The Spark
by Enter Shikari
  • Record Label: PIAS
  • Release Date: Sep 22, 2017
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
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  1. Drowned In Sound
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    The result is a brilliant, imperfect record that affects you in ways Enter Shikari never have before and subverts what the entire band is all about. Anything from them would be ridiculous.
  2. Kerrang!
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    The Spark is very much a record for 2017. [16 Sep 2017, p.50]
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  3. Alternative Press
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    As expected, frontman/programmer Rou Reynolds remains urgent and vulnerable. [Oct 2017, p.81]
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  5. New Musical Express (NME)
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    There’s more space and sophistication to The Spark than we’ve seen from Shikari before.
  6. The Independent (UK)
    Sep 21, 2017
    80
    The Spark is Enter Shikari’s most eclectic and accomplished album to date.
  7. Sputnikmusic
    Sep 21, 2017
    76
    The Spark as Shikari-lite, a poppy album which forsakes the sound and fury which made the boys so interesting in the first place. But making the same album twice is anathema here, and the sound of the band isolating the human element and expanding it into their most beautiful, focused work to date is a wonder to behold.
  8. Classic Rock Magazine
    Oct 26, 2017
    70
    The record is rivenwith angst, strife and remonstration. Which makes it sound like a knotty proposition. But actually it’s quite the opposite.
  9. AllMusic
    Oct 2, 2017
    70
    There's a lot to love here, especially on some of the more idiosyncratic offerings like "Airfield" and "Shinrin-yoku," but listeners expecting to bloody themselves in the electronicore, stadium-screamo assault of past outings might want to take a pass.
  10. Q Magazine
    Sep 27, 2017
    60
    It swaps the ramped-up volume of the past for a jittery urgency that mirrors 21st-century urban Britain. [Nov 2017, p.108]
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  11. The Guardian
    Sep 21, 2017
    60
    While still unpredictable, this is Shikari’s most mainstream, self-contained record to date. Some will appreciate its ambition, others will balk at its commercial feel, but it marks a real and definite evolution nonetheless.
  12. The 405
    Sep 26, 2017
    30
    Ultimately, The Spark presents a baffling listening experience. Almost every song on the album poses as an unremarkable backdrop onto which the band fiddles with elements of everything from grime to orchestral arrangements with virtually no successful results.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 32 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 32
  3. Negative: 1 out of 32
  1. Roo182
    Dec 31, 2018
    8
    Enter Shikari have consistently been in my top ten lists for a decade now. 4 albums between 2007-2016 have all easily found their way into theEnter Shikari have consistently been in my top ten lists for a decade now. 4 albums between 2007-2016 have all easily found their way into the bracket, all of which providing their own fresh and interesting flavour of Shikari without losing their crazy techno/hardcore sound that I initially loved. I am stoked to say that the lads from St. Albans have done it again with the Spark in 2017. At points it’s edgy, energetic, and confronting (Rabble Rouser, Take My Country Back) while at others it shows a softer, more weary approach to their anti-establishment views, something very prominent in the blood that flows through their veins (Airfield, An Ode to Lost Jigsaw Pieces). At times you feel like The Spark is a loaded gun that never runs out of ammo, bullets that change from flammables to armour piercing to explosive rounds at a whim, blowing you away with each shot, but soothing you with softer tracks with a deeper meaning.

    Something I’ve enjoyed over a decade of being IN LOVE with this band is how their message has evolved along with their musical prowess. It’s like as time has progressed, Enter Shikari have grown gradually more befuddled and dumbfounded at the sheer stupidity of the human race, and with tracks like The Sights, Live Outside and Shinrin-Yoku, have increasingly begged for aliens / the divine / something NOT human to take them away from the rock we collectively **** up (insert rant about Baby Boomers here).

    Bravo to you Enter Shikari, a band I consistently chuck on shuffle and love every second of have added yet another master stroke to their essay of brilliance. Here’s to the next one!

    Best Tracks: The Sights - Live Outside - Airfield - Shinrin-Yoku
    2017 Listens: 170+    … Full Review »
  2. Suppermenot
    Nov 22, 2017
    5
    Overall an ok album but i think the band can do better. Emotions conveyed are a bit lacking. I does not open my hearth up like i want it toOverall an ok album but i think the band can do better. Emotions conveyed are a bit lacking. I does not open my hearth up like i want it to do. If you are a fan of Shikari then you will like it but if you never listened before skip this one.… Full Review »
  3. BrainAndS0ul
    Sep 22, 2017
    10
    This is probably the best album of probably the best British band of XXI century! Sharp lyrics, tight groove and beautiful vocals of Rou, whoThis is probably the best album of probably the best British band of XXI century! Sharp lyrics, tight groove and beautiful vocals of Rou, who stopped to growl and started to sing the hell out of his lungs. Pure awesomeness.… Full Review »
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