The Orchard
by Ra Ra Riot
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
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  1. Prefix Magazine
    70
    The Orchard is the sound of Ra Ra Riot hitting for the middle, delivering 10 tracks of deliberate orchestral-tinged indie-pop that'll hit you in your 2007-era blog-rock pleasure center.
  2. BBC Music
    May 3, 2011
    70
    Syracuse art-poppers need to let their instincts do the thinking.
  3. No Ripcord
    70
    Ra Ra Riot's focus on overall listenability may have produced an album lacking some of the excitement found on their first record. While The Orchard is certainly a pretty record, it's not always the most thrilling.
  5. Billboard.com
    82
    The set may not feel as catchy as Ra Ra Riot's well-received debut, but fans should appreciate the band's musical growth.
  6. Slant Magazine
    80
    The Orchard is no less sweet or sentimental than its predecessor, but it's a stronger, more complete record.
  7. NOW Magazine
    80
    The follow-up to Ra Ra Riot's well-received debut album opens with a slow-moving reminder that this romantic indie-styled Syracuse sextet love their violins and cellos.
  8. Sputnikmusic
    80
    Everything a sophomore effort should be.
  9. Tiny Mix Tapes
    70
    Though hardly a radical departure from the baroque-pop template set by that debut, The Orchard is more mannered, fussy, and prim than its predecessor, exact and instrumentally articulate in ways that evoke no one more than Ms. Bush.
  10. Filter
    80
    Start at the beginning and let it play all the way through: The Orchard gives us an achingly mature version of a band yet to fail.
  11. Delusions of Adequacy
    80
    Fans of The Rhumb Line are unlikely to go head over heels for The Orchard, but Ra Ra Riot's latest is still among the most clever and thoughtful indie pop heard this year.
  12. PopMatters
    90
    Ra Ra Riot is still speaking a language everyone can understand: Love. And on The Orchard, Ra Ra Riot has never spoken so clearly.
  13. The Boston Phoenix
    75
    The Orchard cracks open a window to dreamy possibilities.
  14. The A.V. Club
    75
    Packed with mid-tempo ballads, The Orchard is largely unfocused, with foppish orchestration wandering aimlessly behind half-baked riffs, baroque in the most boring sense.
  15. Alternative Press
    80
    The Orchard is a significantly more melancholy collection of songs. But melancholy seems to suit Ra Ra Riot, especially since they don't get too caught up in its gloom. [Sep 2010, p.113]
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. Eoipa
    Aug 25, 2010
    10
    What an amazing album. A more 80's inspired sound base then their debut, The Rhumb Line, but with results just the same. Go get this album,What an amazing album. A more 80's inspired sound base then their debut, The Rhumb Line, but with results just the same. Go get this album, definitely worth it.… Full Review »
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