magazine review ratings thread (American Slang)

steady now steady now wrote:

For what it's worth, The Guardian (which gave them a glowing right up last June), gives it a 2/5. However, the review doesn't really review the album, but the band, so it's arguably a nonsense.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/10/gaslight-anthem-american-slang-review

Seriously, that's just a stupid review

"Anyone wondering why the Boss took such an interest doesn't have to examine American Slang too deeply. Fallon may not be the first artist to bear Springsteen's influence, but he's probably the most explicitly indebted. It's there in his vocal style and, especially his lyrics, which transform blue-collar life into a world of epic metaphors and grandiose flourishes – "American girls, they want the whole world," he cries at one point, which given that only 28% of them actually own passports seems a bit of a sweeping statement. He emerges from American Slang as a man who couldn't assemble an Ikea bookcase without getting the instructions tattooed on his heart while rememberin' the good times, before flat-pack furniture took the fire of his youth, when the diamond romeos in the alleyways sang sha-la-la to the uptown queens."

To argue that the line "American girls, they want the whole world" is a "sweeping statement" because only a small number have a passport (allegedly)?? That's just the stupidest thing, I can't even form a sentence to describe how stupid it is. And it has nothing to do with the music. And when she claims the bridge from "Bring It On" as a nod to "Please Mr Postman," well I've heard people around here say the same thing, but I think the problem is that Gaslight was so honest about their influences, now any time they write a line that is any bit similar to another well known song, it's said that they copped a line from the original song. Yeah, cause "wait a minute, wait a minute" has only been used by the Marvelettes up til now.

totally agree with you steph

it's like having the lyrics 'the breeze blew back my hair and sunlight touched my skin'

then to have this dude say 'sunlight touching your skin causes skin cancer'

This isn't an actual magazine review, but rather a review from a Springsteen fan's blog, but I thought it was a good read --> http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/springsteen/2010/06/10/born-in-the-usa-gaslight-anthem-unveils-american-slang/


This is the part I really agree with and why it has always kind of perplexed me when every review always harps on Bruce... "Brian Fallon and the Jersey boys that make up The Gaslight Anthem were always more Springsteenian in spirit than in practice, with Alex Rosamilia’s punky guitars and Benny Horowitz’s pounding drums making their three-minute records more reminiscent of The Clash than of the E
Street Band’s piano-and-saxophone epics."

I mean, Bruce has written hundreds of songs and of course in those hundreds of songs there are a fair number that are guitar driven, but as a big Springsteen fan I've always thought that the sound that is quintessential Springsteen is the combination of the keys (piano and organ) and the horns. Gaslight is obviously driven by the guitars and drums and if we are going for broad generalizations, I think the Clash comparisons are a lot more on point.

FWIW, the album currently has a 76 on Metacritic with 6 reviews in (Metacritic for those who don't know is a website which weights various reviews based on a formula to give albums, movies, and TV shows a "score"). The 93 from Absolute Punk is currently the "high" review while the 40 from Guardian is killing the score.

That still doesn't include reviews like the 100 from Uncut, 70 from Rolling Stone, 70 from NME, etc, etc. Those should be updated by Tuesday, though. It looks like the album is on pace to get somewhere in the low to mid 70s, which isn't bad but not excellent, either. I'm going to guess it'll be at a 74 when all the reviews are included, but that's just a guess. ("Excellent albums" are those with an 81 or higher- recent examples include LCD Soundsystem- 84, The National- 84, Titus Andronicus- 81, The Black Keys-81).

As a comparison, The '59 Sound had a 77, but that was off of limited reviews.

I hate how the Guardian review didn't even go into American Slang, but just talked about their influences...if I were somebody who hadn't heard the album and was wondering if I should buy it, I would have learned nothing.

steph wrote:

steady now steady now wrote:

For what it's worth, The Guardian (which gave them a glowing right up last June), gives it a 2/5. However, the review doesn't really review the album, but the band, so it's arguably a nonsense.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/10/gaslight-anthem-american-slang-review

Seriously, that's just a stupid review

"Anyone wondering why the Boss took such an interest doesn't have to examine American Slang too deeply. Fallon may not be the first artist to bear Springsteen's influence, but he's probably the most explicitly indebted. It's there in his vocal style and, especially his lyrics, which transform blue-collar life into a world of epic metaphors and grandiose flourishes – "American girls, they want the whole world," he cries at one point, which given that only 28% of them actually own passports seems a bit of a sweeping statement. He emerges from American Slang as a man who couldn't assemble an Ikea bookcase without getting the instructions tattooed on his heart while rememberin' the good times, before flat-pack furniture took the fire of his youth, when the diamond romeos in the alleyways sang sha-la-la to the uptown queens."

To argue that the line "American girls, they want the whole world" is a "sweeping statement" because only a small number have a passport (allegedly)?? That's just the stupidest thing, I can't even form a sentence to describe how stupid it is. And it has nothing to do with the music. And when she claims the bridge from "Bring It On" as a nod to "Please Mr Postman," well I've heard people around here say the same thing, but I think the problem is that Gaslight was so honest about their influences, now any time they write a line that is any bit similar to another well known song, it's said that they copped a line from the original song. Yeah, cause "wait a minute, wait a minute" has only been used by the Marvelettes up til now.

While I don't agree with the sentiment of the whole review at all. And this is no knock against Brian or Benny and the Alex's, the bit you quoted is more or less spot on and anyone who argues 100% against it is a litttle bit deluded or a "fan boy"

Daire wrote:

steph wrote:

steady now steady now wrote:

For what it's worth, The Guardian (which gave them a glowing right up last June), gives it a 2/5. However, the review doesn't really review the album, but the band, so it's arguably a nonsense.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/10/gaslight-anthem-american-slang-review

Seriously, that's just a stupid review

"Anyone wondering why the Boss took such an interest doesn't have to examine American Slang too deeply. Fallon may not be the first artist to bear Springsteen's influence, but he's probably the most explicitly indebted. It's there in his vocal style and, especially his lyrics, which transform blue-collar life into a world of epic metaphors and grandiose flourishes – "American girls, they want the whole world," he cries at one point, which given that only 28% of them actually own passports seems a bit of a sweeping statement. He emerges from American Slang as a man who couldn't assemble an Ikea bookcase without getting the instructions tattooed on his heart while rememberin' the good times, before flat-pack furniture took the fire of his youth, when the diamond romeos in the alleyways sang sha-la-la to the uptown queens."

To argue that the line "American girls, they want the whole world" is a "sweeping statement" because only a small number have a passport (allegedly)?? That's just the stupidest thing, I can't even form a sentence to describe how stupid it is. And it has nothing to do with the music. And when she claims the bridge from "Bring It On" as a nod to "Please Mr Postman," well I've heard people around here say the same thing, but I think the problem is that Gaslight was so honest about their influences, now any time they write a line that is any bit similar to another well known song, it's said that they copped a line from the original song. Yeah, cause "wait a minute, wait a minute" has only been used by the Marvelettes up til now.

While I don't agree with the sentiment of the whole review at all. And this is no knock against Brian or Benny and the Alex's, the bit you quoted is more or less spot on and anyone who argues 100% against it is a litttle bit deluded or a "fan boy"

It's my opinion, and I'm actually not a fanboy. I think a "fanboy"-ish response would be to disagree with anyone who knocked the band's sound in any way without any attention to what that reviewer actually said. I have no problem with reviews that dislike the band and their music. I just thought it was a particularly stupid review, and I think that to say that anyone who disagrees with that review is a fanboy is quite an ignorant remark to make, not to mention a sweeping statement in its own.

Not to mention, the main thing I mentioned was the line about "American girls want the whole world", and the writer basically saying that line doesn't make sense because only 28% of American girls have a passport. You can argue that that makes sense, but I'll still disagree.

Seriously, I gotta go with Steph on this one. The American girls wanting the whole world is basic hyperbole and the writer is probably a bit slow if he doesn't grasp that.

I won't argue the point if it makes sense or not, and if we're taking everything serious, then it makes perfect sense. But I'd be fairly confident the write of the piece has his tongue firmly in cheek with that comment.

Kerrang! Review.

steady now steady now wrote:

For what it's worth, The Guardian (which gave them a glowing right up last June), gives it a 2/5. However, the review doesn't really review the album, but the band, so it's arguably a nonsense.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/10/gaslight-anthem-american-slang-review

Look at his other articles. Higher ratings for Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga? Well at least now we know were his aversion to good music comes from.

Harry Lime wrote:

steady now steady now wrote:

For what it's worth, The Guardian (which gave them a glowing right up last June), gives it a 2/5. However, the review doesn't really review the album, but the band, so it's arguably a nonsense.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/10/gaslight-anthem-american-slang-review

Look at his other articles. Higher ratings for Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga? Well at least now we know were his aversion to good music comes from.

good research; in academic publishing, you give review copies of books to people who specialise in the same area, not just to anyone; maybe music magazines should only ask people to review albums in a genre they actually like listening to

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/13/gaslight-anthem-american-slang-cd-review

Here's another review from a different person at The Guardian. It's considerably better.

Harry Lime wrote:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jun/13/gaslight-anthem-american-slang-cd-review

Here's another review from a different person at The Guardian. It's considerably better.

Thanks. That is from the Observer, the Guardian's sunday paper.

Key quote: "It might fall shy of true greatness, but American Slang is one of those totemic American records whose easy sincerity trumps analysis."

Up to a 79 on Metacritic with 11 reviews in, and still haven't added the 100 from Uncut and the 70 from Rolling Stone. Should have everything by tomorrow afternoon calculated I'd assume.

Really interested to see what Pitchfork is gonna give this. I could honestly see anything from 5.8 to 9.0. I'm calling 7.1 FWIW.

The Onion AV Club gave it an A-.

verbos ( wrote:

The Onion AV Club gave it an A-.

Sorry, here: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-gaslight-anthem-american-slang,42126/

My prediction if Pitchfork reviews it is between 2-6. They are such tools.

verbos wrote:

verbos ( wrote:

The Onion AV Club gave it an A-.

Sorry, here: http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-gaslight-anthem-american-slang,42126/

Probably the closest review to my opinion so far (not just in the rating, but also in the actual content of the reiview).

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/14/AR2010061405508.html

Dad Rock?

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/06/album-review-the-gaslight-anthems-american-slang.html

this is the second review that I have read that said the band is too young to write about sad things...i think the NY Times said something similar

oldgospelchoir wrote:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/06/album-review-the-gaslight-anthems-american-slang.html

this is the second review that I have read that said the band is too young to write about sad things...i think the NY Times said something similar

Not quite; the review says: "This band is way too young to be singing about its 'aging bones' yet." Fair enough.

huh maybe i took it the wrong way.

sidekicksuicide wrote:

My prediction if Pitchfork reviews it is between 2-6. They are such tools.

they gave the 59 sound a 8 i think, so I wouldn't be surprised if its higher than a 6