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Welcome, Stranger! Image
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 5 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

  • Summary: The 12th full-length studio release for the British art-rock band led by Gerard Langley was recorded by T.J. Allen.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 5
  2. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Q Magazine
    Jan 17, 2017
    80
    Happily, after nearly four decades, The Blue Aeroplanes can still bottle lightning. [Mar 2017, p.107]
  2. Uncut
    Jan 11, 2017
    80
    They nevertheless sound irresistibly fresh and zesty. [Feb 2017, p.23]
  3. Mojo
    Jan 11, 2017
    80
    Here the formula is still fresh and potent, with punchy production, twisting song structures and sweeping choruses. [Feb 2017, p.96]
  4. Jan 11, 2017
    60
    You do wonder what he would sound like with a less self-consciously hidebound band, but once again Langley veers between the mundane (Dead Tree! Dead Tree!) and the captivating (Poetland) with Puckish – and punkish – inconstancy. Ranting here, muttering there.
  5. Jan 11, 2017
    40
    Welcome, Stranger!, unfortunately, leaves the listener largely nonplussed. And while a lot of these tracks are perfectly nice-sounding, it feels a bit tragic to consign a record by the Blue Aeroplanes to the background.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. Mar 7, 2017
    9
    Gerard Langley returns with the band's best album in years. With echos of the band's best album 1990's Swagger, Welcome, Stranger carries aGerard Langley returns with the band's best album in years. With echos of the band's best album 1990's Swagger, Welcome, Stranger carries a wallop. Punchy, melodic guitar lines carry Langley's spoken-word poetry, perfectly delivered. Solid songs throughout, not a clunker to be found, the Blue Aeroplanes have embraced a drum-driven 60's garage rock vibe. "Dead Tree! Dead Tree!" is one of the best songs by the band, period. "Poetland" is profound and lovely.
    An arty, rocking album, Welcome, Stranger is a fine return to form.
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