• Record Label: Capitol
  • Release Date: Jan 17, 2020
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
Buy Now
Buy on
  1. 90
    Manic revels in the explorative genre-pop bombast, letting the delicates twinkle, and the snarls bare their teeth; yet it's the soul that shines dominantly. It's her most complete work to date.
  2. Jan 23, 2020
    83
    The album finds a way to weave together multiple emotions, sounds, and genres and shows off Frangipane’s versatility as an artist while still acting as an incredibly cohesive and seamless album. She explores more ideas in one album than many do in their entire career. Do not underestimate Halsey.
  3. 83
    Over 16 tracks, Manic is a chaotic amalgamation of self-analysis, rage, depression, ecstasy, and growth that sees its creator managing the messiness of fame while trying to stay true to herself. We’re just along for the ride.
  4. Q Magazine
    Feb 11, 2020
    80
    Freighted by unflinching lyrics, Manic is a magnificent - and magnificently raw - pop confessional. [Apr 2020, p.110]
  5. Jan 27, 2020
    80
    Halsey is less a pop chameleon than a musical magpie and Manic is a pristinely produced album that sounds a bit like everything you know, but better (Still Learning is a banger, like Evanescence with steelpan).
  6. Jan 21, 2020
    80
    It’s this refusal to pick a lane that’s precisely what makes Halsey’s third album, Manic, her most compelling effort to date.
  7. Jan 21, 2020
    80
    It all adds up to a very enjoyable record, one that fits in well with the current pop landscape while also working beyond it.
  8. Jan 17, 2020
    80
    As on her earlier records, Halsey can feel like something of a phantom on “Manic,” even when her writing is as vivid as it is in “Graveyard,” which deploys an appealingly creepy metaphor about following a lover way too deep. But her singing, with its pleading tone and its slightly raspy edges, is growing more expressive.
  9. Jan 17, 2020
    80
    Manic is her most personal album to date.
  10. Jan 17, 2020
    80
    Manic showcases Halsey at her nerviest and at her best.
  11. 80
    The musician’s previous concepts have both been compelling in themselves but, by stripping back the stories to their very personal core, Halsey has made a record that is as thrilling as it is vulnerable, and her best effort yet. This is Ashley’s world; it’s really nice to meet her.
  12. Jan 17, 2020
    80
    Her lyrical confidence is matched by the characterful production, which straddles R&B, country, trashy pop-rock, Kacey Musgraves-ish cosmic Americana and more. ... A major label pop album with real drama and humanity.
  13. Jan 16, 2020
    80
    Excellent. ... The singer doesn’t even come close to finding peace of mind in these songs. Still, she knows how to make it a thrilling quest.
  14. Jan 21, 2020
    70
    Mania is an honest invitation into the worlds of both Halsey and Ashley Frangipane, and teaches us that the truth is in the ambiguity.
  15. Jan 21, 2020
    70
    Manic is an imperfect collection of tracks - with high peaks of sheer genius along with the low falls - but it still manages to fill eyes with tears, hearts with love and minds with thoughts as it explores the life and times of a 25-year-old in startling, stark detail.
  16. Jan 29, 2020
    68
    Manic is a rich and often confounding listen, an expansive album filled to the brim with the imagined worlds Halsey’s built for herself in the real one. It’s also sincerely, indefatigably Halsey: She puts her loves and ambitions on wholly earnest display, even if it doesn’t always make for the most consistent listen.
  17. Jan 23, 2020
    65
    Despite some missteps, Halsey’s appeal is clear: It’s a singularly difficult time to be a young person, and she is warmly attuned to that reality.
  18. Feb 4, 2020
    40
    The real problem is that the best ideas are outvoted by frustrating ones, leaving us with little touches like the short, yelping-like sound in the second verse of More or the distorted vocals that end killing boys. There are some good moments here, but even the best of them can’t help Halsey get out of her own way.
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 1008 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Jan 17, 2020
    10
    best album ever!!!!!!! i love the way she made a perfect chaotic emotion throughout the album
  2. Jan 17, 2020
    10
    Manic is a very lyrically cohesive album, with a diverse and heterogeneous aesthetic sound, and earns points for Halsey's maturity in relationManic is a very lyrically cohesive album, with a diverse and heterogeneous aesthetic sound, and earns points for Halsey's maturity in relation to her own aesthetics and, albeit full of small slips and some choices that don't fit within the album's organicity like the interludes, most of the songs advance toward a beautiful, self-sufficient sensory dream that captivates us from the first note. Full Review »
  3. XYA
    Jan 26, 2020
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Manic marks for her a new apogee in terms of versatility and authenticity.

    A journey through Halsey's personal point of views and life experiences. The choice of not including Nightmare makes even more sense now as Manic is already oversaturated by the abundance of different genres waving through the album, approximately separated by the interludes in three main solid units. The singer's primary strength is found in her songwriting skills, in Manic they leave the more philosophical inquisitions of her past discography in favor of an extemporaneous, still sophisticated expression that puts the listener in a chair right in front of her genuine storytelling. With the exception of a couple of fillers, the songs themselves evince a neat identity while oozing pop fragrances absorbing as much as possible from out-of-pop sounds in order to follow and enhance whatever emotion is brought to the table.

    Highlights: You Should Be Sad, Forever... is a Long Time, Finally // Beautiful Strangers

    Partial scores:
    A.S.S. (average songs score) = 8.0/10
    Overall composition = 7.8/10
    Overall production = 8.3/10
    Overall songwriting = 9.2/10
    Creativity = 8.2/10
    Cohesivity = 7.5/10

    The final score is obtained using the following formula:
    (ASS x 2 + composition x 2 + production x 2 + songwriting x 2 + creativity x 1 + cohesivity x 1)/100 =

    82.3/100

    Manic's final score falls within the category very good albums.
    Full Review »