Chemical Chords
by Stereolab
  • Record Label: 4AD
  • Release Date: Aug 19, 2008
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 9
  3. Negative: 0 out of 9

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  1. KurtC
    Aug 28, 2008
    6
    Being a fan of Stereolab for 12 years now and bearing two tattoos in honor of them, I am very disappointed with 'Chemical Chords'. It's their biggest mis-step in my opinion. As every review has touched on, there is no new ground covered here. The songs sound uninspired and like clones of one another. Two songs even begin the exact same way with the same drum fill. I Being a fan of Stereolab for 12 years now and bearing two tattoos in honor of them, I am very disappointed with 'Chemical Chords'. It's their biggest mis-step in my opinion. As every review has touched on, there is no new ground covered here. The songs sound uninspired and like clones of one another. Two songs even begin the exact same way with the same drum fill. I couldn't believe that I had to struggle to make through my first listen of the album! I didn't enjoy it at all. A major let-down especially coming after their last true album, 'Margerine Eclipse' which was magnificent and probably their career's pinnacle.… Expand
  2. SeanN
    Aug 20, 2008
    8
    Stereolab is going the distance, and so am I.
  3. DavidF
    Sep 8, 2008
    8
    This is a real treat, and easily their best since EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP - if not their best ever.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. cokemachineglow
    74
    this is nothing amazing but after the understandably sombre "Margerine Eclipse" (2004), the studious "Fab Four Suture" (2006), and Laetitia’s cerebral study into duality of the self on "Monstre Cosmic" (2008), it is refreshing to feel the joy.
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  2. Drowned In Sound
    80
    That they’ve somewhat restricted themselves in the way the record was constructed is also, oddly, a very good thing because it’s allowed them to strain and work within a framework and yield excellent results.
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  3. Dusted Magazine
    80
    Chemical Chords is more compact, true, but they’ve not lost their character through economy.
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