Some Nights
by Fun.
  • Record Label: Elektra
  • Release Date: Feb 21, 2012
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 21
  3. Negative: 4 out of 21
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  1. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Feb 22, 2012
    95
    It's the bold, adventurous and grandiose album that the Top 40 charts needs right now.
  2. Blurt Magazine
    Apr 4, 2012
    90
    The record is a stellar collection of power pop rock songs.
  3. The Guardian
    May 24, 2012
    80
    [The band's] boundless enthusiasm could be teeth-grating even without Stars' overuse of Auto-Tune, but it's hard to dislike such catchy tunes and lyrics that are funny, sincere and oddly moving.
  5. BBC Music
    May 16, 2012
    80
    It's camp, but it's shadowy. It's epic, but it's introvert. It's highly peculiar, yet hugely commercial. It's one big, beautiful oxymoron.
  6. AllMusic
    Mar 9, 2012
    80
    The trio has crafted a record that measures up to My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy musically and delivers enough emotional charge to power a small town for a month.
  7. NOW Magazine
    Feb 23, 2012
    80
    Some Nights could be the breakthrough album that propels Fun. to the arenas where their lack of self-restraint will finally make sense.
  8. Sputnikmusic
    Feb 16, 2012
    80
    The energy and personality which flood out of every melody give this album its own stamp of authority.
  9. Spin
    Mar 9, 2012
    70
    Its slightly peculiar over-reliance on technology only makes it more human, more lovable, and more rock and roll.
  10. Rolling Stone
    Mar 6, 2012
    70
    Rollickingly catchy songs.
  11. Alternative Press
    Feb 16, 2012
    70
    While longtime fans might chide the group for losing some of their quirkiness and streamlining their sound, the band's desire to push the boundaries should be commended. [Mar 2012, p.91]
    All this publication's reviews
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Feb 16, 2012
    67
    Listeners who come for the trio's Glee-approved breakout ''We Are Young'' will be happy with Some Nights' superior first half.
  13. The Fly (UK)
    Jun 29, 2012
    60
    Against all odds, 'Some Nights' is a hoot: huge-sounding, packed with tunes and not lacking in humour.
  14. Kerrang!
    Jun 19, 2012
    60
    For every ELO-meets-Panic!-At-The-Disco pop gem that makes you think Fun. are great, there's also an Auto-Tuned-to-buggery vocal or irksome trumpet riff that simply grates. [26 May 2012, p.53]
    All this publication's reviews
  15. Magnet
    Mar 16, 2012
    50
    Everything with this band is bigger and more over-over-overdubbed than [Ruess' former band] the Format, which makes fun. about 10 times more annoying. [No. 85, p.54]
    All this publication's reviews
  16. Q Magazine
    Oct 12, 2012
    40
    Some Nights is ultimately a confused, turgid tangle of ideas. [Jul 2012, p.100]
    All this publication's reviews
  17. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    May 25, 2012
    40
    This quickly becomes the stuff of a thousand, middling US soft-rockers and when they're not whining like Maroon 5, they're whining like Blink-182.
  18. PopMatters
    Mar 8, 2012
    40
    As idiosyncratic top 40 pop--it's a success. But concentrating on it can be a huge burden on the ears.
  19. musicOMH.com
    May 22, 2012
    30
    Replete with tacky production and recycled ideas, its few merits are stretched to near breaking point.
  20. The Observer (UK)
    May 21, 2012
    20
    Lyrically vapid, auto-tuned and stadium-aspiring choruses like these, with their hands-in-the-air, mugging-with-your-mates quality, are so lacking in imagination that they make "feel-good" feel really, really bad.
  21. Consequence
    Feb 22, 2012
    20
    Skimming the top, fun. gets credit for its positive attitude and pocket full of catchy melodies, but on the whole, Some Nights remains forgettable.
  22. No Ripcord
    Apr 19, 2012
    10
    Awful.

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Most Discussed Album of 2012
20
#20 Most Shared Album of 2012

User Reviews

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User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 144 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 107 out of 144
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 144
  3. Negative: 17 out of 144
  1. Ragaboo
    Feb 21, 2012
    6
    fun.'s first album was pretty much perfection and didn't get any attention. For this album, they had the good fortune of getting a single intofun.'s first album was pretty much perfection and didn't get any attention. For this album, they had the good fortune of getting a single into Glee and other areas of the public sphere, which brought them recognition. However, I'm sorry to say that they disappoint a bit with this second album. They're a little less ... well, fun. They also apparently got ahold of an auto-tuner and went to town. Auto-tuning is for people who don't have good voices to sound at least bearable or interesting. Lead singer Nate Ruess doesn't have that problem, but he started using his new toy anyway, for some reason. Otherwise awesome songs are riddled with auto-tuning, sometimes to literally annoying levels, to the point that I have to skip tracks halfway through. It's weird, because I'll be loving a song, and then I'll have to end it. I'd say there are two songs of comparable quality to Aim and Ignite, then another handful that are above average compared to modern music, and then half are verging upon unlistenable. =[… Full Review »
  2. Ven-Wede
    Feb 23, 2012
    3
    This album is sadly the epitome of everything wrong with both 'indie' and pop music in 2012. It's just incredible that music has reached theThis album is sadly the epitome of everything wrong with both 'indie' and pop music in 2012. It's just incredible that music has reached the point where even people who can legitimately sing very well have to use autotune to remain competitive on the radio. The band here are nothing more than bland background in order to launch Nate Ruess up into the heights of implied super-stardom. He struts through the songs acting like the king of the world, projecting his voice far into every facet of the mix - choruses are often completely filled with layers and layers of vocals at different pitches, as if Some Nights is Ruess' own audition tape for American Idol. All indie credibility is utterly quashed since their promotion on Glee, which is surely the death knell for any hipster. Also of note are the ridiculously weak lyrics; the previous album's charm and intelligent story telling has been replaced with "ooh-la-la's" and the constant re-iteration of the song title. Couple that with the grating use of digital pitch-shifting and you have something more akin to Katy Perry than Fun. In closing, Some Nights is an absurd follow-up to Aim and Ignite, and appears to be the transition into what will probably be something even more easily digestible in the future.… Full Review »
  3. leafar0997
    Dec 16, 2012
    6
    Some people say that this second Fun's album is great. In my opinion, I don't see any greatness in it. I think that this album contains theSome people say that this second Fun's album is great. In my opinion, I don't see any greatness in it. I think that this album contains the best song of the year (We Are Young), however much songs of the album are kind of uninteresting and sometime, even annoying. I only like three songs in the album: the amazing (I admit) We Are Young plus Some Nights and It Gets Better. The rest of the songs are not bad at all but they are not strong sounds.… Full Review »
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