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A  Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships Image
Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 29 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 294 Ratings

  • Summary: The third full-length release for the British rock band was produced by the band's own Matthew Healy and George Daniel.
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Top Track

Give Yourself A Try
You learn a couple things when you get to my age Like friends don't lie and it all tastes the same in the dark When your vinyl and your coffee... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 29
  2. Negative: 1 out of 29
  1. Dec 3, 2018
    100
    There's so much going on in this record, but it's far from a case of throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships is a considered, ambitious album from a band who are constantly pushing themselves.
  2. Q Magazine
    Nov 20, 2018
    100
    A Brief Inquiry... feel not just hugely entertaining and moving, but necessary. [Jan 2019, p.104]
  3. Nov 23, 2018
    91
    The 1975 don’t presume to have all the answers, but their sincerity and vulnerability make for a tremendous record that speaks to the state we live in. It’s their best work yet.
  4. Nov 29, 2018
    80
    It’s the points at which A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships veers away from the preset aesthetic that feel the most profound.
  5. 80
    Overall, it’s not as gleeful as their last one, but melodic light relief abounds, as on the Belinda Carlisle outtake that is It’s Not Living (If It’s Not With You). Those conclusions feel earned, not merely hashtagged.
  6. Nov 30, 2018
    76
    Great albums don’t need to define a generation or open doors to other worlds, they just need to make great music--and Inquiry does exactly that. It’s a batch of quality pop songs--nothing more, nothing less.
  7. Dec 17, 2018
    30
    Some of the arrangements wouldn't be that bad if they hadn't been sampled and sequenced to death. But if over-producing the life out of something is one thing, any use of the dreaded Auto-Tune facility is another. It runs through A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships like the plague to the point where numerous listens later I still have no idea what Matty Healy's actual singing voice sounds like.

See all 29 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 44
  2. Negative: 3 out of 44
  1. Jan 11, 2020
    10
    the most wonderful thing i’ve ever heard in my life!! thanks the 1975 for this beautiful work.
  2. Dec 4, 2018
    10
    Their best album yet, all over the place yet cohesive. Songs like "i Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)" and Inside Your Mind are instantly classics.
  3. Nov 30, 2018
    10
    "TOOGOODTOOGOODTOOGOOD". The album is highly experimental, bringing all the heavy issues yet the execution is simply delicate and easy to"TOOGOODTOOGOODTOOGOOD". The album is highly experimental, bringing all the heavy issues yet the execution is simply delicate and easy to digest thanks to the superiority of the lyrics accompanied by the heavenly melodies. This is their world with their own rules, we are entities that follow the flow of their own melancholy. OK Computer of our generation some said, seems like a little bit exaggeration but seriously there's nothing to be ashamed of. Sincerity is Scary, I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes) and Give Yourself A Try are the highlights of the album with all other tracks serving high replay value. ABIIOR is undoubtedly the definition of instant classic, period. Expand
  4. Dec 4, 2018
    9
    A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships is a beautiful blend of many different inspirations from Bon Iver and Kanye West to John Coltrane.A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships is a beautiful blend of many different inspirations from Bon Iver and Kanye West to John Coltrane. There's such a delicately beautiful blend of genres on this album that makes the album so complex. Songs that seem like simple love songs (see "It's Not Living (If It's Not With You)") are actually songs that delve deep into front man Matty Healy's struggles with heroin addiction. There are so many moments on this album where musically you'll feel upbeat and happy but delving into the songwriting will show you how desperate, dark, and vulnerable the song is. The best song on the album is the closer, "I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)" which is one of those quickly timeless songs that can make you feel so good, but so sad at the same time. It's overall a beautiful piece of modern art that gives great critique and commentary on the society we live in today. Expand
  5. Nov 20, 2021
    8
    Punctuated by the leads return to rehab in the throes of addiction the 1975 third album bursted out as jaded as it's frontman. A maximalistPunctuated by the leads return to rehab in the throes of addiction the 1975 third album bursted out as jaded as it's frontman. A maximalist amalgamation of inspirations from the bon iver adjacent delivery on "be by mistake " or one if the many Radiohead indept "i always want to die (sometimes)". The latter being one of the lyrical highlights "(But your death it won't happen to you / It happens to your family and your friends)" exploding into an arena ready chorus. But the second track which truly opens up the song is one of the best displays of Healy's spectacular songwriting as he biographically riffs on himself and tells us how it's never over. Despite how specific the subjects of fame might be its still a universal topic of self destruction but never does he fall into self pity or pointing fingers just a sincere confession. It's things like that that anchor the album. Filled with black humour and straightforward quips and enough experiments to keep it intresting such as the ok computer coldness of "The Man Who Married a Robot ". The heartbreaking "sincerity is scary " is a frank break between people who haven't lost love for each other
    This is honestly their magnum opus.
    Expand
  6. Aug 22, 2019
    7
    Maybe 2 or 3 times a year I'll buy an album based on hype. Yes, I could just check it out online but there is just something about partingMaybe 2 or 3 times a year I'll buy an album based on hype. Yes, I could just check it out online but there is just something about parting with your cash and taking a chance on a physical album. If its a good one, its a similar feeling to backing the winner in a game. If its overhyped then you move on and no one has died. The 1975's 3rd album "A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships" is one that I took a chance on. While it is incredibly overhyped, it is still an album that contains half a dozen really good songs. It's got an incredible range of styles present and it has to be noted that it is one of the more ambitious albums of 2018 if certainly not the best. Just short of the hour mark, it outstays its welcome. There are 15 minutes at least that could have been cut."Love It If We Make It" is a good taster of the album, a fusion of the 2010's and the 1980's showing how hard it is to be controversial or relevant in an age of saturation in every sense. I won't be rushing back to The 1975 but not my worst impulse buy ever. Collapse
  7. Aug 2, 2020
    0
    i really don't like this overhyped band. they are really really really really really really really bad

See all 44 User Reviews