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Jun 19, 2017In summary, this is an album which is trying to be lots of things for lots of people. The sadness being that where Royal Blood appealed to so many because of its abandoned musicality and aggression, How Did We Get So Dark? may run the risk of losing its soul and beating heart in order to please the masses.
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Jun 22, 2017Despite how thunderous Thatcher sounds behind the drums or how dirty Kerr's bass tone is, unfortunately there isn't a pedal for more robust and compelling songwriting.
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Jun 15, 2017At less than 35 minutes, How Did We Get So Dark? lasts longer than the Ramones’ debut--and indeed Royal Blood’s own-- but this time out they seem worryingly short on new ideas.
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Jun 14, 2017They’re still sculpted from the same small portfolio of sounds--basically, buzzing distorted guitar riffs and harmony chants borne along on pummelling drum barrages--which tends to impose too narrow an emotional range on the album. It’s like being hectored loudly by a bore.
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Jun 19, 2017While it starts thrillingly--the title track and Lights Out as good as anything they’ve ever done and reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age at their most imperious--they fail to sustain their momentum, the middle of the album suffering from a surfeit of unremarkable filler.
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UncutJun 14, 2017Although there are no gaffes here, neither is there much to mark it out from their first. [Jul 2017, p.36]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 77 out of 102
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Mixed: 19 out of 102
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Negative: 6 out of 102
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Jul 8, 2017
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Jun 19, 2017
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Feb 13, 2023