- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Stealing of a Nation is a slick, calculated record that misses its target on all accounts.
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Alternative PressOften feels like the soundtrack for a party that's running short on ideas. [Oct 2004, p.132]
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BlenderRoman's politically spiked lyrics sound shrugged-off and flimsy. [Sep 2004, p.141]
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The album's sinewy rhythms and monochrome production sheen start to fade into the background after a while, but as far as capturing a certain political and musical zeitgeist, "Stealing Of A Nation" does so accurately, and with more honesty and integrity than most.
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Unlike other would-be indie-dance pretenders, this is properly danceable stuff; fat basses and catchy percussion beats are punctured by intoxicating keyboard motifs.
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Shiny, soulless dance tracks that would have been mediocre even as Rick Astley backing tracks.
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Overly polished and far too artificial.
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MojoHeyes has polished the band into tedium, with live guitars and drums drowned out by high sheen studio gloss and painfully dated loops. [Sep 2004, p.104]
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New Musical Express (NME)They sound like they actually mean it. [11 Sep 2004, p.57]
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Radio 4 can be commended for at least trying to move past the purposeful lo-fi of Gotham! and into fresher territory, but there's no bell or whistle in the world that could energize the utterly impotent songs at the core of Stealing of a Nation.
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Their zeal is such that, for the most part, we can overlook their failure to be flawless.
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Stealing of a Nation has some nice melodies, driving rhythms, hooky choruses, and fuzzy explosive guitar, but the sameness of the beats, the laziness of the lyrics, and Max Heyes' (Doves, Primal Scream) clipped, staccato production are enough to do the album in.
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Q MagazineThey've lost the spark. [Sep 2004, p.122]
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Rolling StoneRadio 4 show a real lack of gusto. [28 Oct 2004, p.98]
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SpinThey've de-funned rebellion and turned it into a task. [Oct 2004, p.109]
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If you'd never heard Gotham!, you might very well find much to like about Stealing of a Nation.
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The material lacks the gauzy groove of Gotham!, replaced by techno-savvy beats and a synthetic sheen so soulless it C3PO’s all of the group’s human swagger.
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Shows how slavish reproduction curdles into artistic bankruptcy.
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However tiresome the slogans, worse is the fact that the beats are lazy.
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Both infectiously danceable and highly intelligent.
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Under The RadarBy the time the fifth track plays, I feel like I just listened to the same song five times in a row. [#7]
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UrbToo often we get ill-fated experiments in electronic circa 1997 and overly polished replications of their biggest hit to date, "Electrify." [Sep 2004, p.116]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 5
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Mixed: 1 out of 5
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Negative: 1 out of 5
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FlinchBotApr 26, 2006
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HenryBFeb 16, 2005