- Record Label: Matador / Rough Trade
- Release Date: Feb 7, 2006
User Score
Universal acclaim- based on 120 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 109 out of 120
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Mixed: 7 out of 120
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Negative: 4 out of 120
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- Most helpful
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andrewmFeb 7, 2006B&S get better with each release! Love it already.
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dodobirdFeb 7, 2006This may arguably be the best album that B&S has put out.
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KeriHFeb 8, 2006This is how pop used to be done in the 60's and 70's. Lots of good infuences used on thei album to good effect. An album to lift your mood!
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CulleySFeb 8, 2006
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MarkFeb 8, 2006A little over-produced, but, a GREAT album
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PiotrWMar 20, 2006Brings a beatiful springtime to still winter Poland... Each song seems like a different separate jewel... Makes me smile every time I put this into my player.
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BradKMar 6, 2006
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AndrewFeb 15, 2006Really good album. A happy dissonance between the words and the music.
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ZhibinDFeb 20, 2006brilliant
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MattFeb 7, 2006Yes, it's different, but it's a good example of how pop doesn't have to be superficial.
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JohnKFeb 7, 2006Great, great album.
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BernardAMar 8, 2006
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BrendanDDec 27, 2006
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AdriansREvengeFeb 10, 2006Belle and Sebastian
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stanhFeb 10, 2006Love them, and love the album!!!!
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JustinBFeb 10, 2006this is a great album...the songs are fun, everyone who listens will enjoy this.
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ScottPFeb 10, 2006Pretty good, but they have done better.
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tommyphFeb 27, 2006This album is likely to be in my top 10 of '06 and top 200 of all time! Nice bluesy feel!
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ShaneFeb 6, 2006A pop masterpiece.
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MachuzzlewitSweedlepipeFeb 7, 2006Another collection of melodies and lyrics that any songwriter would give their left lung for. Slightly more genre-hopping than previous albums but no less charming.
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ChrisC.Feb 7, 2006Solid. I think overall it is more consistent than DCW. It can't touch IYFS or Tigermilk though.
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PeterPFeb 7, 2006It's fun.
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[Anonymous]Feb 7, 2006A masterpiece!
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LanaMFeb 7, 2006This is my favorite band. B&S never disappoint me. Their new album lives up to their existing high standards and was completely worth the wait.
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CarlosMFeb 7, 2006Ver good, definitively is the second albm of the rebirth of Belle and Sebastian (after the Storytelling soundtrack). The femenine chorus are reallyt catchy and, sometimes, sublime. Really deserves to be number one in UK. And this album proves that, basically, Stuart Murdoch is a pop genius. Period.
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ALittleMulroneycakesSoBeguilingFeb 8, 2006
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mattaFeb 8, 2006
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RobPFeb 8, 2006Lovely. 13 great pop songs on one album. Not as long lasting as their old stuff.
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AbrahamJFeb 8, 2006I really like this albums sincere enthusiasm for the music we call pop. It's their best since 'If You're Feeling Sinister'. Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan's new album is great too!
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JamieFeb 9, 2006This bit of pop perfection ties with Tigermilk as B&S' most coherent LP in my book. And it's a friggin' blast to listen to.
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MasterPMar 1, 2006Good upbeat good-times music. Less, well... gay than earlier albums, but gay enough for "upbeat good-times."
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SimonMar 30, 2006This is one of Belle & Sebastian's best albums, withiout doubt. The song writing is strong as is the musicianship. The band plays to their strenghts but equally creates something fresh and very today. Definitely one of the best pop bands of the modern era.
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psstApr 15, 2006i like it a lot. a bit too much hysteria.
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RichardAApr 19, 2006Cracking stuff, a really joyous and infectious record. Takes them far beyond the old stuff, and all the better for it.
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skApr 2, 2006it could be their best album
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AaronQApr 28, 2006Solid pop record. Makes me want to explore the band's entire catalog.
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BlayzeHApr 4, 2006Great, an improvement on the songwriting from Dear Catastrophe Waitress, just if they had the same producing.
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kickstandMay 16, 2006Features the best song ever written about laundry ... what more can you ask for?
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timeAug 8, 2006Score another point for the greatest indie band in the world.
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GuyJan 4, 2007Best album of the year hands down.
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JTRJul 2, 2007It's always nice to be reminded why you love a band. This is such a solid album, so full of joy, wit, and inspiration.
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ScottEOct 18, 2006Not their best overall, but certainly better than anything since Sinister -- the above reviews have it right.
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MathewBFeb 11, 2006
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steveFeb 11, 2006I am old enough to share Stuarts nod. Teriffic pastiches,hugely entertaining. I laughed outloud at least twice at the delicious irony. Wonderful lyrics,tunes I whistle. Pop has got its brains back. Murdoch is the new Ray Davies? No of course not.But you know what I mean. Staring at falling snow as I write and listen.Appropiate .Buy it.
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MattBFeb 11, 2006After three full listens, the new album went from good to great to brilliant. It's as confident and exciting as Dear Catastrophe Waitress, but the new producer returns to the band its magical and mysterious aura. It's a fantastic meld of early and current B&S. It will surprise you, it will comfort you, it will make you very, very happy.
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AlexFeb 12, 2006What a pleasant surprise. The lyrics are rich and smile-provoking, and the melodies are varied and catchy. The atmosphere of wistful melancholy isn't as conspicuous as it was pre-Catastrophe Waitress days, but the songs are still beautiful.
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berdkFeb 15, 2006great great great
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DaveFeb 15, 2006For me, it's the album Dear Catastrophe Waitress wanted to be. Happy poppy fun, plenty of hooks, infectious beats and Stuart's smart lyrics.
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NickDFeb 15, 2006
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MurrayCFeb 16, 2006A very welcome return to form- and then some. Lots of excellent music here for a sunny spring day (as hoped), and at least a couple surprises that make you want to groove long after the sun has set! Who would've foreseen "The Blues are Still Blue" from this band!? Great stuff.
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JoeyMFeb 26, 2006This is the best-sounding record of the year! I'm smiling each time I listen to it. It really puts me in a positive mood. Beautiful melodies and witty lyrics.
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PeterHFeb 6, 2006This has some of their best work on it. It also has some tracks i find indifferent. These aremy intital thoughts which could change....
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TobyMcGFeb 7, 2006pretty decent
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guyhFeb 8, 2006love it!!!!!
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JaredS.Feb 8, 2006With the first couple of listens to this album I thought it was the same bubble-gummish stuff that made DCS very good but kind of sickeningly sweet at times. Upon further examination I found the depth that I had always loved in B and S and felt they had been missing with DCS. What a great, deep examination of faith it expresses. And another great album from those lovable Scottish intellectuals.
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JESSEBFeb 9, 2006The best Belle and Sebastian album since Tiger Milk. Ignore the critics who think Belle and Sebastian have changed their formula for the worst. This album shows a more mature and yes, fun side of the group. The Life Pursuit represents a band that is further expanding the art of pop music, giving the finger to the indy critics, and having a blast at the same time.
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CaitieFMar 16, 2006
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DanB.Mar 19, 2006A third of it is like a Bowie tribute album, but it's more awesome than derivative. I love 'sukie in the graveyard' best, at the moment.
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TomBApr 28, 2006Without a doubt, B&S's best album. I really liked this when it came out, and now I utterly love it. Probably the most charming album I've heard, ever.
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AntApr 9, 2006While not as lyrically funny as Dear Catastrophe Waitress, this album is incredibly catchy and addicting. I really can't stop listening to it.
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JaimeZMay 23, 2006The first B&S that made me smile for an hour or two....Morrissey meet The Monkees in a summer resort.
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ArikKDec 11, 2006The pop melodies are well crafted and well produced. The lyrics are amazing and fit extremely well, and the album as a whole flows together incredibly. Probably one of my favorite albums this year.
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DDec 19, 2006They made it!
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AndyFeb 13, 2006Possibly my favirote so far. Not as timeless as Sinister and the writing isn't as unique as DCW but it is definitely the most fun they have ever had on an album.
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BenFeb 16, 2006
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BradPFeb 23, 2006
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tomislavsFeb 28, 2006i'm their fan for a quite long time, and i have to say though i thought i'll be quite dissapointed with the album cause i heard some roumors that they've changed since their famous tracks the boy with the arab strap and similar - i think they stayed true to themselves and they are still b&s. So glad for you guys! Lots of luck.
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MarkOMar 29, 2006I have everything thing they've recorded and this is hands down their best. Variety, energy and heart make this one of the best of the year.
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AndrewCApr 17, 2006My favourite B&S album since 'Sinister'. Their sound has truly evolved into something great. Makes 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' sound like a mediocre transitional album.
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RGMar 29, 2007great b & s album, they have been on a downhill slump, dear catastrophee was ok ( loved i m a cuckoo) but this is looking back at a great age of pop and making great pop for today. they are very comfortable with themselves, and i think dear castrophee helped with that. def their best album since if you are feeling sinister
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Apr 1, 2012
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Jun 11, 2013
Awards & Rankings
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Q MagazineThe presence of more filler than is comfortable does not detract from the creative health in evidence on the better songs. [Feb 2006, p.100]
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The band sounds reinvigorated even when returning to well-trodden turf, and even livelier when moving away from it.
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Hence we get an album which, musically at least, veers all over the place, from chamber pop to glam to, God help them, hotel lobby jazz. In other hands, this would be a terrible mess, but in each instance you feel like the group are inching ever closer to that perfect pop moment.