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4
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4 Image
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 6 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the fifth album for the Swedish rock band led by Gustav Ejstes.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Paste Magazine
    84
    What’s most surprising about this set is its stylistic range, encompassing the lunar soundscapes of Sigur Rós ('Sätt Att Se'), the groove-based jazz of Weather Report ('Maleras Finest'), mutated bossa nova ('Det Tar Tid') and Eno-esque ambience ('Bandhagen'), all intercut with shredding rave-ups featuring guitarist Reine Fiske ('Fredag'), who ensures that 4 won’t be consigned to background-music status.
  2. Drowned In Sound
    80
    Never once do Dungen verge on pretension, sure their songs are grandiose and there are more ideas in 4 than most bands muster up in their whole career but then are pulled off so successfully that one can’t doubt that they are there for any other reason other than furthering the band’s sound.
  3. Q Magazine
    80
    The result is something of a left-field classic. [Nov 2008, p.114]
    All this publication's reviews
  4. AllMusic
    80
    Ejstes' fiddle playing is certainly missed, but that's a minor complaint from an otherwise top-notch effort.
  5. Pitchfork
    78
    Even though 4 has a greater emphasis on instrumental compositions that don't suffer much from the absence of Ejstes' vocals, it's a bit of a disappointment that they only show up in half the songs.
  6. cokemachineglow
    74
    4 comes off like a minor work by a band of unfuckwithable talent. Which I guess is another way of saying the law of diminishing returns applies here, but you can only expect the band would ride a plateau before moving forward again.
  7. NOW Magazine
    60
    It’s a totally mellow set where flute often takes precedence over guitar. Thankfully, Ejstes’s tight arrangements leave little room for wankery, and none of the songs deal with flying dragons.

See all 19 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. GuilhermeS.
    Feb 6, 2009
    10
    it's one of my favorite albums of all time!
  2. WesM.
    Oct 7, 2008
    10
    As a backward-looking rock fan with pretensions to forward-lookingness (what?), I loved every song.
  4. AndreasL
    Sep 30, 2008
    9
    A brilliant album.

Awards & Rankings

93
#93 Best Album of 2008