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When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold - Atmosphere
When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold Image
Metascore
68 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.9 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 42 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: The latest album for the hip-hop duo from Minneapolis also includes a book written by Slug with the deluxe edition release.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 15
  3. Negative: 3 out of 15
  1. Delusions of Adequacy
    100
    This is a matured and musical hip-hop duo and whether it is the fine contributions by Tom Waits and Tunde Adebimpe on separate songs, Ant's soulful and majestic music, or Slug's illustrious and poignant story-telling; it's all superb.
  2. Spin
    60
    Add some beatboxing courtesy of Tom Waits (!), and you have an occasionally forced, yet boldly magnetic change of pace. [May 2008, p.94]
  3. Village Voice
    30
    The piano twinkle and mere droplet of a beat on 'Like the Rest of Us' sounds like Slug doing Regina Spektor; the coos and plucks of 'Me' are Yael Naïm; the barista-strum acoustic rap of 'Guarantees' aims for Elliott Smith and ends up with Uncle Kracker; the skipping hand-clap gospel of 'Puppets' is pure Moby Playtime; and, for some reason, 'Dreamer' sounds like Michael McDonald--funkless, martial, stiff, and innocuous, perfect for an upwardly mobile 21-45 demo that seeks neither boom nor bap with their soy latte.

See all 15 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. AndrewC.
    10
    A change of pace that yields an album for a more mellow listening mood, When Life... is a real piece of work. Whether it is the new Atmosphere or just the current version, the verse is legit and the music wraps it all up in a smooth bundle.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. StevenS.
    10
    This album is like weed for your ears, it feels sooooooooo good. Atmosphere is one of the premiere rap groups/duos in the game today, and this album just solidifies that fact.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. SteveO
    5
    Generally i absolutely hate rap and cannot stand it but hey this stuff actually has a beat to it and some singing thats on key so congrats to atmosphere!… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 22 User Reviews

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