Wrong Creatures
by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 33 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. StevenX
    Jan 12, 2018
    6
    Maddening. Put in a couple decent rockers as bait, and psyche! Suddenly you're smack-dab in the middle of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's continuing quest to crawl into themselves. What started out as an energetic, inventive band has morphed into goth music for people who are too cool for goth, with a couple of said rockers thrown in. The production and atmosphere on this one (more theMaddening. Put in a couple decent rockers as bait, and psyche! Suddenly you're smack-dab in the middle of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's continuing quest to crawl into themselves. What started out as an energetic, inventive band has morphed into goth music for people who are too cool for goth, with a couple of said rockers thrown in. The production and atmosphere on this one (more the latter than the former is featured) saves some cuts, sinks others. Drummer Leah Shapiro's full talents and range are explored, but her sheer power (which hooked me when she slammed home a Dead Combo tune on YouTube years back) doesn't get much of a workout here. Of the slower stuff (and there is much slower stuff), perhaps only "Echo" lives up to its full potential, and sands off the sometimes-grating nasal treble edge off Robert Levon Been's voice in the process. Unfortunately, it's instantly negated by "Ninth Configuration", which rambles, warbles between country and slow-dance prom stuff, and features what sounds like a small kitten on guitar solos. (Think Black Velvet Lounge Cruise.) I'm sure BRMC's most rabid fans will always believe no matter the pretension level, and I'll keep falling for that rocker bait as well, probably, but this is the third album in a row that poses more questions than answers. Whatever happened to their rock and roll?… Expand

Awards & Rankings

89
#89 Most Shared Album of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 18
  3. Negative: 1 out of 18
  1. Magnet
    Apr 17, 2018
    85
    With BRMC, the curtains match the drapes in terms of words and music. [No. 150, p.51]
  2. PopMatters
    Feb 9, 2018
    70
    Wrong Creatures progressively follows 2013's Specter at the Feast, with a solid sound rooted in densely layered guitar work providing landscapes for deep lyrics, with supportive percussion. Been, Peter Hayes, and drummer Leah Shapiro bring the entirety of the band's career out with this album.
    Read full review
  3. Classic Rock Magazine
    Feb 2, 2018
    80
    Echo is a lustrous cosmic echo of Walk On The Wild Side, while the Doorsy atmospherics and celestial hooks of Ninth Configuration and Question Of Faith shroud personal and religious soul-searching that suggest Wrong Creatures is actually a conversation with their younger, wronger selves. Certainly the dark carnival of Circus Bazooko and stirring postrock finale All Rise prove they’re tackling their crippling Psychocandy addiction, making Wrong Creatures something of a colourful rebirth.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »