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Short answer: it’s good.
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BillboardMuch of the material on the quirky "Show Your Bones" is more intimate and, at times, tentative. [1 Apr 2006]
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Entertainment WeeklyShow Your Bones picks up where "Maps" left off, with the trio finding a middle ground between self-conscious primitivism and refined pop. [31 Mar 2006, p.60]
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Los Angeles TimesThis is minimalist rock with real feeling and a subversive, epic range. [4 Mar 2006]
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There's no 'difficult second album' syndrome here - Show Your Bones is the sound of a bang irretrievably, irresistibly and deservedly hurtling towards the big time.
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Though they've shed the cheap - but undeniably fun - Day-Glo immediacy of 'Fever...', it's been replaced by a range of expressions that most artists will only stumble upon by their fifth release.
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It's time to move some units, so quirky's out and tunefulness is in.
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On Show Your Bones the Yeah Yeah Yeahs occupy only one corner of the territory they claimed on Fever, walking confidently in their own footsteps but without claiming any new ground.
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Only about two hairs-breadth away from being a masterpiece.
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Show Your Bones is much more accessible than its predecessor, but there isn't really a "Maps" to serve as a gateway.
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Alas, despite finding some hooks worth pilfering, the band are still struggling to raise their game beyond White Stripes-goth-lite.
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The New York Times"Show Your Bones" doesn't confide much, but it's a picture of a band that's not quite sure what to do next. [27 Mar 2006]
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The group cuts through style in pursuit of substance, using Fever to Tell's slow-burning hit "Maps" as a jump-off point.
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If 'Fever To Tell' was a scratchy post punk effort, then this is their gothic record.
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No, local slump-spotters, this isn't the Yeahs' Room on Fire. Far from it.
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The few tracks on Show Your Bones that sound like they might have fit on Fever to Tell clearly constitute the new album’s weaker links.
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Thankfully, Bones is neither a heated-up knock-off of Fever To Tell nor a fan-alienating abandonment of their signature sound. It is instead, a supremely confident 12-song cut that has a remarkable weightiness.
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This album is, above all, a textural triumph, a quantum bounce from the brittle jitter and insect-chatter fuzz of the band's 2001 Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP and 2003's full-length Fever to Tell. It's as if the Velvet Underground had gone from the black-crusted minimalism of their first album right to the pop bloom of their fourth, Loaded.
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BlenderThey're after something different here--it's just not as good as what they've left behind. [Apr 2006, p.110]
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It's flawed, but applause for adding vulnerability to their game plan, at the very least.
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Unfortunately, though, too much of Show Your Bones just isn't that interesting, even if it was born from genuine heartache instead of sass and attitude.
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As before, the band's willingness to ground itself in human emotion sets it apart.
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With Show Your Bones, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have proven themselves worthy of the hype, and, more importantly, the excitement caused by an undeniably fantastic record.
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It may not be the album many critics and fans were expecting from Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but it's undeniably the right record for them at the right time, a shrewd display of awareness of both craft and, more importantly, of self too often lacking in modern rock.
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MojoIt's far from disappointing. [Apr 2006, p.106]
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Alternative PressShow Your Bones is the sort of second album that, rather than being a sophomore slump, makes you anxiously wonder what albums three, four and five will sound like. [May 2006, p.176]
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Q MagazineAgainst the odds, the band have managed to keep things small and strange, and learned a few thrilling new tricks along the way. [Apr 2006, p.110]
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UncutIt's only when they change pace on "Cheated Hearts" and the equally poignant "Dudley"... that Bones makes its mark as a worthy successor to Fever. [Apr 2006, p.98]
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Fabulous.
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Gone is the glitzy art-punk, spastic freak-out, and unfathomable screaming. Here now instead is simple melody, nasal singing, and familiar songs, which begs the question: Y Control?
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It sounds overcooked, over-thought, and overly ambitious, but such growing pains are preferable to pandering.
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Under The RadarThe album is a bit top-heavy... But Show Your Bones is nonetheless rewarding. [#13, p.89]
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UrbThe best thing about the second Yeah Yeah Yeahs album is the fact that it defies expectations, yet seems like the perfectly logical next step for such an adventurous band. [Apr 2006, p.81]
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Paste MagazineEverything I loved about Fever... is minimized on this follow-up, replaced by a more temperate jangle. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.129]
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A more shaded, musically expressive version of the continuing story of [Karen] O.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 84 out of 99
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Mixed: 11 out of 99
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Negative: 4 out of 99
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Aug 15, 2011Really good album. Great follow-up to Fever To Tell. It amazes me how they've evolved as a band.
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Sep 20, 2018
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FabioLSep 7, 2007A great album all around. Worlds different than Fever to Tell... still a masterpiece.