The Unfairground - Kevin Ayers
The Unfairground Image
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.9 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

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0 out of 10
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  • Summary: The ex-Soft Machines band member returns with his first solo studio album since 1992.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Stylus Magazine
    91
    If The Unfairground doesn’t quite qualify as a "stunning" return to form--"stunning" never really being Ayers’ stock in trade--it certainly represents the delightful and unexpected renaissance of a perennially undervalued artist, whose quiet but significant influence is long overdue for re-assessment.
  2. Uncut
    80
    Whatever the situation, Ayers's amenability shines through regardless, a wave of warmth that can lighten the heaviest soul.
  3. Mojo
    80
    The Unfairground finds Ayers rejuvenated and stands comparison with his best work. [Oct 2007, p.98]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. PopMatters
    40
    The Unfairground maintains no connection whatsoever to jazz, once a mainstay of Ayers, The Whole World, and The Soft Machine, and even the album’s affiliations with other black art forms are strained at best.

See all 12 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 1 out of 2
  1. MarkR.
    10
    This is a wonderful album and does indeed stand with Ayers' finest. Everyone can ignore the ignorant review from Popmatters. Ayers left Soft Machine after the first album he largely wrote (a psychedelic masterpiece) when the other members wanted to take the band in a jazz direction -- so downrating The Unfairground for not being jazzy enough is absurd. I love Robert Wyatt as much as I love Ayers, but I would never compare the two or critisise the one for not being like the other.… Expand
  2. JMan
    1
    It is so bad.

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