Ed Sheeran - x
Critic Score
Based on 21 reviews
2014 Ratings: #865 / 1042
User Score
2014 Rank: #547
Liked by 72 people
Sign In to rate and review

CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Telegraph
Sheeran stays true to the essential artistic notions of the classic singer-songwriter genre by treating his music as a vehicle for emotional veracity, personal revelation and universal inclusion.
80
Q Magazine
He’s used his success rather than be used by it, he’s taken chances and won again.
80
Billboard
The daring spirit at the heart of Sheeran’s appeal is magnified here, and he outclasses other rising male singers simply by utilizing a deeper bag of tricks.
80
The Guardian
It certainly succeeds in solving the main problem with its predecessor: the feeling that it was aimed rather too squarely at the kind of listener who played it.
75
A.V. Club

Unlike other creative evolutions, X’s fuller production and stabs at Top 40 rarely feel forced.

75
Entertainment Weekly
These little rebellions don’t make him edgy, but they feel more honest than the gooey, light-of-a-thousand-stars ballads he’s known for.
70
AllMusic

His sweetness isn't cloying, not even when the productions are aimed straight down the middle of the road, which they often are on X.

70
The Sydney Morning Herald

His heart is more into the time spent – at points in the company of Pharrell Williams – making rather good groove-oriented R&B pop which has a bit of earthiness to go along with the sleekness.

70
American Songwriter
Sheeran has a knack for winning refrains that get him out of the densest lyrical pickles. And when he broadens his scope beyond the whole conundrum of dump-or-be-dumped, he delivers some dynamic winners.
60
Evening Standard
Fans will love it; Goulding and Nesbitt not so much.
60
The Irish Times

The lyrical references to heartbreak, drinking and smoking weed are undeniably cliched, and a few songs, such as Tenerife Sea, are simply dull. Still, the enjoyable injection of blue-eyed soul on Thinking Out Loud makes Sheeran's aptitude for melody difficult to dismiss.

60
The Arts Desk

It ... shows some artistic growth and a willingness to take creative risks, even if they are calculated not to scare off the adolescent girls and other sensitive souls that buy his tunes and flock to his gigs in their millions.

60
Rolling Stone
There are plenty of oversweet ballad moments ("Tenerife Sea"). But he can be surprisingly hard-bitten, too.
60
Time Out London
There’s enough awkward rapping and gooey-eyed sentiment here to put cynical listeners off their peri-peri chicken. But shored up by Sheeran’s nimble melodies and rhythmic guitar style, ‘X’ is a charm offensive that’s hard to resist.
60
PopMatters
Ed Sheeran certainly doesn't exceed expectations, but he delivers something that resembles a solid mish mash of genres and often cliche lyrics about romance and breakups.
60
musicOMH
While it’s not free from some of the problems that his debut had, it’s refreshing to hear someone willing to move outside of their comfort zone.
50
No Ripcord
Here’s hoping that those glints of unglamorous honesty remain in Sheeran’s music, even if the hordes of screaming girls and the tedium of snoozy torch songs try to drown them out first.
40
NOW Magazine

The appeal is easy to hear, but ultimately X undermines emotional rawness with slick production and lyrical goop that feels calculated and bland. It’s music about imperfection with no room for imperfection.

40
The Observer
Penning relationship crack for teenage girls is a much-derided art, despite being perfected by the Beatles, but Sheeran's is particularly calculated.
40
Sputnikmusic

X is a vapid and overly confident album that feels more like regression than progression for Ed Sheeran's indie folk sound.

40
Drowned in Sound
You're left with the feeling that he should be a great deal more interesting than he actually is.
halbery
52

mans has a face like a fuckin minecraft sheep

cfnugent
90

My greatest guilty pleasure album.

'X' is the only album I ever bought on iTunes. Whenever my car turned on, this album would automatically start playing, and often times I was just too lazy to change it. I've heard this album probably 100 times more than any other album, and I know every single word.

While I can understand the negativity (especially on his other albums), this album will always hold a special place in my brain. The cliche pop rap and the melodramatic songwriter ballads... ... read more

RemisReviews
67

Going back to one of Ed's first projects, I was curious, since I never heard a full album from him, only the new one that he dropped today. And what can I say man, this isn't bad.

Nothing that blew my mind or anything, I mean a lot of these songs are just kind of generic and tasteless, but there are a few tracks here that I legitimately like, like One or Photograph for example. I'm not sure how I feel about when he goes into that swingy style at the bar with an acoustic guitar, but I do like ... read more

Sinjei
70

If I believed in the term "guilty pleasures" this would be the epitome of it.

This was one of my favourite albums growing up, (mainly because of my mum) so it's an album I can never truly dislike. I re-listened to it for the first time in years this morning and wow it hasn't aged well.

X still has some pretty decently fun highs with its more up-tempo tracks like "Don't" and "Sing" but it's slower tempo love songs do grind your ears after a while. "One" ... read more

41

I like when he sings but I don't like when he try to rap? I don't really know what he's doing but it's kinda rap like and I don't like it.

67

Afire Love e One são as melhores

Purchasing x from Amazon helps support Album of the Year. Or consider a donation?
Become a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Advertisement

Track List

1One
4:12
66
2I'm a Mess
4:04
69
3Sing
3:55
73
4Don't
3:39
78
5Nina
3:45
63
6Photograph
4:18
75
7Bloodstream
5:00
77
8Tenerife Sea
4:01
68
9Runaway
3:25
65
10The Man
4:10
55
11Thinking Out Loud
4:41
77
12Afire Love
5:14
73
Total Length: 50 minutes
Comments (1)
Sign in to comment
4mo


Added on: May 3, 2014