Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 31
  2. Negative: 0 out of 31
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  1. Feb 7, 2012
    70
    Tramp offers plenty for listeners to enjoy as she goes.
  2. Feb 1, 2012
    79
    Matters of mistrust, isolation, and uncomfortable togetherness dominate Tramp, rolling through every track like a sick, creeping fog.
  3. Uncut
    Feb 3, 2012
    80
    A graceful, distinctive album. [Mar 2012, p.101]
  4. Feb 9, 2012
    70
    Tramp is confirmation that Van Etten is a singular talent in the singer-songwriter world, a voice that commands attention through sheer power and the subtle impact of her words.
  5. Mojo
    Feb 27, 2012
    80
    [A] very fine third album. [Mar 2012, p.98]
  6. Q Magazine
    Feb 22, 2012
    80
    An arresting record for challenging times. [Mar 2012, p.113]
  7. 90
    This isn't just her finest album, but one of early 2012's best.
  8. Feb 7, 2012
    80
    Here, she and her double-tracked voice sound bigger, thanks partly to help from dudes in Beirut and the National.
  9. Under The Radar
    Mar 21, 2012
    70
    Tramp ups the game on both fronts [as a songwriter and as a musician]- her songs have a newfound bravado, and her crushing heartache has become tempered with acceptance and understanding. [Mar 2012, p.87]
  10. Feb 2, 2012
    90
    It's a wonderful record, a colossal achievement, and features some of the most breathtaking, moving and downright beautiful music you'll hear all year.
  11. Feb 7, 2012
    83
    For the most part, the production serves to accent rather than overwhelm Van Etten's greatest asset, her voice.
  12. Feb 14, 2012
    80
    Deeply felt, gorgeously rendered folk-pop songs.
  13. Feb 7, 2012
    83
    Though it rarely rises above a whisper, Van Etten's captivating vocals and Dessner's subtle production ensure that Tramp is never remotely sleepy.
  14. Feb 7, 2012
    80
    Van Etten has all the right tools to make a great album.
  15. Feb 2, 2012
    90
    A gorgeous, fully realized expression of her potential.
  16. Feb 7, 2012
    70
    Dessner, as studio ringleader, misperceives Van Etten's power as simply a matter of mounting force and so tries to buttress her performance (her personality) with all the layering clichés and atmospheric tricks in his indie rock playbook.
  17. Feb 16, 2012
    80
    Tramp isn't as seizing as Epic, its songs aren't as dense and unalike, its textures don't diverge in the same methods, but it breathes more, it quivers more, it shakes, it overturns itself, it rusts.
  18. 80
    The producerly hand of the National's Aaron Dessner and cameos by the likes of Beirut's Zach Condon only add to the conclusion that Tramp is one of the must-hears of early 2012.
  19. Feb 9, 2012
    80
    As a whole, Sharon Van Etten really hits the nail on the head with her third try.
  20. Feb 8, 2012
    70
    For Van Etten, it's a logical next step in her upward trajectory.
  21. Feb 13, 2012
    80
    The blend of soul and rootsy grit may not be startlingly original, but here, at least, it's Van Etten's and nobody else's that truly shines.
  22. Feb 14, 2012
    70
    For a few tracks, like "Magic Chords," her sound starts becoming a trap for a song that never quite coalesces. But the flip side is "All I Can," which reveals a streak of slow-build adult pop craft that's kept under wraps for much of the album.
  23. Mar 15, 2012
    78
    Van Etten is in control like never before.
  24. Feb 2, 2012
    80
    Tramp continues the trajectory that got underway with her debut LP Because I Was in Love in 2009, broadening her sound and exhibiting greater confidence while markedly ramping up the volume.
  25. Feb 15, 2012
    78
    It simply, like her two (arguably better) albums before them, hurts too good to be ignored.
  26. Feb 10, 2012
    85
    Tramp is simply her most fully-realized album yet, and that's all there is to it.
  27. 75
    Much of that quiet sturdiness derives from Van Etten's singing, which anchors the music even as Dessner fills out his gloomy arrangements with dense indie-noir details.
  28. Feb 2, 2012
    80
    Every track on Tramp provides a singularly rewarding experience in one way or another. Only the album's pacing weakens its impact as a whole.

Awards & Rankings

User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 41 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 41
  2. Negative: 0 out of 41
  1. Mar 2, 2012
    10
    This album isThis album is wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Full Review »
  2. May 10, 2022
    9
    Her second best album so far. Very different styles, "We are fine", feels reminescent from her previous albums and "all i can", "in line"Her second best album so far. Very different styles, "We are fine", feels reminescent from her previous albums and "all i can", "in line" opens for her next generation's songs. Remarkable. Full Review »
  3. Nov 23, 2015
    10
    Its a brilliant effort from start to finish that gets better with each listen. The B-sides are also exceptional. Sharon Van Etten is one ofIts a brilliant effort from start to finish that gets better with each listen. The B-sides are also exceptional. Sharon Van Etten is one of the most talented singer songwriters at work today - so quietly unnerving until you're addicted. Full Review »