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Critic Reviews
90
It's the album that Bloc Party always threatened to make, the one that, against all the odds, raises them to a whole new level.
13y
80
Not since Silent Alarm have Bloc Party sustained such vision, ideas and indeed quality over an entire record.
13y
80
This combination of sounds and personalities diagnoses the band and album number four with bi-polar disorder. Let’s pray they never recover.
11y
80
This isn’t Silent Alarm, no, but it’s got the same jolt of energy, the same melodic honesty and, crucially, the same calibre of songs. Best of all, it’s not Intimacy.
13y
80
t's not completely without its longueurs – the lightweight VALIS is remarkable only for its blandness – but at its best this is the sound of a band rediscovering what made them so special in the first place.
6y
80
Four may not be as cohesive as Silent Alarm, but it just might be more vital.
13y
75
Even these slight missteps can’t diminish the power of Four, which reinforces that Bloc Party continues to be one of the most innovative, vibrant bands to emerge in the last decade.
13y
70
Louder, more guitar-based than ever before and sounding much better than on Intimacy, this is Bloc Party getting back and getting on fine form.
9y
70
The time off seems to have refocused and re-energized the band, which doesn’t simply reverse course, but pulls a screaming U-turn toward those long-lost art punk sounds first heard on its debut.
13y
70
At its best it excels with a glut of sensitive pop tunes which, although no substitute for exhilarating, provocative post-punk, prove Bloc Party are still capable of depth.
13y
70
It makes for their best record since their 2005 debut.
11y
70
Bloc Party returns after a self-imposed hiatus with a true blue rock album.
8y
70
Four is a commendable comeback, if you feel obliged to use the word.
13y
65
Four sounds like an album created by a talented band that finally got back in a room together after a long time apart, and just seemed to put together all the various ideas they’ve all had without stopping to think too much about them.
13y
60
As so often with this band, it’s disappointingly low on memorable tunes, but the sharper standout Real Talk makes their delayed return worthwhile.
5y
60
It’s hard not to wish they’d just return to what made them famous in the first place.
10y
60
Too much? Maybe. But enough here works to justify this return.
6y
60
Despite a break that should have reinvigorated them, Four suggests a mild but not incurable case of creative bloc(k).
6y
60
Four is about a band rediscovering their passion for making music together and sounding all the better for it.
5y
60
As defiant as this gang of four wants to be, they can’t help but humbly return to their strengths…and maybe steal a few of Al Green’s, too.
13y
55
If the title Four seems a bit on the nose, it fits with the rather obvious nature of the record as a whole.
6y
50
Four is a vacant display of miscellany, a rather depressing scenario considering its makers were once genre-definers.
11y
49
Four conveys the experience of watching an athlete reliant on explosive physicality realize that his body is betraying him.
13y
40
Bloc Party abandon all progress made on their last two records and attempt to make a fan pleasing record while simultaneously throwing in a bunch of new influences resulting in a huge mess that is all over the place and on the whole unpleasant.
5y
40
Unfortunately the album seems a victim of the rush to resurface.
13y
30
Ultimately, though, the album suffers some of the worst adjectives any musician can hear: boring, forgettable, and embarrassing.
13y
25
Four, like so much mediocre and failed art, goes through the motions of evocative composition but fails to generate any real visceral response.
13y
An explosive, fun, vigorous return to good old indie bangers that Bloc Party have built their career off, and they are damn good at it. Turning all the guitars up to 11, it's a loud, catchy and extremely fun record that'll leave an impression for weeks and weeks after.
Favorite Jams: 3X3, We're Not Good People, Coliseum
Lest Favorite: Real Talk
The band took an extended hiatus after their (disappointing) third album 'Intimacy' and my instinct at the time was that it really it should have been permanent - fourth Bloc Party album, er 'Four', confirms my suspicions.
The boys are well past their best, the drums are far more plodding and overall the band have gone for a more 'Kerrang!' macho rockist style...but with the slightly effeminate and over excitable 'Albarn on uppers' Kele singing? It really doesn't work but things are made ... read more
Back to the basics for the british, indie rockers, who evoke the energy of their early days, even if they don't have the same, fascinating material anymore.
Note: I listened to the version with the bonus track “Black Crown”
Bloc party scrapped all the electronic elements of their past 2 albums and went fully back to the more indie, post-punk style of Silent Alarm. It’s pretty solid actually but easily the weakest of the first four albums.
I do feel like this is the end of the bands high point though. After Matt Tong and Gordon Moakes left, they were never really the same.
Favourite tracks: Octopus, Kettling, V.A.L.I.S.
Least ... read more
Honestly, this is where Bloc Party should have stopped making albums. This album doesn't fully capture the essence of the band, but it's still somewhat present. I don't consider it a bad album, but man... it could have been better. There are incredible tracks on this album, but still, enjoying all of them is a very difficult task.
![米津玄師 [Kenshi Yonezu] - diorama](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/200x0/album/181994-diorama.jpg)
Contributions By
wallver, patton, thisisabtlgrnd, philthy, Alejandro González, JediMark, Alex69, erik, MarkyC, brandonABecome a Subscriber
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Track List
| 1 | So He Begins To Lie 3:34 | 79 |
| 2 | 3 X 3 2:38 | 77 |
| 3 | Octopus 3:05 | 85 |
| 4 | Real Talk 4:13 | 74 |
| 5 | Kettling 3:41 | 75 |
| 6 | Day Four 4:11 | 76 |
| 7 | Coliseum 2:29 | 69 |
| 8 | V.A.L.I.S. 3:20 | 85 |
| 9 | Team A 4:36 | 75 |
| 10 | Truth 4:00 | 86 |
| 11 | The Healing 4:19 | 79 |
| 12 | We Are Not Good People 3:20 | 77 |
Total Length: 43 minutes
Comments (4)
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7mo
I feel like the only reason this is yellow is the association of the band slowly falling off. Take this as a standalone LP with no strings attached and it's easily a 70+
