Meteorites
by Echo & the Bunnymen
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
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  1. Rolling Stone
    Jun 3, 2014
    60
    Producer Youth helps balloon the intensity skyhigh, making McCulloch the Bono of spider-web bangs and black regret.
  2. New Musical Express (NME)
    May 27, 2014
    60
    As a whole, Meteorites fails to set the sky on fire.
  3. musicOMH.com
    May 27, 2014
    60
    All in all though, Meteorites is a decent, if hardly vital, album from one of this country’s true national treasures.
  5. Pitchfork
    May 27, 2014
    60
    They’ve been slowing down for a while now, but here they feel nearly worn out.
  6. Mojo
    May 21, 2014
    60
    The tune count is mainly healthy, with the super-exuberance of Is This A Breakdown, Grapes Upon The Vine's echoes of 1983's Porcupine, and a second-half pursuit of the epic culminating in the soaring, redemptive New Horizons. [Jun 2014, p.88]
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  7. The Line of Best Fit
    May 21, 2014
    60
    It’s not until Meteorites broadens its scope a little that it begins to offer up genuine highlights.
  8. The Quietus
    May 21, 2014
    60
    Meteorites is still, on initial blush, like all those other albums from Evergreen onward, "the new album from," a reliable entry but not a jawdropper.
  9. Uncut
    May 21, 2014
    60
    The promising flourishes of "Burn It Down" and "Explosions" give way to "Meteorites" and "Is This A Breakdown," mediocre indie rock plods. [Jun 2014, p.75]
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  10. Consequence
    May 30, 2014
    58
    Though the two men may feel that this is the most personal album yet, musically, Meteorites sounds more like Echo & the Bunnymen without its whimsy.
  11. Clash Music
    Jun 23, 2014
    50
    Meteorites is the sound of a once-great band bursting into flames on re-entry.
  12. PopMatters
    Jun 5, 2014
    50
    As with the lyrics, one of Meteorites’ main weaknesses is that it contains too many tunes that can be filed under humdrum.
  13. Exclaim
    May 23, 2014
    50
    For much of Meteorites, strings attempt to fill in the hole that was the band's characteristically dynamic, propulsive low-end, to mixed results.
  14. Boston Globe
    Jun 3, 2014
    40
    Only a few tunes here--notably “Constantinople,” with brilliant Middle Eastern guitar by Sergeant--approach the energy of classic Echo tracks. Most are slow and labored with monotonously downbeat lyrics.
  15. Record Collector
    May 29, 2014
    40
    While it believes it’s a storm of Ocean Rain-esque majesty, Meteorites fizzles out like it’s just another shower.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. RaycerX
    Jun 8, 2014
    8
    Love the soaring melodies and sweeping instrumentals. Overall, a very good addition to their catalog. Give it a few listens and I think thoseLove the soaring melodies and sweeping instrumentals. Overall, a very good addition to their catalog. Give it a few listens and I think those on the fence will come around.… Full Review »
  2. TSAR
    Jun 4, 2014
    6
    The last song on this album is named “New Horizons”. Unfortunately there are no now horizons on this one. If you expect Echo and theThe last song on this album is named “New Horizons”. Unfortunately there are no now horizons on this one. If you expect Echo and the Bunnymen’s groundbreaking 80’s material you’ll be disappointed. Nevertheless, if you liked their albums from “Evergreen” and on, then this one does deliver the goods. In my humble opinion the band can and should try different directions instead of rely on their own mediocre past as they did on “Meteorites”.… Full Review »
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