• Record Label: Sub Pop
  • Release Date: Jun 15, 2010
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 112 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 4 out of 112

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  1. Dec 1, 2010
    5
    I'm not a fan of the turn Foals have taken, although clearly it's gone down very well with the majority. They've lost their edge and, for me, have shed nearly everything that made them interesting. Antidotes was my album of the year two years ago. This doesn't get near my top 20 for 2010. As soon as I heard the pained, whiny vocals on Spanish Sahara, and the excruciatingly slow build upI'm not a fan of the turn Foals have taken, although clearly it's gone down very well with the majority. They've lost their edge and, for me, have shed nearly everything that made them interesting. Antidotes was my album of the year two years ago. This doesn't get near my top 20 for 2010. As soon as I heard the pained, whiny vocals on Spanish Sahara, and the excruciatingly slow build up that accompanies it, I knew that was it. Some decent moments. I like 'This Orient', yet even that song outstays it's welcome by repeating the chorus one too many times. Ultimately just not very interesting. Expand
  2. Aug 12, 2010
    5
    This album is patchy. There are some really lovely bits, particularly the first 30 seconds of many of the songs, but then it gets spoiled by some "trying-too-hard" and constipated vocals and awkward arrangements. I think they are trying to be a blend of talking heads, radiohead and dirty projectors, but are not anywhere near as good or original as any of those. 6/10 is generous. With XX,This album is patchy. There are some really lovely bits, particularly the first 30 seconds of many of the songs, but then it gets spoiled by some "trying-too-hard" and constipated vocals and awkward arrangements. I think they are trying to be a blend of talking heads, radiohead and dirty projectors, but are not anywhere near as good or original as any of those. 6/10 is generous. With XX, probably the most over-rated album of the year and I have not once managed to sit through the entire Foals album. Expand
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 30
  2. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Dec 21, 2010
    91
    TLF is a bid to be less in your face than in your head, and while its effect is less immediate, it's a comedown that's way more fun than the party.
  2. Under The Radar
    60
    Fortunately, when grooves meander and sometimes gets a bit ponderous, the band's creative instincts usually kick in to right the ship. [Summer 2010, p.83]
  3. Foals' major label debut, Total Life Forever, keeps those elements intact, most notably on the title track and in the calculated urgency and cold sweat of "After Glow," but the band has redesigned the template to include a more expansive pop approach evinced by sprawling centerpiece "Spanish Sahara."