Shields
by Grizzly Bear
  • Record Label: Warp
  • Release Date: Sep 18, 2012
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 165 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 150 out of 165
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 165
  3. Negative: 4 out of 165
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  1. Mattydigs
    Aug 27, 2013
    5
    This is FAR from being as good as Veckatimest. It starts and ends strong but the entire middle (half the album or more) is a giant slump. I don't know what people are thinking these days. I could name hit after hit off of Veck. This one has 1 or 2.
  2. Slowave
    Oct 28, 2012
    5
    I want to love Grizzly Bear. I really do. If growing a beard, putting on skinny jeans, and wearing a toque with a pair of Ray Bans will make the supposed charm of Grizzly Bear make more sense to me, I'm willing to try. But as the previous sentence indicates, I'm tempted to dismiss them as the overrated hipster darlings of a Pitchfork review. And I saw them at Bonnaroo (after a weekI want to love Grizzly Bear. I really do. If growing a beard, putting on skinny jeans, and wearing a toque with a pair of Ray Bans will make the supposed charm of Grizzly Bear make more sense to me, I'm willing to try. But as the previous sentence indicates, I'm tempted to dismiss them as the overrated hipster darlings of a Pitchfork review. And I saw them at Bonnaroo (after a week without shaving), and - to be brutally honest - I was bored. I didn't think their music translated live. I'm willing to give "growers" time to grow, but with repeated listens of this album, I can honestly say it does not grab me. Moments here and there flirt with a beautiful melody that is never quit there, and I'm annoyed with Grizzly Bear in the same way I am with Radiohead. It's as if preventing a melody from going where it feels like it is supposed to go is some new form of 'high art" that I'm not hipster enough to "get." A song like "A Simple Answer" was among the few that grabbed me first listen, but even it never manages to boil beyond a simmer, and a true satisfying moment seems annoyingly out of reach. All in all, I dismiss Grizzly Bear as among the most overrated indie acts out there (however, no where near Bon Iver in that regard). At times pretty and interesting, ultimately - they are pretty damn boring (very much like Bon Iver). Maybe your either a Fleet Foxes kind of person or a Grizzly Bear kind of person. I'll take real melodies and real playing with real purpose any day.… Collapse
  3. DOMlNlC
    May 8, 2013
    6
    Shields has been getting a whole lot of attention so you can understand my dismay when I discovered it wasn't flawless. The tracks I truly enjoyed were "Sleeping Ute","Yet Again", and "Speak In Rounds" (Best song on the album). It irritates me to no end when albums like this get so much praise while some albums that truly deserve recognition, go unnoticed. I like Grizzly Bear and the albumShields has been getting a whole lot of attention so you can understand my dismay when I discovered it wasn't flawless. The tracks I truly enjoyed were "Sleeping Ute","Yet Again", and "Speak In Rounds" (Best song on the album). It irritates me to no end when albums like this get so much praise while some albums that truly deserve recognition, go unnoticed. I like Grizzly Bear and the album was NOT bad, but I don't believe it deserved any album of the year awards.… Expand
  4. All_ButTrU4
    Aug 25, 2022
    6
    It starts and ends strong but the entire middle (half the album or more) is a giant slump.

Awards & Rankings

22
#22 Best Album of 2012
48
#48 Most Discussed Album of 2012
26
#26 Most Shared Album of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. Sputnikmusic
    Nov 30, 2012
    100
    It's the construction of it all that's so perfect: that the music can follow, this time, but still be what Grizzly Bear are all about.
    Read full review
  2. Delusions of Adequacy
    Nov 19, 2012
    90
    Although Veckatimest might be more of an emotionally-driven album, Shields continues to showcase a band that is somehow--as good as they currently are--simply getting better and better, regardless of the location, the circumstances, regardless of the schedules.
    Read full review
  3. Austin Chronicle
    Oct 25, 2012
    78
    More than anything, Shields feels like a deliberate maturation of Arcade Fire's The Suburbs, trading adolescent angst for an older disillusion and heartbreak. The same tension exists between the two, especially in swelling closers "Half Gate" and "Sun in Your Eyes," yet here, they're more intricately expressed and controlled.
    Read full review
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