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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
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I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
by Yo La Tengo
After two relatively subdued albums, Ira, Georgia and James return with a much more varied effort that at times recalls pretty much every stage of their history. Roger Moutenot again produces.
| LABEL: |
Matador |
| RELEASE DATE: |
12 September 2006 |
| DISCS: |
1 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Indie, Rock |
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
Urb
A perfect album. [Sep 2006, p.143]
100
Entertainment Weekly
They embellish what they long ago mastered: making shaggy, dreamy, cuddly, explosive indie rock. [15 Sep 2006, p.72]
100
Tiny Mix Tapes
Good luck finding a better straight-up indie-pop/indie-rock record this year (save TV On The Radio) that's as uninhibited, unique, and flawlessly all-over-the-place as I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass.
91
The Onion (A.V. Club)
This is Yo La Tengo in full 32-flavors mode, but somehow, as with similarly diverse past efforts like I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One, they make it all sound cohesive.
91
MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
What's most remarkable about this stylistic portmanteau is that every song is an original even though you assume several are among their shoulda-been-a-hit-but-wtf-is-it? covers.
90
PopMatters
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is nothing if not dazzling.
86
ShakingThrough.net
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is a delirious jumble, the rare album that holds together because of the sheer audacity of its diversity, rather than being torn asunder by it.
86
Filter
They've trimmed away the electronic tinges and space-jazz tendencies of recent years, leaving us with a sharper, more focused Yo La Tengo. [#22, p.93]
83
Pitchfork
Everything they've done well in the past is found on here somewhere.
80
Uncut
Sounding like a highly-evolved amalgam of their entire output--with added surprises--the beauty of this 12th album lies in its head-spinning diversity. [Oct 2006, p.134]
80
Blender
This trip is an easy, late-summer cruise. [Oct 2006, p.142]
80
Drowned In Sound
On the first spin this is a set of highly listenable light pop tunes. However, this is by no means insubstantial and some real gems begin to reveal themselves.
80
Spin
Yo La Tengo remain true to their Velvet Underground roots. [Oct 2006, p.105]
80
Trouser Press
It's hard to imagine any other band with as much indie cred that could succeed with this material; it would be too audacious.
80
Rolling Stone
Twenty years after their debut, Yo La Tengo are in full command.
80
Under The Radar
While I Am Not Afraid may be more sonically diverse than Summer Sun, both albums indicate that Yo La Tengo are less worried with breaking new ground than gamely exploring the territory they’ve already uncovered. [#15]
80
Alternative Press
This disc is actually a better recap of the Yo team's past than last year's triple-disc best-of collection. [Nov 2006, p.190]
80
Magnet
This return to form annotates the band's last 22 years rather nicely. [#73, p.110]
80
musicOMH.com
Yo La Tengo have nothing left to prove and this allows them the room and scope to simply showcase their talents, which are many and admirable as well as being both under-exposed and under-appreciated.
80
All Music Guide
If there's a bit less childlike élan here than in the past, there's also an intelligence and joy that confirms Yo La Tengo is still one of the great treasures of American indie rock, and they haven't run out of ideas or the desire to make them flesh in the studio just yet.
80
Paste Magazine
The indie vets consolidate their talents, channeling the eclectic scope of their live shows into a 78-minute demonstration of control, confidence and imaginative songwriting. [Sep 2006, p.72]
80
Dusted Magazine
I Am Not Afraid Of You is a one-stop jukebox.
80
NOW Magazine
The goofier bits and sloppy sunshine pop moments are really what make this an interesting and complete album.
80
BBC collective
At 77 minutes it’s no sprint, but YLT’s mellifluous serpentines are never less than involving.
80
The Guardian
For all their playfulness, the group's melancholy weighs down their music with an emotional gravitas that is rare among anorak bands.
80
Prefix Magazine
I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is the statement of a band insistent on showing the world it is not quite through being relevant.
80
Mojo
Another wonderful, intimate love letter to pop. [Sep 2006, p.94]
80
Dot Music
All in, this is probably their best work.
80
Delusions of Adequacy
Almost everything that YLT can do - and largely do so well - is here, alongside a sizeable smattering of new tricks and treats.
78
cokemachineglow
A wane in consistency in its latter half keeps I Am Not from achieving the heights of Yo La Tengo’s best work, but it will unquestionably satiate their rabid fanbase awaiting a return to eclecticism while re-establishing Ira Kaplan’s status as an early fifty-something guitar god.
78
Austin Chronicle
[It] casts a long shadow.
75
Stylus Magazine
Mostly though, it’s status quo.
75
The Phoenix
As eclectic as the disc is, it never strays from that warm sense of familiarity.
70
Village Voice
Defiantly eclectic.
70
Slant Magazine
I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass is a bloated, overreaching long-player in the tradition of bloated, overreaching long-players like Sign O' The Times, Exile On Main Street, and London Calling. But it's also business as usual for Yo La Tengo.
70
Q Magazine
Their best since '95's Electr-O-Pura. [Oct 2006, p.127]
60
New Musical Express
This is Yo La tengo on snug autopilot. [2 Sep 2006, p.21]
The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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