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Valhalla Dancehall
by
Valhalla Dancehall Image
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 18 Ratings

  • Summary: Famous for its live performances, the indie rock band--based out of Brighton, England--weaves together atmospheric sounds to create an innovative new album.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. The A.V. Club
    Jan 11, 2011
    83
    That simplicity doesn't translate to the music-which continues to pile on the backing choirs, electronic squiggles, and never-ending ethereal builds-but Valhalla adds an even more alluring undertow to the band's usual crashing wave.
  2. The Independent (UK)
    Jan 11, 2011
    80
    British Sea Power are bravely bringing beauty into an increasingly ugly world, whether that world wants it or not. They ought to be given a medal. For valour. For Valhalla.
  3. Paste Magazine
    Jan 10, 2011
    74
    Like their forebears The Kinks, British Sea Power remain resolutely iconoclastic, supremely melodic, quintessentially British, and utterly unique. God save the Queen and her royal navy.
  4. Drowned In Sound
    Jan 7, 2011
    70
    Some will decry Valhalla Dancehall's essential familiarity, but on their fourth album proper British Sea Power are a band unique, complex and confident enough in their own right to remind us why we loved them in the first place whilst making modest refinements to their sound.
  5. The Boston Phoenix
    Jan 11, 2011
    63
    The constants are there; the group come off as authentic in their earnestness, even with lyrics ("I love your celebrity/the VPL in the SUV") that might look slipshod on paper. But no new ground is being broken.
  6. NOW Magazine
    Jan 27, 2011
    60
    The biggest flaw: the band attempts to cram too many ideas into a song (Cleaning Out The Rooms), particularly in the album's second half.
  7. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Jan 12, 2011
    50
    For the consummate BSP fan, Valhalla Dancehall will likely be met as a sufficient new entry in the band's growing discography, but for a fella like me on the periphery, I'll need a lot more of the standout experimentation of Living Is So Easy to convince me.

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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. palefox
    Jan 19, 2011
    10
    In a nutshell, this album is their finest to date. Better than their Mercury-nominated 'Do You Like Rock Music'. Better than 'The Decline ofIn a nutshell, this album is their finest to date. Better than their Mercury-nominated 'Do You Like Rock Music'. Better than 'The Decline of British Sea Power.' Yes, it really is that good. If you have ever enjoyed a BSP gig, or a BSP song, you simply must own this album. It is their meisterwerk.… Expand
  2. yaks
    Jan 21, 2011
    10
    "Valhalla Dancehall" gives a very strong sense of space, the background is full of carefully mixing. All the songs in the album are"Valhalla Dancehall" gives a very strong sense of space, the background is full of carefully mixing. All the songs in the album are wonderful!! This album is better than thier previous album!!… Collapse
  4. SaltdeanSailor
    Jan 21, 2011
    10
    Fantastic album from a wonderful band. Several reviews are not represented by Metacritic so I've listed some extra ones below. This album is aFantastic album from a wonderful band. Several reviews are not represented by Metacritic so I've listed some extra ones below. This album is a stonker! "Divine... Time to laud British Sea Power for attaining greatness strictly
    on their own terms." **** Q magazine. "Devastatingly beautiful... a thickening and diversification of the band's
    sound." **** The Sunday Times. "Big and clever... Their well of tuneful passion appears bottomless." The
    Word. "Heart-hammering exuberance, mighty waves of sound and crashing
    crescendos." **** The Daily Mirror. "An idiosyncratic state-of-nation address... incandescent." **** The
    Financial Times. "BSP look to the past not to in weak nostalgia, but to spur a dispirited
    present. Brawling... brainy... invigorating." The Independent. "Glorious unpredictability taken to new stratosphere-spanning extremes... A
    triumph." **** The Fly. "Captivating contrasts between the dreamy, the raucous and the vividly
    weird." **** The Metro of London town. "The album's strongest moments are the sound of a band reaching a creative
    zenith, a decade's worth of internal and external exploration writ large.
    Valhalla Dancefloor confirms British Sea Power's status as cast-iron
    national treasures." The Quietus website.    … Expand
  5. sk75
    Jan 16, 2011
    9
    "Valhalla Dancehall" should finally give them the recognition they really deserve. They are in the same league with Arcade Fire but"Valhalla Dancehall" should finally give them the recognition they really deserve. They are in the same league with Arcade Fire but unfortunately BSP remain one of the most underrated bands of the last 10 years!Everyone should go to their party and enjoy the magic "Valhalla Dancehall" brings.Loving them is so easy...… Expand
  6. Hackskeptic
    Jan 22, 2011
    6
    Whilst British Sea Power resolutely stick to their principles of unpredictability, Valhalla Dancehall runs aground in an effort to pack pastWhilst British Sea Power resolutely stick to their principles of unpredictability, Valhalla Dancehall runs aground in an effort to pack past glories with new found mid tempo multi textured arrangements that lack punch or focus

    http://hackskeptic.com/    … Expand
  7. Tokyochuchu
    Apr 20, 2012
    5
    Valhalla Dancehall sees BSP adding a ladle of shoegaze to their recipe. Unfortunately, the more formless moments on this LP areValhalla Dancehall sees BSP adding a ladle of shoegaze to their recipe. Unfortunately, the more formless moments on this LP are interchangeable and undistinguished. The more restrained, melody infused tunes shows that the band still know how to turn out a good riff, but they're mostly in short supply here. The weakest British Sea Power offering to date.… Expand