Great.

What an album, ok I only just got it. but from the opener peacebone to the brilliant and trippy derek it doesnt dissapoint. So varied and so challenging. Lyrically AC are on top of thier game, and while, perhaps this album isnt quite as cohesive of an experience as 'Feels' it raises itself in terms of the strenght of individual tracks. Baring the slightly pointless #1 every track is great, (and while i might miss it) there is no 10 minuete epic slow build up track. It a more accesible experience but no less weird or unusual than thier previous effots and this is where the AC are so accomplished. Far from technitions ,there more tribal than that, they have been able to craft an album of tunes that challenge and yet draw you in to thier wacky world.… Expand

Easily one of the year's best. Mature freak-put rock that has a tighter composition than any of the experimental stuff in AC's past. if you appreciate the abstract, listen to this year's hallmark release. There is also plenty of pop hooks on top of all of the oddities of this release.

Good, but does not compare to the classic "Feels" or even Panda Bear's "Person Pitch". Good track: Peacebone, Fireworks

Stunning, a real triumph. I can't think what the critics have against it really. From the moment it kicks of with peacevbone , a song which soars literally from tribal bounce before sweeping electronically into the chorus. I love that lift off into 'an obsession with the past...' it sends chills down my spine. Both Unsolved Mysteries and Chores are brilliant and then it hits reverand green, possibly their greatest song yet. Again built around thump and go tribal structures. The album may dip at the odd #1 but don't listen to the critics stick with the album though the awesome cuckoo clock and the stunning winter wonderland with its off cue jerks and you'll make it to the brilliant Panda Bear sung Derek, a touching beach boys throwback that Wilson himself would be very proud of. Anyway its not my words you should follow really... its you INSIGHT!!!… Expand

Animal Collective have truly surpassed themselves with this one. Bands this stunning only come along ever now and again and when they do it's just best to marvel at their brilliance and enjoy it. There are too many great moments on this album to mention any stand out tracks, but as the "All Music Guide" review states: -David Bowie, Philip Glass and Brian Eno can only dream about having been creative enough to come up with 'Fireworks'- and that's no exaggeration. They are that good. Just accept it.… Expand

Wow... This is my favorite group album of 2007... This deserves a much higher Metascore... All of those reviewers who gave this disk a 6 should be taken off the job because their obviously afraid of experiencing new, earth shattering music... "Fireworks," "Winter Wonderland," and "Derek" are probably the best songs I've heard all year from any band by far.

Aside from the creepy "#1" and the annoying "Cuckoo Cuckoo", this is the most consistent Animal Collective record to date.

Once in a great while comes an album worthy of a perfect rating. To be perfect a record must be beautiful, fresh, and inspiring and thus a perfect rating should rarely be given out. Strawberry Jam not only deserves a perfect rating, it also deserves to be heralded the greatest of the decade thus far. Joining the ranks of the Beach Boys,The Beatles, Radiohead, The Pixies, and just a few others, Animal Collective have proven that they are capable of producing music we all can love and I hope to God they continue because we are in DIRE need of a great and reliable band!… Expand

One word: Yes.

The most important band this side of Radiohead has crafted a Rorschach Test Blot of an album. 'Strawberry Jam' has something to please the palette of anyone remotely interested in these guys. Me, I wish there would have been slightly more Panda Bear and a little less Avey Tare. Other than that, no complaints.

Vocals too high and clear.... dampens the magic.... Good songs, but annoying.

A fantastic album, I'd really consider it one of the years best. It's a perfect combination of Animal Collective's pop side and their experimental side. Fireworks is to die for.

almost as good as feels

Anybody that has followed Animal collective previous albums will have noted the gradual streamlining of the music! To a greater extent it has been successful. However with the latest effort the expressive rhythmic crashes, bang and yelps that punctuated their music have been doused in the name of fluidity! This is not a bad album by any means as the musicianship and sense of sound that the band has it still very much prevalent. It just lacks that exuberance that has been their trade mark!… Expand

ac's best yet. so FOCUSED! beautiful.

I don't know how the praise for Animal Collective has been so universal in the past. It's clear that their music is not for everyone. I find myself thinking some of their tracks are brilliant on one day, but totally wrong on another.

Brilliant from start to finish. BEWARE This album could make a lot of the other stuff you listen to this year sound pretty uninspiring in comparison. ESSENTIAL

Best record of the year. Second: Panda Bear - Person Pitch.

Strawberry Jam serves as a solid introduction to the group, as it scales back on the more experimental aspects of their previous works and instead delivers some of the strongest pop and rock arrangements of their career. This is also the biggest problem with the album. It feels restrained and pigeonholed and like the sound of someone cramming a square peg into a circular hole. There's always been a little pop in Animal Collective but it's forced here and doesn't really find an acceptable middle ground.… Expand

Best disc of the year hands down.

Album of the year

I don't necessarily think this is a bad album but I do not hear any melody or purpose. It sounds like a jumbled mess or horses trampling my head. This album definitely makes me clean my house at a rapid pace. I will continue to give it a chance because I want to like it

Fireworks is one of the best songs I've ever heard.

Every song on this album had to grow on me other than Peacebone. But, after listening to it about three times, it became my first or second favorite Animal Collective album, and one of my favorite albums ever. There really is not a bad song on it. The two songs that took the longest to grow on me were #1 and Unsolved Mysteries.

Fireworks and Peacebone are classic!

disappointing

I've been a fan for a few years now, and this is their apex so far...just all the great melodies and the odd structures make it so enjoyable...unsolved mysteries has great drums, and cuckoo cuckoo is so damn powerful....10! 10! 10!

I wonder why some of these particular people, the ones with lower ratings, are grading this album based on the other albums from this group. Is it to challenging to critique just Strawberry Jam, probably.

no comment, except for strawberry jam rules!

A beautiful new direction that seems to borrow heavily from panda bear's recent concepts, but realized better and more fully in the live setting.

Astonishing as usual. On this showing, you wonder why everyone else working in the field of music doesn't just give up and go home. Animal Collective are so way ahead of all other bands around today they frankly make everything else sound irrelevant. As important to this decade as Can or My Bloody Valentine were to theirs, there's only one other album released this year that can compare to Strawberry Jam and that was a solo album by a member of Animal Collective! (Panda Bear's 'Person Pitch'). Pitchfork are spot on with their review but it worries me that not every one is as positive. These people are PAID to write about music, for God's sake. If they don't get how great this band and this album are they clearly don't have any understanding of music and perhaps shouldn't be writing about the subject. Maybe they should turn their literary talents to writing for magaines about gardening or something.… Expand

Standing beside Panda Bear's phenomenal album Person Pitch, Animal Collective do more than previously thought with this high energy, popriffic masterpiece that people will be smiling to for years to come. The collective is on!

The Stylus Magazine score is wrong. They gave it a B-, from which the 67 score attributed to it by Metacritic is not indicative. THis album is not for everyone but for the few who will enjoy it, it's quite addictive and ming-tingling. toodles.

Another ambitious step, a truly great and obsessive album

This is the most complete and listenable ablum so far this year. Great stuff.

Animal Collective have made a terrific album with 'Strawberry Jam'. It definitely has hooks, but isn't for your average listener who would rather hear mundane sounds and predictability. In other words, this is a great record if you are open to original ways of exploring old ideas.

some of my favorites are Peacebone, Unsolved Mysteries, Chores, For Reverend Green, Fireworks, #1, Winter Wonder Land, Cuckoo Cuckoo, Derek all pretty good

I dig it baby.

Could Rolling Stone be just a touch more irrelevant? Jesus Christ...

it's a good'n.

I am completely baffled by the mixed critical response to this album. Strawberry Jam has had me hooked since it leaked and has become a permanent classic in my collection; one of the very few recent albums that I'm sure I'll still be listening to 5 years from now.

Possibly their best... why is it a nine? its really good, more structured but still kinda "out there." a little too much electronic noise, but even thats starting to grow on me. Definitely one of the best for 2007.

AC have reached a level of popularity (at least among serious music fans) that they’re due a critical backlash. Some critics have presumably thought that they aren't able to gush about how great this album is just in case they don't sound ‘cool’ anymore. That can be the only why not every single review has been superlative. The thing is, it’s not about being ‘cool’ or hip to what’s trendy this month. What is important is that Strawberry Jam is great album. At least as good as previous AC albums, maybe even their best. It’s a definite new step musically from Feels (which had pretty much perfected the folk tinged sound they’d started with Sung Tongs) so it looks like they are a long way away from running out of ideas. The one thing still constant is their amazing ability to recreate childlike joy. May they never grow up.… Expand

Absolutely one of the year's BEST! I must admit that I had a difficulty digesting anything Animal Collective or Panda Bear did in the past but i followed my instincts and 'previewed' the 'Jam' by downloading the entire thing! I was pleasantly surprised. This seems to be their most accessible and at the same time their BEST. Without compromising their Experimentalism they have created an Electronica Feast!… Expand

First misstep for the collective.

After several great releases from Animal Collective, this record comes completely out of left field, and completely blows away all their other work. Its awe inspiring tunes in the form of the crazy time signature "For Reverend Green" and beautiful "Fireworks," stand out among a group of still amazing tracks. I had fear this would be their first misstep but it has turned out to be their best all around record with only strong to magnificent tracks being featured. The first perfect album of the year.… Expand

You put in the cd and a jumble of incomprehensible sounds blasts out of your speakers. It quickly and flawlessly turns in to a beautifully constructed song, Peacebone, which has Avey Tare cheerfully singing some of their oddest lyrics to date, with an occasional group shout that sounds more like the chilling shriek of a monster. Every song that follows has its own surprise. At times Avey roars like a death metal singer, while the instruments calmly jam. I mention Avey twice because his voice dominates this album. I'm a huge Panda Bear fan, and every song he leads is classic, but it's Avey's songs that will stick with you, that you'll try to sing along with. I'm crazy in to this cd. Once my excitement dies down, it will be interesting to see if it will be my favorite Animal Collective album (Feels got 5 points higher than this one, but I sense more talent and skill coming from this release). This is their most chaotic and loud album, and also their most fun.… Expand

Andy W: Cuckoo Cuckoo is annoying?! Anyway, AC are the new Beach Boys - wonderful, simple melodies, coupled with new and engaging production. And this is their Pet Sounds - simply marvelous.

Very good.

Relentlessly brilliant. The album is humble and without pretense. Full of color and autonomy. Get it.

The listening experience of 2007. Animal Collective outdoes themselves (yet again). It baffles the mind that this decade's most relevant musicians are still virtually unknown to the average music appreciator. All 9 songs on the album are incredible.

Surely their Poppiest Moment. But its also the weirdest pop around. This how POP should sound !!!

Great album, full of energy and passion, theres nothing like it

Painfully amazing.

The only reason I wouldn't consider Strawberry Jam to be my favorite album this year is because I decided long ago that nothing will top Person Pitch. It's easily my second favorite, though.

Nearly perfect. it might just be the album of the year.

I have been a huge fan of Animal Collective since their inception. This is by far one of their very best releases. Definetely one of the best of 2007!

I really recommend this album, is an experience.

I can't stop playing it.

This CD is nearly perfect. "Peacebone," "For Reverend Green," and "Fireworks," are easily 3 of the best tracks of the year so far. The only misstep this disc has is "#1." It's a decent track, but the 2 and a half minute filler at the end isn't good. If the track was under 3 minutes, it would be much better. This cd is great, though.

surely this is a contender for 2007's best album yes, very Avey dominated but we had Person Pitch to get our Panda Bear fill and his presence is not totally missed here. Much better than Feels in my opinion. Looking forward to what comes next.

Animal Collective's tastiest album so far. It's a glossy and colorful album. Oh, such wonder.