Animals

A solid album with some standout tracks, but a bit uneven overall.

A monumental achievement in every sense.

I come back to this every few months and find something new each time.

I played this for my partner who doesn't even like this genre and they were blown away. That's the sign of a truly great album — it transcends taste. The hooks are undeniable, the depth is real, and the replay value is infinite.

This was the album that got me into this genre and honestly nothing else has matched it since. The songwriting is inspired, the performances are committed, and the whole thing hangs together as a complete artistic vision. Masterful stuff.

Feels self-indulgent in places. Could have been much better with editing.

I keep trying to find something wrong with this album and I genuinely can't. The melodies are gorgeous, the arrangements are inventive, the lyrics are thoughtful without being pretentious. It just fires on every cylinder from start to finish.

A rewarding listen that demands your full attention.

This album has been in heavy rotation for me since it came out. It's not quite flawless — there's a stretch in the middle that loses momentum, and one track I usually skip — but the highs are so high that the minor dips barely register. The opening three tracks alone would make this worth owning. What I appreciate most is the willingness to take risks. Not every experiment lands perfectly, but the ones that do are genuinely thrilling. You can hear an artist pushing past their comfort zone and finding something new. That kind of creative courage is rare and should be celebrated even when the results are imperfect.

A thoroughly enjoyable listen from start to finish.