Metascore
89

Universal acclaim - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
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  1. 100
    From the raucous nu-metal to glittering R&B, ‘SAWAYAMA’ is an honest, genre-exploding self-portrait.
  2. Q Magazine
    Apr 15, 2020
    100
    Perspicacious and personal, cool and colossally enjoyable, Sawayama is both a triumph over trauma and a paean to the power of effervescent pop in practically all its forms. [Jun 2020, p.98]
  3. May 4, 2020
    91
    SAWAYAMA appears poised to be one of the best pop albums of the year and sets Sawayama up as a pop force to be reckoned with.
  4. Apr 15, 2020
    90
    Raw artistry paired with rich heritage makes for a magnificent, spine-tingling first album for Rina Sawayama.
  5. 90
    Ultimately, this deftly intelligent record takes personal and musical themes, and presents them in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s ever been done before. Rina Sawayama is one-of-a-kind, and her debut album certainly isn’t going to be quiet about that.
  6. Apr 16, 2020
    85
    Sawayama is an exhilarating reminder of a bygone time when boy bands ruled all and commercialism ruled the boy bands. That era is long gone, but that particular brand of maximalist pop is back, only better now than before.
  7. May 19, 2020
    80
    On this stunning debut, Sawayama captures Dua Lipa's future nostalgia and Poppy's metal-meets-pop savvy, rightfully making it her own with more depth, bigger thrills, and a limitless palette.
  8. Apr 17, 2020
    80
    Combining crunchy nu-metal guitar riffs with a penchant for early-aughts R&B-pop production in the vein of Aaliyah and ‘NSync, Sawayama sounds like Britney Spears’ Blackout by way of Korn — and it inexplicably works.
  9. 80
    Rina’s mini album may have marked her out as one to watch, but SAWAYAMA stakes her claim as one of the boldest voices in pop today.
  10. Apr 16, 2020
    80
    It’s a smart pop record that’s doused in self-awareness but still direct in its assertiveness - and never not compelling.
  11. Apr 15, 2020
    80
    This is a carefully crafted, complex pop record that benefits from the production contributions of industry heavyweights like Nicole Morier (Britney), but undeniably it’s the new-fangled delivery and star appeal of Rina Sawayama that gives this album its sparkling essence.
  12. Apr 20, 2020
    77
    Most of the album, though, is absolutely irony-free, and better for it.
  13. Apr 21, 2020
    76
    While there are some tracks that could have been expended, that just wouldn’t be Rina’s style. She’s here to express her excessive, melodramatic, fun-loving, pain-harbouring persona in every single different way she can, without holding anything back – and SAWAYAMA should be celebrated for that.
  14. Apr 30, 2020
    75
    The album is a complicated picture of Swayama’s past, present, and future. It is rare to see a debut album with such a fully realized voice and vision behind it. What’s more, she exorcises her personal demons amid some of the year’s best dancefloor-filling pop.
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 1138 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Apr 20, 2020
    10
    This is one of the best pop albums of all time. There's a lot of people who are coming to claim the title of 'pop music saviour' but thatThis is one of the best pop albums of all time. There's a lot of people who are coming to claim the title of 'pop music saviour' but that person really is Rina Sawayama. Nobody else manages to infuse pop music and politics the way she does, and this is what we need our pop music to do: we need it to say something. Finally, the saviour has arrived! Full Review »
  2. Apr 17, 2020
    10
    Without exaggeration, one of the greatest, most ingenious albums I think I’ve heard in years. It’s without a doubt the best debut pop albumWithout exaggeration, one of the greatest, most ingenious albums I think I’ve heard in years. It’s without a doubt the best debut pop album since Lady Gaga’s The Fame in 2008, with which it shares several sonic similarities. Beginning to end, the album is a breathlessly flawless achievement. So much of it embodies what made pop albums in the 2000s so engaging: the charisma and stylizations of Justin Timberlake; the intensity and bravado of Rihanna; the strong-theatrical-vocals-meet-ice cold-pop of Lady Gaga. The cherry on top is the incorporation of metal, 90’s R&B, 90’s bubblegum, and 80’s glam rock - a combination that results in a fantastically confident artistic statement. It’s a debut album with enormous energy and enormous personality that demands to be heard. Full Review »
  3. Apr 17, 2020
    10
    uma obra prima. rina sawayama sabe como fazer um pop decente e interessante, assim como fluir entre o R&B e o metal sem sair algo superficial.