their melancholic tones from their first album though. If you're a fan you will already have the album. Some songs flop which is disappointing and I'd say that the album is better received when listened as a whole and not just the odd track here and there.… Expand
  4. alexwrands
    May 31, 2011
    9
    "Ritual" is a great second album for the trio from Shepherd's Bush known as White Lies. It continues to bring the anthemic, stadium sounding noise, combined with soul lifting rock, which makes for fantastic listening. This band are certainly on their way to greatness
  5. coldplaz
    Jan 22, 2011
    8
    Not as good as TLML but definitely not that bad!
    so track by track:
    Is love? - boring from the start but then it shows as one of the album's highlights
    strangers - catchy but unoriginal and repetitive
    bigger than us - great choice for first single one of better songs
  6. Ricko
    Aug 11, 2019
    7
    People know what to expect with White Lies. "Ritual" fits in nicely with the rest of their discography. Another solid and satisfying listen. Not as many standout tracks as on other albums by them but overall this is a well put together and very well produced set of songs.
  7. Chris_A
    Aug 19, 2013
    7
    A reasonable album, but not as good as the first album, The album seems to be missing a really decent tune that To Lose My Life had with Death. Overall though it's not as bad as the critics say.
  8. Pablomin
    Apr 30, 2014
    5
    Sadly, not their best work, although scattered with some great songs. I feel the band left their signature sound heard on TLML, thankfully rekindled on their third album 'Big TV'. 'Better Than Us' an incredible song.
  9. Dickielikemusic
    Aug 25, 2012
    0
    The ebola virus. Climate change. Thermonuclear warfare. Your grandmother in your wife's sexy lingerie. Islamofascism. The christian Apocolypse. These are just a small selection of very bad things that are infinitely better for you than this album and the band that produced it. I say produced, but perhaps begat is more accurate. Extruded perhaps. What is the term for the explosion thatThe ebola virus. Climate change. Thermonuclear warfare. Your grandmother in your wife's sexy lingerie. Islamofascism. The christian Apocolypse. These are just a small selection of very bad things that are infinitely better for you than this album and the band that produced it. I say produced, but perhaps begat is more accurate. Extruded perhaps. What is the term for the explosion that occurs when you squeeze a puss filled pimple? Whatever it is, that is the word that describes the creation of this album. Its is terrible. Horrible. Abuse for the ears. Intelligence destroying filth. The sound is somewhere between a bad pub band covering Joy Division and your mum singing her favourite Duran Duran tracks while scrubbing the toilet. But its the lyrics that really define this abortion of an album. Think of every annoying 13 year old girl you have ever known, take all of their diaries, find all of the pages where they describe just how much they love their English teacher and how no-one understands the depth of their devotion, set it to the aforementioned bad pub band/joy division/your mum/Duran Duran sound track and you have some idea of of how utterly bad this steaming pile of crap is. It has no redeming features at all. It adds nothing to humanity, art, music, culture. It does howver steal minute from your life that you can never recover. For your sake and the sake of human kind, stay away from this album and its predecessor - maybe then this band will go away and we will all be safe… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 24
  3. Negative: 2 out of 24
  1. Mojo
    Apr 4, 2011
    80
    The album delivers on the promise. {Feb 2011, p.104]
  2. Beats Per Minute
    Feb 18, 2011
    74
    Ritual is an enthralling album, highlighting a band flexing their musical muscles, trying to grow and add new sounds to their existing palette.
    Read full review
  3. Q Magazine
    Feb 1, 2011
    80
    The Ealing doom merchants come of age. [Feb. 2011, p. 110]
See all critic reviews »