The Obliterati
by Mission of Burma
  • Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: May 23, 2006
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. The A.V. Club
    91
    As the price of success, The Obliterati faces significantly higher expectations. Once again, though, Burma succeeds and surprises by playing to its strengths while moving forward.
  2. AllMusic
    90
    Sonic rabble-rousing doesn't get much better than this.
  3. Dusted Magazine
    90
    Last time, the surprise was that after 20 years of hiatus, the band was just as good as ever. This time, they're even better, more cohesive and confident, louder and funnier, still learning from life and each other, and using that experience to create ever more compelling music.
  5. Drawer B
    90
    This is Mission of Burma’s most aggressive and impassioned record to date.
  6. Pitchfork
    83
    It's a sound as vital and inspirational as ever.
  7. Stylus Magazine
    83
    The Obliterati succeeds in proving that Mission of Burma is not only capable of a comeback and a return to form, but also has exponential potential to evolve and thrive as a working band.
  8. cokemachineglow
    82
    They’ve managed to produce the best American rock record of the year so far.
  9. ShakingThrough.net
    82
    The Obliterati's first half makes 2004’s stellar comeback ONoffON seem tentative.
  10. Uncut
    80
    MoB have... not lost a cent of their turbulent, controlled-chaos energy. [Jul 2006, p.101]
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  11. The Wire
    80
    Packed with energy and furious with ideas. [#269, p.45]
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  12. Alternative Press
    80
    Yet another rock-solid album. [Aug 2006, p.204]
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  13. Mojo
    80
    Equal parts bludgeoning Art Brut and soaring pop grace. [Aug 2006, p.94]
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  14. Under The Radar
    80
    Everything is crisp and fits nicely together to make this a really enjoyable album. [Summer 2006, p.92]
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  15. Paste Magazine
    80
    Making up for lost time never sounded so good. [Aug 2006, p.88]
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  16. Austin Chronicle
    78
    Standouts "1001 Pleasant Dreams" and "13" wipe down the band's more melodic side, while "Spider's Web" and "Let Yourself Go" sound just as urgent and bottom-heavy as anything MoB throttled 20 years ago.
  17. Blender
    70
    A fierce, arty mix of melody and brute clatter. [Jun 2006, p.141]
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  18. Billboard
    70
    The melodic yet dissonant sea of guitar attack Burma brings to the table sounds arguably more relevant today than it did 20 years ago.
  19. Spin
    70
    Fifty-year-old men rarely sound this enraged and energized. Neither do twentysomethings. [Jun 2006, p.82]
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  20. Delusions of Adequacy
    70
    So whilst The Obliterati is certainly not a patch on the seminal Vs. - given that it lacks the same magical combination of cerebral claustrophobia and kinetic psychosis - it’s easily more potent than the over-oiled ONoffON.
  21. New Musical Express (NME)
    70
    Kicks with a passion and inventiveness that's seen them steam up the specs of everyone from Moby to Graham Coxon. [17 Jun 2006, p.39]
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  22. Rolling Stone
    70
    The Obliterati just sounds like the new Burma album.
  23. Q Magazine
    70
    These broiling drum-led riffs offer curdled cries, much volume and even humour. [Aug 2006, p.113]
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  24. Slant Magazine
    60
    The Obliterati is underwhelming not because it's bad, or weak, or mediocre, because it's none of those: it's just not essential.
  25. Tiny Mix Tapes
    60
    The first business-as-usual Burma release.
  26. PopMatters
    60
    What really lifts this out of the ordinary is the undeniable craft that has gone into the song writing.

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Best Album of 2006

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 2 out of 16
  1. ThomG
    Dec 5, 2006
    10
    Almost as good as Vs.
  2. BrendanD
    Jun 30, 2006
    10
    While the Burmese dudes and the ex-Grandaddy fellows battle it out for best album of the first half of 2006, I'd like to take a moment While the Burmese dudes and the ex-Grandaddy fellows battle it out for best album of the first half of 2006, I'd like to take a moment to explain why this record is a masterpiece. It is for precicely the reason that Lee W gave it a 1, except for one thing that Lee overlooked: there are few albums that rock this hard and can claim to have killer melodies on every single track. That's a feat never accomplished by even the best of the grunge-era bands, and even punk masters like the Ramones weren't always able to stay tuneful. Mission of Burma, however, always has, and they've now proven it with three masterpiece albums. Don't fool yourselves; this is nowhere near the greatest record of all time, and it still can't compare to "Signals, Calls and Marches." But take a gander at "Donna Sumeria," my favorite track on here, and you'll hear the full difference between punk and post-punk. Both punk and post-punk are all about big, exciting, tuneful choruses; but whereas punk songs get to those choruses as fast as they can (or, in the case of the best of punk tunes, they just begin with the chorus), post-punk songs take their time, building it up until you feel like you're about to burst, then taking your head off by making the chorus better than you ever could have imagined. Mission of Burma pulled this trick geniously on one of the greatest songs of all time, "That's When I Reach For My Revolver," and they pull it off again on "Donna Sumeria." But that's not to say that the rest of this album doesn't kick every listener, male of female, in the figurative balls. Beginning with the unreal "2wice," there are licks that Kurt Cobain would have killed for (and Cobain had some pretty great licks himself); "The Mute Speaks Out" plays like the greater psychedelic period of the Smashing Pumpkins never existed; and even the worst track on the record, "Period," could have been a big underground hit at the '70s CBGB scene. This album is absolutely stellar, a third masterpiece for the reunited geniuses.… Full Review »
  3. CalmeaT
    Jun 29, 2006
    10
    Great album! I'd give it an 11 if I could. Way better than OnOffOn and up there with Vs.
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