Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

I know I'm in the minority here, but I genuinely think this is one of the most overrated albums of all time. I've tried to hear what everyone else hears — the groundbreaking production, the emotional depth, the artistic vision — and I just get boredom. Track after track of self-indulgent noodling dressed up as profundity. The emperor has no clothes on this one, and the fact that so many critics fell over themselves to praise it says more about groupthink than it does about the music. I'm sure the artist put real effort and passion into this, but passion doesn't automatically equal quality. Skip it.

Bold artistic choices that mostly work. Rewarding for patient listeners.

Not terrible but certainly not deserving of the acclaim.

A few tracks could have been cut without losing anything, but what's here is largely excellent. The production is gorgeous and the performances are top-notch. One of the better albums I've heard recently.

Some great moments here but it doesn't quite sustain over the full runtime.

Started strong but lost me in the back half. The opening three tracks had me excited and then it just sort of coasts on autopilot. Would have been a much stronger EP than it is an album.

I wanted this to be better than it is. The ingredients are all there — the talent, the ambition, the production budget — but it never quite gels into something greater than the sum of its parts. Still a pleasant enough listen though.