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Fleet Foxes
by Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 87 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.6 out of 10
based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 75 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

This is the debut album from the Seattle area quintet.

LABEL: Sub Pop
RELEASE DATE: 03 June 2008
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Rock, Indie, Pop

What The Critics Said

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...

100
Delusions of Adequacy
With their self-titled debut, Fleet Foxes have attained this and have delivered one of the best albums of the year.
Read Full Review
100
musicOMH.com
A stunning debut then, and one that will make Fleet Foxes one of the most sought after bands of the year.
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100
The Guardian
It all adds up to a landmark in American music, an instant classic.
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100
Entertainment Weekly
Hushed and wistful, Foxes evokes the itinerant days of yore...you know, before gas cost four bucks a gallon.
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100
Mojo
The sense of wonder in Fleet Foxes' songs is matched only by the discipline and talent that created this adventurous, evocative record. One which is already shaping up as an album of the year. [July 2008, p.98]
90
Under The Radar
Tone is an alchemic process, and Fleet Foxes produce gold with regularity, a stunning feat for such a young band. [Summer 2008]
90
Dot Music
Ironically, though defined sartorially and sonically by this short window in history, the songs on their debut album are mostly timeless. Few better will be released in 2008.
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90
Hot Press
Impressive full length debut from enchanting Seattle-ites.
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90
Prefix Magazine
They deliver on [Sun Giant EP's] five-song teaser's promise and then some with their first full-length, a self-titled gem that already seems set to wind up near the top of any right-thinking person's year-end list.
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90
Pitchfork
What follows is surprisingly full and wide ranging, almost as much as the Bruegel painting that graces the album's cover.
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89
Austin Chronicle
A number of contemporary indie bands attempts to strip-mine mountain ballads in the service of indie pop, but none has melded the impulses as effortlessly and captivatingly as Fleet Foxes manage on "Blue Ridge Mountains" and "Oliver James." Sublime.
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83
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The wilderness goes from breathtaking to sort of boring after a while, but the overall effect is as refreshing as country air.
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80
Billboard
One of the most valuable qualities of good music is its ability to transport you to a moment in your past, a place you'll never see or somewhere that doesn't even exist. Thanks to their gloriously retro (and occasionally eerie) three-part harmonies, Seattle's Fleet Foxes accomplish all the above with their self-titled debut.
Read Full Review
80
Q Magazine
A pure pleasure. [July 2008, p.101]
80
Drowned In Sound
Fleet Foxes doesn’t leave the stereo. Three, four, five times through-–these songs resonate over and over until they stick for good. A sign of a great record: words fail but a feeling remains.
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80
Magnet
Fleet Foxes' full-length debut showcases a gift for folk-adjacent mini-epics that evolve in unexpected directions yet never lose their organic center. [Summer 2008, p.102]
80
Uncut
Like the equally rapturous “Sun Giant” EP which preceded it, Fleet Foxes’ debut album is a fastidious, sometimes overwhelmingly pretty evocation of the American wilderness; a dreamy companion piece to last month’s superb Bon Iver album.
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80
Rolling Stone
A lower-dosage Animal Collective, the Foxes stuff their free-form songs with rich, swirling melodies; billowing clouds of organs, tom-toms, bells and assorted stringed instruments cloak group vocals whose secular-gospel, suede-fringed precision owes plenty to Crosby, Stills and Nash.
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80
Spin
At its best, Fleet Foxes is warm and cathartic, with all the hopefulness of a balmy summer night.
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80
All Music Guide
Throughout the album, the band sounds wise beyond its years, so it's not really that surprising that Fleet Foxes is such a satisfying, self-assured debut.
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80
Paste Magazine
It’s like watching the sun rise over distant mountaintops, over and over, familiar and captivating all at once.
Read Full Review
80
Hartford Courant
Pecknold and guitarist Skyler Skjelset have been writing teenage symphonies to God since they were actual teenagers, and that transcendent love of music shines through in their own songs.
Read Full Review
80
PopMatters
That Fleet Foxes have crafted such a sublime debut less than two years into their existence as a band speaks to their collective pop genius .
Read Full Review
78
Almost Cool
As with many releases like this, I wish the ride were just a little bit more bumpy just to throw off expectations, but nonetheless Fleet Foxes have put out quite an enjoyable little debut here.
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70
No Ripcord
Fleet Foxes is certainly a very good record, but it is kept from greatness by its failure to capture the communal feeling of its excellent, buzz-building live shows.
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70
Dusted Magazine
At times, it sounds as though the band was still working through exactly how they wanted all of the various elements to work together, such that there are some immediate, hook-filled songs (“White Winter Hymnal,” “Your Protector,” “He Doesn’t Know Why”) and other songs whose more complex structures require more from the listener.
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70
Tiny Mix Tapes
Although there is much to like about the album, it can be difficult to differentiate one from another.
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70
New Musical Express
You have to wade through a lot of plaid-shirted, porch-rocking psychedelia before you get there. The patient pilgrim, though, can look forward to unearthing the widescreen Laurel Canyon-birthed wonder of ‘Your Protectors’ after one or two plays.
Read Full Review
70
Blender
None of the album rocks, or gets particularly rootsy. [July 2008, p.72]
Read Full Review
60
Sputnikmusic
There’s a huge promise to Fleet Foxes, one that can’t be ignored, but Pecknold and the rest of the guys haven’t tapped into it yet.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 75 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Patrick gave it a10:
The most impressive debut I've heard in 15 years or more. This music has reinvigorated a joy for music in me that I haven't felt in the mp3 era.

Dag W. gave it a5:
Jump the bandwagon if you must, but frankly this can only appeal to those with an affinity for Shakespearean costume dramas that address each other with "thou" . Save for a couple of undeniably beautiful moments ("Blue Ridge Mountains" and "Mykonos") it is difficult to understand the group's appeal beyond Robin Hood's trusted men. "Meadowlark, fly away down/I hold a cornucopia and a golden crown/for you to wear upon your fleecy down". I guess that would have passed as poetry circa 1540.

Monkeyman gave it a9:
Absolutely outstanding album, I've played it to death and still keep coming back to it. Mightily impressive for such a young band - believe the hype.

Isaac Q gave it a10:
This album captivates the mind and soul. Congratulations Fleet Foxes, you've made it into my chosen few of all time favorite artists and with but a single album.

Leonardo S. gave it a10:
A wonderful album, from start to finish. Intricate, thoughtful, haunting at times, and always eminently listenable. I know it's high praise to say that listening to this album can set the tone and change the mood of a period in one's life, but I don't feel it's an exaggeration to claim this in the case of Fleet Foxes. This album (and the band's earlier EP, Sun Giant) have helped define my summer, and I will likely be enjoying this album for many, many months to come. Such a well-crafted album is hard to come by these days.

Raymond H. gave it a10:
This album moves you!!! That is all I can say! You must just listen to it to understand.

Kim J. gave it a9:
Too good for these times.

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