Hymns
by Bloc Party
User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 69 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 69
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 69
  3. Negative: 19 out of 69
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  1. Ricko
    Aug 13, 2016
    4
    For me, "Hymns" is not a real Bloc Party album and this should have been released as a Kele Okereke solo album. The half of the band that brought the frantic, chaotic edginess to Bloc Party have been replaced and Russell Lissack might as well have been for all the input he has on this. I always thought Bloc Party should have called it a day after "Intimacy". You can hear the strain andFor me, "Hymns" is not a real Bloc Party album and this should have been released as a Kele Okereke solo album. The half of the band that brought the frantic, chaotic edginess to Bloc Party have been replaced and Russell Lissack might as well have been for all the input he has on this. I always thought Bloc Party should have called it a day after "Intimacy". You can hear the strain and the struggle to make their last album"Four" in the tunes but I suppose you couldn't fault them for giving it one more go. A couple of years on, "Four" sounds better than when it was first released. "Hymns" is inexcusable though. With half the band gone in a band that had 4 crucial components to their sound, this was always going to be difficult to pull off and they really don't come close to doing it. The biggest disappointment about the album is that Russell Lissack's electrifying guitars are phased out into the beige background and have been replaced by cheap sounding synths that suck the life out of anything good on this record. Opening single "The Love Within", for all its horror, actually could have been ok had it been taken from a different angle but that synth line - my god what were they thinking. "Only He Can Heal Me" isn't bad but fails to take off. In general you can point to a few main flaws across the album - absence of tunes, mawkish lyrics, lack of intensity but most of all complete lack of tempo. Their is no joy or grace in these "Hymns" just a mix of saccharine a grey. In fairness, "The Good News" is a proper tune, manages to rock while still keeping to the hymnal theme of the album. It's also the only tune that manages to have anything resembling intensity and a bit of tempo. To finish, I hope this is the last thing released under the Bloc Party name.… Expand
  2. ArtRushmer
    Feb 1, 2016
    4
    There is saving grace in a handful of the tracks on Hymns, but ultimately it feels like the concept was too grand and the content too sparse. At its best, there are moments of familiarity, at its worst it becomes tedious.
    Best tracks: The Good News, My True Name, Virtue

Awards & Rankings

62
#62 Most Discussed Album of 2016

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
55

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 29
  3. Negative: 2 out of 29
  1. Austin Chronicle
    Mar 17, 2016
    40
    Lacking the band's prior specificity, too much of the album languishes in uncommitted sprawl.
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  2. No Ripcord
    Feb 16, 2016
    40
    The problem with Hymns is that it chugs along with a series of stilted niceties that lack any kind of rhythm or emotion.
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  3. Punknews.org (Staff)
    Feb 8, 2016
    20
    It's such a musically bare record. "Into The Earth" is the only song that feels like a rock song and it's also very soft and drab. So many songs riff off the same synth beats that HYMNS end up being a contemplative session that puts you to sleep as opposed to prodding at your mind.
    Read full review
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