Yeah, I'm thinking Challengers scores in the 8s, and I haven't even heard it in its entirety yet!!

This band can do no wrong, IMO

I love that there are now conspiracy theories about the scores of forthcoming Pitchfork reviews.
I guess it's not possible that a writer will actually give an honest review.

quote:

Portable Joystick wrote:
I guess it's not possible that a writer will actually give an honest review.

That is correct. It is not possible.

quote:

Originally posted by kendocubano:
That is correct. It is not possible.

Why not?

I agree with the high praise. I anticipate a P4K score of 9+. Best album of the year outside of Of Montreal.

It seems like most people are split between Mass Romantic and Twin Cinema as their best. Personally, I'm a Mass Romantic guy and this is right up there. Also, "Go Places" is the best thing Neko Case has done since "Letter from an Occupant."

Have only heard the album once through, and I am totally impressed by it. Am looking forward to driving around and listening to it again.

quote:

Originally posted by Portable Joystick:
I love that there are now conspiracy theories about the scores of forthcoming Pitchfork reviews.
I guess it's not possible that a writer will actually give an honest review.

Well, the review came out today, and, what do you know, they give the album a freaking 6!

Why, do you ask, does the reviewer think this album is such a huge drop off from Twin Cinema?

Because it is more introspective, and not the "power-pop sugar-highs" of previous albums. Because they have made a "determination [on] Challengers to sound mature." Because the album is more an A.C.Newman project than a Neko Case or Destroyer project.

I might agree with some of the points. I certainly agree that "Of course, Newman's always had his hands on the steering wheel, but Challengers asserts his dominance; with its mellow mood and baritone guitar obsession, it's more a sequel to his solo record The Slow Wonder than Twin Cinema." but none of the above, in my opinion, justifies his abysmal score.

And, yes, 6.0 is an abysmal score, in comparison with what p4k is throwing around nowadays. Backlash, pure and simple. We predicted it. Here it is, like clockwork.

I can't say that I agree with the mediocre/low scores that Challengers has received but I cam agree with not being surprised with the scores. I barely heard this album for the first time a few days ago on a stream and I did like it quite a bit. I have always liked all of their albums--each in my top ten for their respective years, with Twin Cinema being my favorite. I do agree that this does sound more like A.C. Newman's sophomore album than The New Pornographers fourth album.

The songs by Dan Bejar are really good and when everyone sings together it really sounds pretty. I feel that Neko Case's leads on the songs are wasted because they don't really do much. Her voice is too good to not be in the spotlight more. It is a mellow listen and it doesn't have that cohesive, yet variance of Twin Cinema.

So I will say that I still like it a lot and it will be somewhere on my list, I just don't know where. It's still a really good album.

I'm not a die hard New Pornos fan, but upon first listen, I thought Carl Newman's songwriting style was wearing a little thin. I know he has a distinct style, but I guess after four albums withe the NPs and a solo album, I'm not as impressed. I'm starting to find Bejar's contributions much more interesting. The 6 is maybe a little on the low side, but I wouldn't give it any higher than a 7. The first couple New Pornos albums are far more interesting, and if you really want to see Newman and Bejar at the height of their powers, listen to The Slow Wonder or Destroyer's Rubies.

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
I'm not a die hard New Pornos fan, but upon first listen, I thought Carl Newman's songwriting style was wearing a little thin. I know he has a distinct style, but I guess after four albums withe the NPs and a solo album, I'm not as impressed. I'm starting to find Bejar's contributions much more interesting. The 6 is maybe a little on the low side, but I wouldn't give it any higher than a 7. The first couple New Pornos albums are far more interesting, and if you really want to see Newman and Bejar at the height of their powers, listen to The Slow Wonder or Destroyer's Rubies.

I agree. Rubies and (especially) The Slow Wonder are better for Bejar's and Newman's contributions, respectively, and in regard to the Pitchfork review this morning, the 6 may be a little low, but Challengers really isn't deserving of a score past the mid-7s. For me, only the Case-led tracks really stand out.

You know, maybe I'm more of an A.C. Newman fan, but I like everything the New Pornographers have done, including Challengers, better than anything Bejar or Neko have done alone. I only liked Rubies, not loved, and wasn't crazy about Fox Confessor. So, maybe its not surprising that I like Challengers better.

quote:

Originally posted by kendocubano:
Well, the review came out today, and, what do you know, they give the album a freaking 6!

I don't have any reason to believe the reviewer isn't being sincere and honest with their review, whether you agree or not. Pitchfork have given successive albums by the same artist high scores before. Is this a case of backlash? Possibly. But more likely that the reviewer just didn't enjoy it that much.

Anyways, from what I've heard of the band, outside of a couple of tracks I've never considered the NPs anything incredibly special. So I can't say I'm incredibly surprised by the score.

quote:

Originally posted by Hophead:
I agree with the high praise. I anticipate a P4K score of 9+. Best album of the year outside of Of Montreal.

It seems like most people are split between Mass Romantic and Twin Cinema as their best. Personally, I'm a Mass Romantic guy and this is right up there. Also, "Go Places" is the best thing Neko Case has done since "Letter from an Occupant."

I'm a little shocked with the P4k score. I'll back down a little from my "best of the year outside Of Montreal" hyperbole, but its still a damn good album, and still a top 5 for the year to me. The reviewer shit all over the Dan Bejar songs which all 3 on Challengers are great. I'm not getting their backlash at all. Now I know how all of you Ghost is Born fans felt.

Speaking of a Ghost is Born, Rob Mitchum wrote that review too. He usually has some pretty solid criticism, but I'll be damned if he doesn't seem to love being the bearer of bad news. I think there are a couple other albums that I would have enjoyed much more had he not badmouthed them.

I hope nobody enjoys an album any less because of what a reviewer says, including me. I know that I never do, if the tables are turned.

I love that reviewers use the term "mature" as if it's derogatory. The same term was used in criticism of Sky Blue Sky and Easy Tiger, both albums that I really enjoy.

To me, both Sky Blue Sky and Easy Tiger are great listens because they drop the exuberant excesses of some of Wilco's and Ryan Adam's earlier works. I haven't heard Challengers yet (e-music won't get it until October or November - damn!), but I'm sure it will be similar. A great album that critics pan because it's not as rough as NP's earlier works.

I mentioned a couple months ago in this same thread I thought the album was boring. After giving it repeated listens, I am still of the same opinion.

I think 6.0 is a very fair score. The songs are just bland on this album, it sounds like they were just cruising on autopilot while recording this.

I would have given it a score somewhere in the 7's. It's a good album, but it really doesn't come close to 'Twin Cinema' or 'Mass Romantic'.

As I said in the Pitchfork thread, I think this is bullshit. Easily one of my favorite albums this year. At least the AV Club gave it a much more deserved A-.

My biggest issue is that nowhere in the review did the reviewer really knock the album. The language in his review was very lukewarm, which should have resulted in a lukewarm score of between maybe 6.5 and 7.5.

And yes, I realize that 6.0 is 3 stars out of 5, but Pitchfork has long since recentered their scale by about half a star. If you want to know the real recalibrated rating of an album on Pitchfork, subtract at least 1.0.

Basically my issue is that even if you find the album to be bland and lacking in energy (which I do not), it still certainly does not deserve one of the lower scores given to an album this year by Pitchfork.

Let me list the albums that have been scored better this year:

Montag - Going Places
Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
The Magic Numbers - Those The Brokes
T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P.
Ryan Adamns - Easy Tiger
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
R. Kelly - Double Up
Dntel - Dumb Luck
Young Buck - Buck The World
Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
Air - Pocket Symphony
Ono - Yes, I'm A Witch
Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
The Good, The Bad And The Queen - The Good, The Bad And The Queen


Ciara - The Evolution received a 5.9, just .1 lower than Challengers...

And... the biggest slap in the face is the rating of:

Rihanna - Good Girl Gone Bad

It got a 7.4!

I hope you get my point.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: L. R. William Spencer,