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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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Kensington Heights
by The Constantines
The fourth album for the Canadian indie rock band is its first full-length album on the Arts & Crafts label.
| LABEL: |
Arts & Crafts |
| RELEASE DATE: |
29 April 2008 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Indie |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Far from an easygoing slice of complacent contentedness, Kensington Heights finds the band pinpointing its angry energy with expert precision, rather than flailing with the wild abandon of old.
81
cokemachineglow
In many ways, Kensington Heights is what maturity sounds like, done right: too young to relinquish their punk energy and too experienced to let it limit their songwriting, the band has combined their twin urges into a single path.
80
Dusted Magazine
Kensington Heights isn’t drastically different from anything that’s come before, but it’s Constantines’ most consistent album so far, and a good starting point for anyone who hasn’t heard them and misses that old-time galvanizing, anthemic music.
80
Paste Magazine
The result is a batch of songs that are as direct and deeply personal as they are fist-pumpingly universal.
80
Hartford Courant
Jumping from Sub Pop to Toronto-based Arts & Crafts, the band is as strong and endearing as ever on Kensington Heights.
80
NOW Magazine
If "Tournament Of Hearts" lacked consistency and focus, Heights feels like a fully realized artistic statement. Welcome back, Constantines.
80
Under The Radar
The Constantines have the confidence to place the melodies upfront, then bury more beneath them, so that the songs retain that wild sense of discovery. p[Spring 2008, p.75]
80
Village Voice
Kensington Heights, like its predecessor, isn't as fiery as the best moments on the band's inconsistent breakthrough, 2003's "Shine a Light," but the Constantines still deliver bedrock strength and eternal-flame passion.
75
Prefix Magazine
In highlighting the more tasteful, nuances of their sounds, they’ve emerged with a more cohesive whole, a representation that better captures their classic-rock heart while simultaneously stripping the fat away and revealing the core behind the chaos.
70
PopMatters
Beautifully recorded, and alive with the unpredictable energy that drives those killer live shows, Kensington Heights demonstrates the band’s maturity, and their well-earned confidence.
70
The New York Times
For the Constantines thoughtfulness transforms brute force.
70
All Music Guide
Even if Kensington Heights is the Constantines' least satisfying album, the band's sound is never less than mighty; it's just disappointing how easy it is to let so many songs here fade into the background
66
Pitchfork
No doubt that the best halves of this and "Tournament of Hearts" would equal a breakthrough album for the group, but taken as a whole, Kensington Heights sounds like a decisive break in the band's stride.
60
Spin
Kensington Heights is a mixed bag of aesthetically correct placeholders. [May 2008, p[.98]
60
Tiny Mix Tapes
Kensington Heights matches up each spectacular moment with an equally mundane one.
The average user rating for this album is 9.7 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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