Resistance Is Futile
by Manic Street Preachers
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Apr 13, 2018
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
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  1. musicOMH.com
    Apr 11, 2018
    80
    While there are a couple of misfires (Broken Algorithms is as messy as its title would suggest), this is generally a fine return to form from one of the country’s most treasured bands.
  2. Clash Music
    Apr 9, 2018
    80
    ‘Broken Algorithms’ is a sizeable misfire from its title onwards, thundering about with the ham-fisted bluster of much of their debut, ‘Generation Terrorists’. Its digital focus is at odds with an album besotted with faded analogue beauty.
  3. New Musical Express (NME)
    Apr 9, 2018
    80
    The sheer scale, pop-pomp and balls on show here render their survival an absolute victory. Resistance may be futile, but the Manics continue to advance.
  5. The Independent (UK)
    Apr 4, 2018
    80
    No song sounds over-rehearsed, and plenty sound like they were laid down on the first take.
  6. Mojo
    Mar 29, 2018
    80
    Beneath the surface sheen, Resistance Is Futile is a complex, multi-layer work. [May 2018, p.88]
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  7. Q Magazine
    Mar 29, 2018
    80
    They sound revitalised by the radiance of these songs, liberated from the heavy burden of being the Manic Street Preachers. [May 2018, p.102]
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  8. The A.V. Club
    Apr 13, 2018
    75
    Resistance Is Futile, the band’s thirteenth studio album, distills the Manics’ pomp and melancholy into buoyant pop songs with biting electric guitars, sugary synths, and majestic strings.
  9. Classic Rock Magazine
    Apr 13, 2018
    70
    The album concludes with Nicky Wire’s grainy lead vocal on The Left Behind, a charmingly offbeat detour into 1980s indie-rock. More of these eccentric tonal variations would have been welcome on an album that emerges as a solid exercise in arena-sized anthemics, majestic in parts but not a career peak.
  10. AllMusic
    Apr 13, 2018
    70
    This seamless blend of aesthetics is also why Resistance Is Futile works musically. First, it comes on strong-all sharp edges and gleam-but once the blare fades, the melodies and their accompanying sweetness lingers, leaving a lasting impression behind.
  11. The Quietus
    Apr 12, 2018
    70
    This is not the Manics’ best album, but it is one of their most charming. As a document of where they stand it is endlessly fascinating.
  12. Under The Radar
    Apr 4, 2018
    65
    Mild as feelings may be about this new record it certainly doesn't depose them from their spot as one of Britain's most vital and beloved bands. [Mar-May 2018, p.56]

Awards & Rankings

42
#42 Most Shared Album of 2018

User Reviews

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User Score
6.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 16
  3. Negative: 2 out of 16
  1. Doof
    Jun 5, 2018
    0
    Good grief, if you found an album like 'Everything Must Go' a tad too MOR after reaching it via either 'The Holy Bible' or 'GenerationGood grief, if you found an album like 'Everything Must Go' a tad too MOR after reaching it via either 'The Holy Bible' or 'Generation Terrorists' then boy oh boy what would you make coming straight to this. Bland, formulaic, tired, over familiar, soppy, weak...you get the idea. Not one great tune on the thing, as sad as that fact is to report.… Full Review »
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