Wilder Mind
by Mumford & Sons
Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 29
  3. Negative: 4 out of 29
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  1. The Telegraph (UK)
    Apr 27, 2015
    100
    There may be nothing particularly original here, but the gritty ambience of electric instrumentation suits Mumford & Sons’s way with melody, emotion and dynamics. Simply put, the Mumfords rock.
  2. DIY Magazine
    May 4, 2015
    80
    With new tools, they’ve taken liftoff from a proven formula when they really didn’t have to.
  3. Billboard.com
    May 1, 2015
    80
    Not only does Wilder Mind reintroduce the band members as rock gods worthy of the title, it does so ­without changing what fans cherished most about them in the first place: their songwriting, their sentiment, their gusto.
  5. Q Magazine
    Apr 29, 2015
    80
    This is a record marked by its elegance, pace and excitement. [Jun 2015, p.110]
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  6. New Musical Express (NME)
    Apr 27, 2015
    80
    Only Love is the perfect synthesis of the two distinct elements of this album, and in turn its makers, a whispered build-up bursting into a gigantic beast, brimming with passion and 1970s Fleetwood Mac guitars.
  7. The Independent (UK)
    Apr 27, 2015
    80
    The new instrumentation affords a more nuanced approach, from the thrumming bass, piano, tom-toms and subtly tingling guitar evoking the resolute support of “Broad-Shouldered Beasts”, and the keening, spacious synth textures of “Tompkins Square Park”, to the unison guitar thrash that opens “The Wolf.”
  8. Rolling Stone
    May 5, 2015
    70
    The sentiment is Springsteen, the guitars are straight-up Strokes, and even if it's not going to work out for the relationship in this song, the music itself bristles with self-assurance.
  9. Consequence
    May 1, 2015
    67
    While first single “Believe” seems to mimic the worst qualities of a Coldplay deep cut, the album’s remaining 11 tracks adhere more to The National’s tightly wound brooding, and with good reason.
  10. The 405
    May 6, 2015
    65
    Whilst Wilder Mind is not very good, it's really not as bad as you want it to be.
  11. Under The Radar
    May 14, 2015
    60
    With Wilder Mind, they eschew their recognizable sound, supplanting it with a less memorable collection of songs more readily relegated to background music than either of their previous albums. As big and perhaps unanticipated an adjustment as it is, however, Wilder Mind then deepens and improves with each consecutive listen.
  12. The New York Times
    May 4, 2015
    60
    Heard one song at a time, Wilder Mind builds convincing dramas. But Mumford & Sons’ greatest skill--their strategic crescendos--starts to feel like a formula over the course of the album.
  13. The Observer (UK)
    May 4, 2015
    60
    Wilder Mind will only make Mumford & Sons more enormous. Mercifully, it has also significantly improved them as a band.
  14. Spin
    May 8, 2015
    50
    Where the album fails to eclipse its predecessor, and where it fails to match the band’s new Brooklyn buddies, is in Marcus Mumford’s vanilla songwriting.
  15. Boston Globe
    May 5, 2015
    50
    In the hands of the grandiose Mumford & Sons, this shading [similar to the National] doesn’t quite work, forcing the band to shape-shift in a way so it sounds... well, not quite like itself.
  16. Sputnikmusic
    May 5, 2015
    50
    It aims to give fans something different, but it does the bare minimum.
  17. The A.V. Club
    May 5, 2015
    50
    With Wilder Mind, Mumford & Sons have morphed from a band that’s easy to either love or hate into a band that’s hard to care much about at all.
  18. Slant Magazine
    May 4, 2015
    50
    Wilder Mind may be something altogether worse than divisive: unremarkable.
  19. AllMusic
    May 4, 2015
    50
    Without their old-timey affectations, the band seems interchangeable with any number of blandly attractive AAA rockers, a group that favors sound over song.
  20. Uncut
    Apr 29, 2015
    50
    Abandoning their trademark has forsaken their identity. [Jun 2015, p.80]
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  21. Mojo
    May 20, 2015
    40
    Far from electrifying. [Jun 2015, p.86]
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  22. Drowned In Sound
    May 11, 2015
    40
    Wilder Mind is incredibly one-track, so much so that even on your first listen-through, you’ll likely already feel like you’ve heard closer ‘Hot Gates’ five or six times in the past hour.
  23. musicOMH.com
    May 7, 2015
    40
    It does sound very different from their previous two albums. Unfortunately, in doing so, they’ve produced the most crushingly average album of the year so far.
  24. New York Daily News (Jim Faber)
    May 4, 2015
    40
    Switching this band’s sound to international rock just amounts to trading one bland canvas for another.
  25. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    May 4, 2015
    40
    Marcus Mumford leaves his Irish-folk years behind and adopts a transatlantic burr for “The Wolf”, whose chugging riff and sappy lyrics (“You are all I’ve ever longed for”) pinpoint the album’s core failings: absences of both lateral intrigue and the elemental oomph its track-titles (“Broad-Shouldered Beasts”, indeed) hint at.
  26. The Guardian
    Apr 30, 2015
    40
    For the most part, however, the music on Wilder Mind just passes you by: the nondescript sound of a band trying to shake off an image they feel they’ve outgrown, without coming up with anything to replace it.
  27. No Ripcord
    May 11, 2015
    30
    The band begins to slog through the session--each song sounds like the sonic embodiment of utter indifference, only this time it’s accompanied by electric instruments.
  28. PopMatters
    May 6, 2015
    30
    Following a rigid set of programming, they’ve stripped away the artifice from their ostensible Americana aesthetic to reveal the boilerplate alt-rock that forms its core circuitry.
  29. PopMatters
    May 7, 2015
    20
    They are 12 variations on vaguely Don Henley-inspired arena schlock, and in this transition, they've found a new bottom.
  30. Pretty Much Amazing
    May 4, 2015
    16
    Wilder Mind, airless to the extreme, plods on, song after saccharine song. Melodies do abound. But they’re wearying, like the mundane hell of children’s tunes, blasted on repeat, throughout a long car trip.

Awards & Rankings

31
#31 Most Discussed Album of 2015
92
#92 Most Shared Album of 2015

User Reviews

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User Score
5.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 189 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 88 out of 189
  2. Mixed: 28 out of 189
  3. Negative: 73 out of 189
  1. bearzooka
    May 4, 2015
    10
    Amazing and brave new sound without losing their emotional touch. The first line of the album felt like a hand squeezing my heart and itAmazing and brave new sound without losing their emotional touch. The first line of the album felt like a hand squeezing my heart and it didn't let go until the last song.
    The statement is clear: Mumford and Sons are not banjos and kickdrums, they're real musicians.    … Full Review »
  2. davim
    May 5, 2015
    1
    It was certainly a brave move for Mumford & Sons to change their style from more of a folk rock genre towards an alternative/indie style.It was certainly a brave move for Mumford & Sons to change their style from more of a folk rock genre towards an alternative/indie style. However, after one listen of 'Wilder Minds', it shows they certainly are a long way from effectively pulling this off. The band have opted for a style of indie that is being constantly overused in modern music. An overproduced, dull and somewhat dated sound, that is almost safe and chart-friendly. It must be disappointing for the true Mumford & Sons fans; ditching a somewhat distinctive sound of banjos, kickdrums and folk rock, for the safer option.

    In terms of the actual album, it's clear Mumford & Sons are decent musicians. We've seen this from their previous 2 albums, 'Sigh No More' and 'Babel'. However this time around, lyrically, Marcus Mumford's voice seems to become more irritating as the album progresses. The vast majority of these songs lack any direction at all and have very little impact on the listener. I understand that bands can't follow the same path for their whole career; we've seen bands change their style and image over the years, such as The Cure and Arctic Monkeys, amongst others. But for me, Mumford & Sons have followed a similar path of Coldplay, and effectively sold-out with this album. They had a distinctive and unique sound that is now long gone.

    The fact people are giving this album 10 out of 10 and saying it has 'silenced the critics' is ludicrous. A disappointing album to say the least.    … Full Review »
  3. fitchpork
    May 4, 2015
    0
    Don't know why anyone would say the critics are silenced. just look at the reviews on this site, with many more to come. First of all, theDon't know why anyone would say the critics are silenced. just look at the reviews on this site, with many more to come. First of all, the album and the many interviews given in advance of its release demonstrate that M$S were only tourists in the world of folk. They have forsworn the banjo, the clothes and even the name of the band. Don't know where that leaves their legion of loyal fans. Many of them are feeling hoodwinked. This is such a safe and pallid exercise in indie rock. It shows them to be a band with very limited musical imagination. They are gentlemen of the middle of the road. There is change of style and of costume, but most of all what this is is a just a change in algorithm.… Full Review »
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