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Sam Sparro - Sam Sparro
Metascore
63 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
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  1. The Guardian
    80
    There's more captivating electro-funk where that came from: his debut album is stuffed with it, some immediate enough to match Black and Gold's success.
  2. Observer Music Monthly
    80
    This is a daring, crisp modern soul album rich in ideas and star quality.
  3. Hot Press
    80
    The ghost of Marvin hovers over debut by Digi-Soul merchant - sensuous dancefloor fodder with an evocative voice.
  4. Billboard
    80
    The best part of Sparro is that he's not just multiplying old styles by new sounds. Dressed like a raver B-boy, switching between Rufus Wainwright and D'Angelo, the boy's not faking it.
  5. Drowned In Sound
    70
    As good as he evidently is as an arranger for the modern pop market (props, too, for song-penning collaborators Paul Epworth and Anthony 'Eg' White)--lacks lyrical consistency: for every neat tongue twist guaranteed to have you mouthing the words back in the shower the next day, there's some truly atrocious couplet that's best forgotten before it's heard.
  6. New Musical Express (NME)
    60
    While Hercules and Neon Neon took their dance nostalgia and turned it into something smart and new, Sam Sparro too often sounds like it's come straight out of an electro-funk generator--perfect reference points intact, but not developed or built upon or made unique.
  7. Dot Music
    60
    It's a mixed bag certainly and while nothing else here scales the heights of the single that's made his name thus far, there are plenty of moments of pop confection steered with a degree of sophistication to suggest he's more than a one trick pony.
  8. Uncut
    60
    Often stunning, but arguably also a little too knowing and shallow. [Aug 2008, p.108]
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  9. All Music Guide
    60
    After a while the tracks all begin to sound the same, disco beat with Seal style R&B vocals, no bad thing but nothing much original and nothing to come close to the single 'Black And Gold.'
  10. musicOMH.com
    60
    There's a confidence obvious throughout that suggests Sparro will build on what is a strutting debut, even if at the moment he's a big voice with too many small songs to sing.
  11. PopMatters
    30
    So as things go along, the similar, recycled beats meld into one another with little to distinguish them.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Paxster
    7
    An assured if not flawless debut from electrofunk artist Sam Sparro. Of course, the single 'Black and Gold' is the highlight. A cut above everything else on the album it explores philosophy and makes you think before getting down and funky with the other tracks. 'Clingwrap' is a post-funkadelic anthem song complete with funky sounding backing vocal and 'Sally' is a splice of Soulful pop which is catchy and memorable. There are a few let downs '21st Century Life' is too poppy for it's own good. Sparro definetley has something whether it is discovered by the listener today or tomorrow.… Full Review »
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