Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1
by Calvin Harris
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Jun 30, 2017
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 15
  3. Negative: 1 out of 15
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  1. AllMusic
    Jul 5, 2017
    90
    Funk Wav Bounces impresses not just with the marquee names, but with how effortless, communal, and fun Harris makes it all feel.
  2. Consequence
    Jul 7, 2017
    83
    Funk Wav Bounces isn’t the kind of album that’s going to change the conversation in pop music, but it doesn’t want to. All it wants to do is sit by the pool, release, let go, and have a good time.
  3. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jul 6, 2017
    80
    Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 is a triumph; a good-time album of wall-to-wall hits with a carefree, funky tropical feel and more than enough cool points to see him embraced by the hipster crowd as well as holding on to the pop kids.
  5. Pretty Much Amazing
    Jul 7, 2017
    75
    He now realizes he is as much part of the product as the music he makes and seems happy to be taking a backseat to the performers he’s enlisted for his fifth studio album. At no point do Harris’ sandpapery vocals scrape against the beat; this time he lets his beats do the talking.
  6. The A.V. Club
    Jul 7, 2017
    75
    It’s a winning bid for artistic credibility: not going for smarter, more complex, or bigger, just better, more fun. Full of island affectations, soft-rock gloss, and chintzy good-life strings, it is, at last, the sort of fun you don’t have to feel bad about the next day.
  7. PopMatters
    Jul 12, 2017
    70
    Funk Wav Bounces manages to avoid the stench of corporate contrivances and instead offers a laid-back experience that evokes hanging out with your friends.
  8. Pitchfork
    Jul 7, 2017
    67
    Neither reinventing pop nor changing the course of dance music, it’s a vacation of an album that doubles as the producer’s own stopgap until his next wave comes along.
  9. Paste Magazine
    Jul 5, 2017
    67
    Even if the tracks sometimes come off as a parade of pop stars whose music has little to do with one another, Harris still manages to create a cohesive fusion that transcends genre. After all, at the end of the day, pop isn’t supposed to be that deep.
  10. The 405
    Aug 11, 2017
    65
    At times, you catch a glimpse of a singer on the verge of something great, who is only able to suggest it due to limited time, space, or an aesthetic misalignment.

Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Most Discussed Album of 2017

User Reviews

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User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 144 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 119 out of 144
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 144
  3. Negative: 9 out of 144
  1. chidime
    Jul 5, 2017
    3
    This album pisses me off. The instrumentals are so good. They're different from what Calvin makes normally, and so funky/groovy. However, allThis album pisses me off. The instrumentals are so good. They're different from what Calvin makes normally, and so funky/groovy. However, all of those positives went out the window, thanks to his strange choice of collaborators. He makes an album of beautiful, funky, groovy instrumentals and then gives them to trap artists to sing. The disconnect is baffling, and the album/songs suffer greatly from this perplexing choice. These songs needed soulful and groovy artists on them (The Weeknd, more Pharell, Justin Timberlake, even Rihanna, and many more out there, both obscure and popular). But yet, he packs the entire album with Frank Ocean, Migos, Young Thug, Nicki Minaj, and others in that vein. Sadly, those people should never mix with these kind of instrumentals because they just don't flow. The instrumentals are wasted on terrible, boring songwriting, producing dull, uninspiring songs that are difficult to groove to, but easy to sleep to. Maybe he was trying to cash in on the popular trap craze in music right now, but this was such a misguided move that it destroys the entire album. Worst Calvin Harris album to date.

    3/10    … Full Review »
  2. eagleeyeviking
    Jul 6, 2017
    7
    While not all R&B grooves hit the mark due to mis-casted singers, Calvin Harris' new album is a predominantly funky and universally laid-backWhile not all R&B grooves hit the mark due to mis-casted singers, Calvin Harris' new album is a predominantly funky and universally laid-back throwback to the retro style of the 80's.… Full Review »
  3. Beyqueen
    Jul 5, 2017
    10
    One of his best piece of music work, i really love the rhythms, the lyrics and the collaborations. all of this songs need a music video MyOne of his best piece of music work, i really love the rhythms, the lyrics and the collaborations. all of this songs need a music video My favorites songs are Slide, Rollin, Feels , Cash out and Skrt on Me… Full Review »
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