Metascore
57

Mixed or average reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 26
  2. Negative: 4 out of 26
  1. The only downside to "Feedback" is that by the time you reach the swinging latino rhythms of the instrumental finale "Canto de Ossanha" 52 minutes of hip-hop soul just won't seem like enough.
  2. J5's strangely subdued Feedback is the rare rap album that might be too short for its own good.
  3. Whilst most die-hard fans are likely to be put off by some of the tracks on offer, this is the sound of a band settling into comfortable maturity.
  4. Mojo
    80
    A record designed to ensnare the as-yet-uncommitted listener without abandoning their extant fan base. [Aug 2006, p.103]
  5. It shows that respecting your roots needn't result in stagnant, bookishly reverent music, and that learning your history can be a fine way of looking forward.
  6. Vibe
    70
    In their earnest effort to recharge rap, however, the veterans' pioneer-day rhetoric comes off as heavy-handed. [Sep 2006, p.213]
  7. Overall, the diversity of the production overcomes the same-ness of the verses to make Feedback worth a listen.
  8. Spin
    70
    Their most immediately pleasurable album. [Sep 2006, p.104]
  9. This time the throwbacks are so brazenly imitative, they might raise the copyright hackles of the earliest copyright infringers.
  10. Q Magazine
    60
    A return to their roots. [Aug 2006, p.113]
  11. Uncut
    60
    It's original member, turntablist Nu-Mark, who still provides the highlights. [Aug 2006, p.96]
  12. Five Jurass's virgin excursions into P-Funk and electro find some comfortable new sonic territory.
  13. Against productions this diluted, Jurassic's top-notch rhymers -- Chali 2na, Soup, Akil -- fail to make any headway, usually spitting rhymes already familiar to listeners of their earlier work.
  14. No doubt it will be disdainfully ignored by teenagers, who will be equally oblivious to guest slots by the earnest Mos Def and a weary-sounding Dave Matthews, but it will enliven thirtysomething dinner parties.
  15. In the future, the guys in Jurassic 5 need to do a better job picking their friends and their song subjects.
  16. Entertainment Weekly
    58
    The guileless, old-school vibe... feels tired. [28 Jul 2006, p.67]
  17. Feedback, for the most part, disintegrates into a cloud of unremarkable noise.
  18. New Musical Express (NME)
    50
    Ho-hum. [22 Jul 2006, p.39]
  19. Rolling Stone
    50
    Most of Feedback is lightweight and forgettable. [7 Sep 2006, p.107]
  20. Nu-Mark's beats still refresh the old school in the J5 way we've become accustomed, but the other beats here represent a sad cross-section of mainstream styles, totally missing the point of their first three albums.
  21. Too much of the album either throws the group into truly unflattering contexts or returns them to the hamster-wheel formalism they’ve been running into the ground for years now.
  22. Blender
    40
    Their nostalgia is occasionally endearing but usually curdles into crotchetiness. [Aug 2006, p.110]
  23. Bloated on the rotting corpses of hackneyed scratching, hackneyed drums, hackneyed sampling technique and hackneyed key work (all that in hackneyed combinations), Feedback makes it difficult to differentiate the acceptable from the tired.
  24. Urb
    30
    We can't blame it all on the puzzling guest appearances because back in the day, J5 would've saved those slip-ups. [Jul/Aug 2006, p.124]
  25. For the most part Feedback is old-hat and predictable, a watered-down facsimile of their previous work.
  26. By making a bad album that also tries so assiduously to distance themselves from the backpacker movement that they unintentionally pioneered, they may have cut off their most fervent and loyal supporters and the chance of gaining a mainstream audience.
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 31 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 31
  2. Negative: 10 out of 31
  1. ColbyC
    Mar 1, 2007
    8
    A bit short, but I love their track "Word it Out" with Dave Matthews Band. There are only a couple of songs on this album that I don't A bit short, but I love their track "Word it Out" with Dave Matthews Band. There are only a couple of songs on this album that I don't like. This was the first J5 album that I ever bought and listened to though, so maybe thats why i'm giving it a higher rating than the rest of you. I guess i'll check out their older stuff. Full Review »
  2. DJJimiN
    Oct 31, 2006
    9
    Jurassic 5
  3. TylerrM
    Oct 20, 2006
    3
    I had thought this album was going to be about dinosaurs or something, but it isn't. Maybe an album where the band members pretend to be I had thought this album was going to be about dinosaurs or something, but it isn't. Maybe an album where the band members pretend to be dinosaurs and sing about like prehistoric stuff and have a good time. I was very dissapointed when I realized this is basically just some guys rapping and not like dinosaur rapping or saber tooth tiger rapping either. I don't want to call false advertising or anything, but I think a lot of kids might be dissapointed when they get this under their stocking come christmas morning if you know what you mean. :-( Full Review »