• Record Label: Bar/None
  • Release Date: Apr 12, 2011
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 17
  2. Negative: 0 out of 17
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  1. Apr 21, 2011
    88
    "Is it too late to do it again?" Clearly not.
  2. As far as comebacks go, you can't ask for much more than the sturdy set of vibrant pop songs The Feelies have bestowed upon us.
  3. Dec 9, 2011
    80
    Now as before, there are few groups in rock & roll that perform as brilliantly and purposefully as an ensemble as the Feelies, and on Here Before their trademark sound remains a thing of wonder that hasn't been dimmed a bit by the passage of time.
  4. The Wire
    Jun 13, 2011
    80
    Here Before picks up as though they'd never left. [May 2011, p.50]
  5. May 12, 2011
    80
    The Feelies were a product of the New Jersey suburbs, and Here Before speaks to their origins: its distinctly pastoral feeling is tempered with a slight nervousness and tension, the sound of the city meeting the countryside. It's gorgeous.
  6. Apr 13, 2011
    80
    The fact that the band is back doing the same things it did best before is a good reason for celebration.
  7. Apr 11, 2011
    80
    The Feelies really are here again, operating in a fashion as insular and purposeful as they did in days of old without denying who they are now. It's good to have them around.
  8. Apr 12, 2011
    75
    The truth is that unlike past Feelies albums, Here Before has a paucity of standout tracks; it's enjoyable more for its sound than for what the band does with it.
  9. Apr 12, 2011
    75
    Here, the Feelies simply dig up The Good Earth's pastoral, post-Velvets power-pop -- a sound that ruled college radio airwaves in the mid-80s but which boasts few notable contemporary adherents -- and blissfully strum away as if they were performing in hammocks.
  10. Apr 26, 2011
    71
    Sure, the record isn't very functional outside of its given context, but if you've tuned into this program before then it'll be nice to know that one of the most congenial of indie pop acts can still deliver on their good name and to their respective audience in equal measure.
  11. Apr 26, 2011
    70
    Here Before questions its existence as a new chapter for the band while content to see it closed, mentions of transition and introspection at the core of their story. What you can take from it is that its protagonists are aging gracefully and that, if this is their last hurrah, The Feelies are going out strong.
  12. Apr 12, 2011
    70
    Picking up pretty much where their last set, 1991's Time for a Witness, left off, the Feelies' music remains a template of formal perfection, like a holiday service at the VU Episcopal Church.
  13. Jun 23, 2011
    67
    If anything, Here Before echoes the pastel colors of 1986's The Good Earth, each song a subtle variant of the next, measured and metronomic. This isn't a first-spin grabber, but if you're as patient as the Feelies have been, it might grow on you.

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