This Is Not a Safe Place
by Ride
  • Record Label: Wichita
  • Release Date: Aug 16, 2019
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 17
  3. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. musicOMH.com
    Aug 21, 2019
    80
    Here Ride aren’t just treading water so much as striking out for the horizon.
  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    Aug 12, 2019
    80
    The Oxford band’s second album since their 2014 reformation benefits from a wealth of creativity and experimentation that Bell may well have been suppressing for over 20 years.
  3. Q Magazine
    Aug 8, 2019
    80
    It might well be their best album yet. [Sep 2019, p.116]
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  5. Clash Music
    Aug 8, 2019
    80
    From the shoegaze-tinged jangle-pop of 'Future Love', to the dreamy indie of 'Clouds of Saint Marie', Ride sound incredibly fresh-faced.
  6. DIY Magazine
    Aug 16, 2019
    70
    The album is most interesting when it eschews from the guidelines.
  7. PopMatters
    Aug 12, 2019
    70
    As the sophomore sequence of their second wind, it does enough differently to set itself apart from Weather Diaries while also existing as a logical continuation of that foundation. It may not be as significant or memorable as it could be at times, but it's certainly an enveloping journey as it plays.
  8. Uncut
    Aug 8, 2019
    70
    While these 12 songs shake no foundations, they hold their own. [Sep 2019, p.34]
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  9. Paste Magazine
    Aug 14, 2019
    68
    This Is Not A Safe Place never quite finds its footing. The lyrics are a snapshot of the band’s current frame of mind—those recurring thoughts that fire when you turn in for the night. They’re deeply personal and never self-important, but also not particularly cohesive or thematic on the whole.
  10. Consequence
    Aug 16, 2019
    67
    Not every experiment on This Is Not a Safe Place succeeds, but that’s okay; failures still signify work in progress, and we can all agree that a world in which Ride’s at work is always preferable to the alternative.
  11. Pitchfork
    Aug 15, 2019
    65
    This Is Not a Safe Place is not, in the end, the classic Ride Mark 2 release that its first three songs so casually tease. But it has enough joy, verve and invention to suggest that Ride could get there one day.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Martin1018
    Aug 17, 2019
    9
    Great new album! Risks were taken, it’s creative and inventive, it reminds you of why we love Ride.
  2. lust26
    Aug 16, 2019
    9
    A step forward if compaired to Weather Diaries (which was a solid album too). They might sound too light for the ones who were used to theirA step forward if compaired to Weather Diaries (which was a solid album too). They might sound too light for the ones who were used to their first albums, but i think it's a very cohesive and organic piece of work.… Full Review »
  3. Pierrig
    Aug 16, 2019
    10
    Another strong album by Ride. One step above the already great Weather Diaries, This Is Not A Safe Place confirms that every shoegaze bandAnother strong album by Ride. One step above the already great Weather Diaries, This Is Not A Safe Place confirms that every shoegaze band from the 90s should reunite (I'm talking to you, Boo Radleys, Chapterhouse an d other Adorable).… Full Review »
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