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- Summary: The second album for the German-based band led by Kings of Convenience's Erlend Oye.
- Record Label: Bubbles
- Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Dance, Alternative
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 4 out of 14
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Mixed: 10 out of 14
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Negative: 0 out of 14
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The weird and promising thing is that it works without ever feeling natural. The actual coexistence of the earnest and the smoove stops being so striking after a while, but the best songs on Rules don’t let you forget there is one.
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It's more like easy listening with a funk flare, and, like all easy-listening, there are times when it falls decidedly flat.
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Rules moves smoothly from one track to the next. Sometimes it does all feel a little too formulaic, a little too rational.
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So, his odd decision to make Jamiroquai-like pillow-pop adds yet another string to Oye’s heavily-laden bow, but this is one we’d happily take the wire-cutters to.
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Listening to Rules is a surprisingly boring experience. At several instances throughout this album you wish someone would let rip with a guitar solo, fire off a rave horn or just do something to liven up proceedings.
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Hooks hit their fleshy mark here and there--'Dead End' is a compulsive, '80s-flavoured high and 'High On The Heels'' clipped acid house proves endearingly gauche--but it's cold comfort on a record that fleshes out a promising template to only diminishing returns.
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Sadly, the effect is often not strikingly minimalist but blandly beige, at times recalling Jamiroquai's most soulless moments.
Score distribution:
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Positive: 2 out of 3
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Mixed: 1 out of 3
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Negative: 0 out of 3
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Sep 22, 2012
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May 1, 2012
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Aug 9, 2016
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