What We Saw from the Cheap Seats
by Regina Spektor
  • Record Label: Sire
  • Release Date: May 29, 2012
User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 86 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 70 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 86
  3. Negative: 9 out of 86
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  1. nickireland7
    Aug 19, 2012
    5
    Don't get me wrong: I absolutely love Regina Spektor. She is an amazing artist who I found one day and who I have been obsessed with ever since. I delved deeper into her older albums and found simply amazing music, pure and not clouded with unnecessary bells and whistles.

    I love the songs on this album, but they all seem like filler songs. Not to mention 3 or 4 of these songs have    Don't get me wrong: I absolutely love Regina Spektor. She is an amazing artist who I found one day and who I have been obsessed with ever since. I delved deeper into her older albums and found simply amazing music, pure and not clouded with unnecessary bells and whistles.

    I love the songs on this album, but they all seem like filler songs. Not to mention 3 or 4 of these songs have already been on youtube for years, they're just redone with special sound effects. I had been looking forward to this album for years and it just fell short. The lyrics do seem much more shallow than they were in Far, Soviet Kitsch, and ESPECIALLY Begin to Hope. Some of them just didn't seem like Spektor at all! How isn't original at all, something I would never expect from my favorite musician. I hope she makes another album, but I also hope it's more spektor-tastic! I still have so much ReSpekt for her though :) She's still amazing! The album just sadly fell short :(    … Expand
  2. Di-Dorval
    Jul 4, 2012
    4
    Her worst yet. It feels like she lost the flame that made Soviet Kitsch and Songs so amazing.. Her songs on this album are lost in too many drumbeats and studio effects that don't feel like they have their place. It is really overproduced and has a result no songs feels unique. Overall a really bland album from an artist that can do much better.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. Q Magazine
    Oct 12, 2012
    40
    The occasional glimmer of pop genius seen in the albums past is mostly absent, with plodding piano ballads in place instead. [Jul 2012, p.112]
  2. Expert Witness (MSN Music)
    Jul 24, 2012
    83
    Many of these songs are merely bemused, and when she revises "I'm just a soul whose intentions are good," all she achieves is a different singalong from the one you expected.
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  3. Mojo
    Jul 18, 2012
    80
    Spektor delivers everything with such guileless brio that you never notice the join [between troubadour style to chrome-clean hip hop].
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