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10.0
43049
10.0 |
Art Rocker
Maxïmo Park sound more comfortable in their shoes than ever before on ‘The National Health’ – relevant, refreshed and thinking on their feet, this is still a band you can depend on
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8.0
42860
8.0 |
NME
Maxïmo Park aren’t making any steps forward at all. They’re staying put, yet somehow they’re kicking harder than ever
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8.0
42670
8.0 |
The Independent
It's classic existentialist rock, delivered with a hurtling momentum
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8.0
42677
8.0 |
Independent on Sunday
Marks a return of sorts to what Maxïmo Park do best
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8.0
42631
8.0 |
The Guardian
Energised and good fun
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8.0
42632
8.0 |
BBC
They serve these songs up like the highly skilled pop pros they’ve become, and most strikingly they’re still attacking them like heady young’uns in the early throes of music-making. It’s potent stuff
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8.0
42723
8.0 |
Rave Magazine
No more or less than a very good album from a band who know their strengths and play to them well
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8.0
45576
8.0 |
PopMatters
The sound of a band finding themselves again, finding themselves stronger and sweeter than ever, finding that, despite the dour hints around the edges, they’re still here for the pop songs—and god, aren’t they gorgeous?
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7.0
46144
7.0 |
Under The Radar
There is much to fawn over here. This is the Maxïmo Park we know and love
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7.0
43402
7.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
It stands bravely as a fine body of work from a band with nothing left to prove
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7.0
42683
7.0 |
musicOMH
Overall, it's a huge improvement on previous offering Quicken The Heart, which confused complexity for not bothering to write more than two decent songs, and will please anyone who enjoyed Our Earthly Pleasures, their last near-brush with greatness
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7.0
43083
7.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
They might always struggle to recapture the spark that drove their first two albums, but The National Health might just be what the doctor ordered
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7.0
42801
7.0 |
Uncut
Rarely strays far from the sounds underpinning their previous records. Print edition only
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7.0
42630
7.0 |
The Digital Fix
Fans can breathe a sigh of relief. The NHS may be in a mess, but Maximo Park are still going strong
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6.7
45526
6.7 |
A.V. Club
Offers the same urgent, wordy pop that Maximo Park sharpened to a fine point in the early aughts and kept scratching away with
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6.5
42853
6.5 |
The Quietus
Refinement of a craft is perfectly allowed, of course, and Maxïmo Park are still the brilliant and bright British pop act they were eight years ago: I just can't help wishing they'd take some of that talent and really run wild with it
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6.0
42847
6.0 |
No Ripcord
It boasts some of the band’s most emotionally charged material, but just like all their efforts, it requires bearing some stiff, docile guitar melodies to discover some of its finer points
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6.0
43027
6.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Rather than jet-streaming Maximo Park back into the limelight, The National Health gives the likeable quintet a firm footing from which to stop their seemingly inevitable decline
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6.0
43631
6.0 |
Q
Big issues, big music: erudite art-rockers plough on. Print edition only
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5.8
43223
5.8 |
Pitchfork
Maxïmo Park so often sound on The National Health like they're trying too hard, struggling to find a sound that once came naturally
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5.5
43529
5.5 |
Beats Per Minute
Fans of the band will surely find something to like, but the band’s early potential seems to be waning with each release
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5.0
43515
5.0 |
Spin
Tired UK alt-rock for the era when Franz Ferdinand and The Bravery got radio play. Give us some pep!
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5.0
42763
5.0 |
DIY
Everything seems so overanalysed and nothing seems spontaneous. At the end of The National Health, you won't be disappointed, but you won't be itching for more
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4.0
42651
4.0 |
The Fly
Offers nothing particularly new; suggesting, perhaps, that this band’s lack of magnetism is somewhat terminal
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4.0
42685
4.0 |
Clash
Save yourself the money and just return to their first two
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