Nature Always Wins

Maxïmo Park - Nature Always Wins
Critic Score
Based on 17 reviews
2021 Ratings: #389 / 753
User Score
Based on 111 ratings
2021 Rank: #773
Liked by 10 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

81
Beats Per Minute

It’s ... a rich, passionate and clever album that, even if it ends up being underrated, deserves full attention and praise.

80
AllMusic

Maxïmo Park remain unabashedly heartfelt, and by staying true to this on Nature Always Wins, they deliver some of their finest songs in a while.

80
The Arts Desk
With two entries in Vice magazine’s seriously miscalculated and rather snobbish "Indie Landfill" list, Maxïmo Park have their detractors but they are accomplished songsmiths with a nice turn of phrase. Certainly fans won’t be disappointed with this more mature, hopeful-against-the-odds offering.
80
Gigwise

Nature Always Wins is an album that not only ticks all the boxes that steadfast Maximo fans will be looking for (hooks, melodies, sing-along choruses) but it refreshingly shows an awareness of growing older and reflects on the changing priorities that most of us who were with them back in the mid-noughties are now also experiencing.

80
Clash

A band whose early commercial ubiquity shouldn’t obscure the continued creative vitality of their work, Maximo Park open a fresh era with some of their finest work in a decade.

80
The Line of Best Fit

Nature Always Wins is an ambitious album. From the understated "Meeting Up" to the sprawling and off-kilter closing number "Child of the Flatlands", it’s the sound of Maximo Park not so much maturing, as it is them evolving.

80
NME
‘Nature Always Wins’ is very much an album packed with joyful pop songs and introspective anthems.
80
musicOMH

Together with the slimmed down line-up, Nature Always Wins feels like the start of a new chapter for Maxïmo Park. They’ve always been better than a ‘landfill indie’ punchline, and they prove it in spades on their seventh album.

70
DIY

There’s no upturning of the band’s musical blueprint, but their social conscience has earned them a third act.

70
Uncut
Parenthood proves just another phase in Maximo Park’s stubborn stand for empathy and learning through rock'n'roll.
70
God Is in the TV
It feels like the band are on the precipice of what they can achieve with this kind of song writing. 15 years in, Maximo Park sound at their most alive when they are learning about themselves.
60
Dork
This is exactly what die-hard fans will have hoped for, stacked with catchy art-pop singles and far too close to home dystopian visions. Who knew indie landfill could last this long?
NTTR
59

Maxïmo Park - Nature always wins

Genre: Indie Rock
Country: UK

Final Verdict: 59% (Pleasant Album)
Yearly Ranking: 458th / 802

Highlight: Ardour

Made me think of:
The Courteeners
Kaiser Chiefs
Car Seat Headrest

Edgeworth
80

‘Why must a building burn before the lesson is learned?’

Ah Maxïmo Park, the last time I've heard about them they were featured in Vice's notorious list of so-called "Indie Landfill".
Granted, their are some average albums along the way, will their seventh album Nature Always Wins follow this trend?
Its safe to say their indie identity is still intact, but unlike their last 2 albums (I actually enjoyed The National Health), this is their most revamped album, ... read more

Orlkont
65

I thought I was not gonna enjoy it as much because of the first track but as the album progressed, I actually found myself liking it.

AP__Music
60

A trusted festival band released just in time for the probable festival season. Fair play to MP who would have expected them to still be making new music in 2021, and a few of these songs will slot in well on those festival appearances. I had to look up the word ‘luminosity’, never heard that in an indie song before. They have a very clear song structure that is almost universally followed; slow start, and then build up the excitement to the end – I don’t remember this ... read more

DareG
69

Pretty average, has potential but plays so safe, last two tracks are the strongest which is unfortunate

Standouts: Feelings I'm Supposed To Feel, Child of the Flatlands

Dropouts: Baby, Sleep, , Meeting Up, Why Must a Building Burn?, I Don't Know What I'm Doing

Freddyarcade
85

Excelente álbum, me gusta la mayoría de canciones, supero mis expectativas.

Excellent album, I like most of the songs, they exceed my expectations.

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Contributions By
Novell_sx, MarkyC, domvic, anztec, Edgeworth


Added on: October 18, 2020