5 Seconds of Summer
by 5 Seconds of Summer
  • Record Label: Capitol
  • Release Date: Jul 22, 2014
Metascore
65

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
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  1. Kerrang!
    Jul 23, 2014
    60
    Although everything is rendered with a high-shine gloss and sanitised precision that makes it more saccharine than Sex Pistols, there's still an enjoyment to be had on a basic level. [5 Jul 2014, p.53]
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  2. New York Daily News (Jim Faber)
    Jul 22, 2014
    60
    In truth, 5 Seconds of Summer are unlikely to replace their elders any time soon. But they do provide a nice alternative--one with fetching songs and just enough sass to stand out.
  3. Rolling Stone
    Jul 22, 2014
    60
    The band's members pitched in writing for nearly every track on their debut, which starts with "She Looks So Perfect" and proceeds through 11 more übertame pop-punk songs about love and heartbreak that wish they were as great (power ballad "Beside You" comes closest). Still, their self-deprecating tunes have their charms.
  5. The Guardian
    Jul 2, 2014
    60
    Aimed squarely at the teenage market, it's shrill exuberance and lyrical mischief all round as songs leap and sometimes creak under the weight of their double entendres.
  6. The Observer (UK)
    Jul 2, 2014
    60
    There's nothing desperately original about the 12 songs on their debut album.... But they're delivered with such winning enthusiasm that they make an old formula seem fresh.
  7. Boston Globe
    Jul 21, 2014
    50
    The lyrics leave no room for subtext--“Good girls,” goes the kickiest song’s thesis, “are bad girls that haven’t been caught”--and the gleaming instrumentation sounds untouched by human hands.

Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Most Discussed Album of 2014
2
#2 Most Shared Album of 2014

User Reviews

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User Score
6.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 198 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 119 out of 198
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 198
  3. Negative: 60 out of 198
  1. jakewhiteok
    Jul 22, 2014
    0
    Yet another ridiculous BOYBAND... Even though their fans on Twitter and the band themselves deny they are such, they bloody well are. They'reYet another ridiculous BOYBAND... Even though their fans on Twitter and the band themselves deny they are such, they bloody well are. They're as equal as their contemporaries such as The Vamps in terms of that for instance. They're better than One Direction at the very least, who are indeed utter ****

    The reasons why they're better? They aren't manufactured like 1D and many other boybands in the last couple of decades. They formed themselves, and at least they write their own songs, although most of these are pretty crap compared to some artists of the current day. The good thing about them is that they play their own Instruments too, unlike 1D. But this just makes hypnotized hyper fangirls on Twitter consider them a band, yet that isn't what they are.

    I would have actually been more generous in my score, but I don't really want the user score to rise too much if I were to be. But one thing that annoys me most is that fangirls will just write 10/10 reviews because they don't know good music when they hear it, like Burart's review for instance. Also, the fact that at time of writing, the user score's on all of One Direction's album's appear to be higher.    … Full Review »
  2. MaxGuitarFan
    Jul 22, 2014
    3
    "5 Seconds of Summer" it's dumb and cliché. It contains generic pop-punk guitars with stupid lines that let you wondering why is this band"5 Seconds of Summer" it's dumb and cliché. It contains generic pop-punk guitars with stupid lines that let you wondering why is this band popular. Oh, right, this is not a band, this is easy marketing.… Full Review »
  3. khutch
    Jul 27, 2014
    5
    I do not necessarily have something to criticize, but the absence of any trace of originality is striking. Do not expect much, but for aI do not necessarily have something to criticize, but the absence of any trace of originality is striking. Do not expect much, but for a boyband, they should at least entertaining, and well, they do not. They sound silly, only.… Full Review »
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