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10.0
79294
10.0 |
DIY
If Foals didn’t already have enough songs in their arsenal to top festival bills, they’ve just added ten more
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10.0
79497
10.0 |
The List
What Went Down is Foals’ finest moment, and it’s hard to see how it can get any better
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9.0
79193
9.0 |
musicOMH
It’s hard to see What Went Down as anything other than a third Mercury Prize nomination-in-waiting
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9.0
79190
9.0 |
The Music
It's exactly what you didn't realise you needed Foals to deliver
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8.3
79364
8.3 |
Pretty Much Amazing
They have a masterpiece inside them, and with each successive release it’s bubbling closer to the surface. On the basis of What Went Down, we won’t have to wait much longer
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8.0
79362
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Their fourth and best album plays up a dark, bracing urgency
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8.0
79404
8.0 |
State
Already an instant classic
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8.0
79428
8.0 |
The 405
A band cementing themselves as the best, brightest and most interesting pop band Britain has produced for a long time
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8.0
79236
8.0 |
Mojo
Expressing big emotions loudly through fizzing rock anger or unbridled, danceable joy
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8.0
79237
8.0 |
Q
Filter their anxieties on time’s passing into an astonishing rock record. Print edition only
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8.0
79238
8.0 |
Uncut
Their most fully realised yet. Print edition only
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8.0
79250
8.0 |
FasterLouder
An album that reconciles the band’s disparate extremes. Foals aren’t the band of Antidotes or Total Life Forever anymore; they’ve become something far greater
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8.0
79252
8.0 |
The Skinny
If Holy Fire saw the band glancing tentatively into the abyss, then What Went Down is the fulfilment of that trip to the dark side
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8.0
79203
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
While not a step forward, What Went Down is a consolidation and refinement of Foals’ artistic strengths and explorations over their previous trio of albums
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8.0
79279
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
This record is likely to re-energise their momentum, rather than rocketing them into the upper stratospheres
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8.0
79308
8.0 |
Exclaim
A varied and textured offering that will add depth to their high-energy live shows
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8.0
79315
8.0 |
All Music
Should please fans of Holy Fire, and they may not be the only ones drawn to its gloomy and persistent energy
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7.0
79191
7.0 |
Clash
A hugely accomplished effort from one of Britain's best surviving bands
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7.0
79221
7.0 |
NME
Oxford's finest flit between gnarly rock and frustrating slickness on an often-brilliant fourth album
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7.0
79456
7.0 |
Spectrum Culture
Foals seem to be taking it a step further with every record
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6.7
79401
6.7 |
Pitchfork
While Foals have realized a sound that's truly their own, they sound far too comfortable in it
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6.5
79430
6.5 |
Earbuddy
The ultimate irony, though, is that Foals has shed themselves of what made them interesting, but the best songs on What Went Down are those that are the most broad
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6.5
79786
6.5 |
Beardfood
This muscular record sounds great - Yannis' vocal range keeps expanding - but for every catchy banger there's a flat, forgettable, middle-of-the-road dud. Step up your game, guys
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6.5
79189
6.5 |
Crack
For as long as we’re lauding them as they are, we’ll be wondering what they could be
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6.5
79290
6.5 |
Under The Radar
It's just hard not to miss the breathing room and layers that defined the band's past work
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6.0
79212
6.0 |
Time Out
In short: awe-inspiring but weirdly unlovable
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6.0
79321
6.0 |
Evening Standard
But while no one doubts their ability to make intricate and rewarding music a little more surface would count for more
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6.0
79324
6.0 |
The Guardian
It’s bulked-up indie, served with a hypermasculine snarl
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6.0
79329
6.0 |
The Irish Times
Holy Fire was a career highlight; What Went Down struggles to rekindle those sparks
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6.0
79350
6.0 |
The Observer
Strives to retain the band’s considerable rhythmic nous while further amplifying the bombast
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6.0
79192
6.0 |
The Independent
Large parts of it still rely too heavily on a dour combination of industry and portent
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6.0
79498
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
While there are moments of properly transformative beauty here the overall package misses the mark
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5.8
79255
5.8 |
Consequence Of Sound
Taking a large musical step forward was the right move for Foals to make; smoothing the album out repeatedly until it becomes flat wasn’t
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5.0
79620
5.0 |
PopMatters
You can hope it’s a misstep, but unfortunately it looks more like yet another anchoring point in Foals slow downward trajectory
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4.0
79188
4.0 |
The FT
It is overblown and muddled, the sound of a successful band pitching to advance to the next level of success without knowing what to say when they get there
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