Asphalt Meadows
by Death Cab for Cutie
  • Record Label: Atlantic
  • Release Date: Sep 16, 2022
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 29
  3. Negative: 1 out of 29
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  1. kadoka
    Sep 18, 2022
    8
    I have always liked the odd single from this band but never really been able to listen through one of their albums. I have always found them a bit disjointed. But this one just clicks somehow. Each track is well crafted with a clear identity, with lyrics with real depth and meaning and everything fits together perfectly. The hooks are there and there is a nice variety of melodies andI have always liked the odd single from this band but never really been able to listen through one of their albums. I have always found them a bit disjointed. But this one just clicks somehow. Each track is well crafted with a clear identity, with lyrics with real depth and meaning and everything fits together perfectly. The hooks are there and there is a nice variety of melodies and different musical styles, but without straying into pop territory which just shows that Indie Rock can be inventive without betraying its roots. The album ends on a really cool guitar ballad with 80s vibes. Best tracks are probably Here to Forever and Asphalt Meadows but there isn't a dud to be found. Excited to see where this band goes from here.… Expand
  2. Duke_Challenger
    Sep 16, 2022
    10
    Amazing return to form. Death Cab hasn't been this edgy for awhile. This is a top 3 album from them.
  3. sebastjan
    Sep 17, 2022
    9
    Realmente un álbum bastante fresco que al mismo tiempo nos remite a su pasado en los 90 pero con la madurez de la década de los 2010.
  4. yeahyeah2
    Sep 17, 2022
    10
    Excellent album. I thought everyone was way too hard on TYFT but this is a step up from that. Their best since Narrow Stairs.
  5. Billyliar87
    Sep 22, 2022
    8
    Their best work in years. From track 3 and beyond, a nearly flawless record. Death Cab actually surprised me with this one, and it may make my top 10 this year.
  6. bertobellamy
    Sep 19, 2022
    8
    What a comeback! A fine mix of bangers and mellow songs. Their best album in 15 years. Long live Death Cab!
  7. lovezero
    Sep 21, 2022
    10
    There is ambition and effort here that I didn't expect from them. Highly recommended My favorite tracks are rand mcnally, I miss strangers, Asphalt Meadows
  8. MusicGuyMack
    Sep 20, 2022
    10
    Heavily indebted though it may be to the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Arctic Monkeys, and The Killers for its hills-and-valleys soft-loud dynamics, loquacious lyricism and eminently danceable rhythms, the stellar songwriting and musicianship of Ben Gibbard and Co. expertly adapt such disparate elements to DCFC's purposes and fuse them into an engrossing and emotional new whole in "AsphaltHeavily indebted though it may be to the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Arctic Monkeys, and The Killers for its hills-and-valleys soft-loud dynamics, loquacious lyricism and eminently danceable rhythms, the stellar songwriting and musicianship of Ben Gibbard and Co. expertly adapt such disparate elements to DCFC's purposes and fuse them into an engrossing and emotional new whole in "Asphalt Meadows" that's easily the band's best since 2003's "Transatlanticism."

    Choice Cuts: "Rand McNally," "Here to Forever," "Foxglove Through the Clearcut," "Pepper," "Wheat Like Waves"    … Expand
  9. jcrdzin1
    Sep 18, 2022
    9
    Let me start by saying I've only given a 10 to The National's High Violet, so a 9 ranks quite high. This new album by DCFC is outstanding. While Roman Candle and Here to Forever have to rank among the band's all -time Top 5, the first tracks: I Don't Know How I Survive is an epic tour de force that feels like a wake-up punch-in-the-face you somehow needed in your life. Musically andLet me start by saying I've only given a 10 to The National's High Violet, so a 9 ranks quite high. This new album by DCFC is outstanding. While Roman Candle and Here to Forever have to rank among the band's all -time Top 5, the first tracks: I Don't Know How I Survive is an epic tour de force that feels like a wake-up punch-in-the-face you somehow needed in your life. Musically and lyrically will blow your mind. I gave them 9 despite mostly very solid and great songs because: it lacks a Transatlanticissm-epic level song (and Rand McNally had all the potential, and almost felt it was building towards that at the end, but chance wasted, although a great song), and for including something honestly weak ass Fragments From the Decade, which sounds like an attempt for early 00's Death Cab, but without Chris Walla this type of song will never work. The rest is a collection of good, really good, great and even eepic songs, that for me make this album the best material ever released by DCFC, tied of course with 2003's Transatlanticism.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

76
#76 Most Discussed Album of 2022

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Sputnikmusic
    Sep 21, 2022
    74
    Asphalt Meadows not only lives up to but truly, actually fulfils the promise of Death Cab for Cutie – of music not always new, or unique, or 'experimental', but always, always genuine, and always, always packed with meaning and emotion.
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  2. Pitchfork
    Sep 21, 2022
    74
    The introductory duo of “I Don’t Know How I Survive” and “Roman Candles” position Asphalt Meadows as a clean break from the slick competence of Kintsugi and Thank You for Today. ... A record that mostly satisfies through course correction.
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  3. Beats Per Minute
    Sep 19, 2022
    74
    Overall, Asphalt Meadows is a fine record from a band so deep into their career they really have nothing left to prove — except, it seems, to themselves.
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