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10.0
45046
10.0 |
State
A sophisticated, nuanced album with all the energy and honesty of their debut
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9.0
45267
9.0 |
musicOMH
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. If this is what a long break does for you, it should be compulsory for all other bands
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8.5
45003
8.5 |
BBC
Bloc Party sound full of potential where just four years ago they sounded depleted. Indeed, Four may be 2012’s most exciting guitar album, and who would have predicted that?
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8.0
45004
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
British indie music is in a weird place, there's no focused scene to speak of, guitar bands are niche once more and we need Bloc Party more than we ever have
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8.0
45011
8.0 |
The Digital Fix
This is a record that defies expectation and consistently avoids the pitfalls of mainstream indie
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8.0
45027
8.0 |
Clash
This combination of sounds and personalities diagnoses the band and album number four with bi-polar disorder. Let’s pray they never recover
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8.0
45108
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
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
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8.0
45161
8.0 |
The Fly
With releases from The Killers, The Vaccines and Biffy Clyro on the horizon, is this the fi rst of 2012’s great guitar pop comebacks? It might just be, you know
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8.0
45165
8.0 |
DIY
When the world turns right, you can be sure they'll go left - and so as a million broadsheet editorials decree the death of guitar music, this lot embrace it like a long lost friend
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8.0
45184
8.0 |
The Observer
At its best this is the sound of a band rediscovering what made them so special in the first place
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8.0
45227
8.0 |
All Music
Four may not be as cohesive as Silent Alarm, but it just might be more vital
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8.0
45298
8.0 |
The AU Review
An unpredictable, confrontational and enjoyably evasive fourth album
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7.5
45242
7.5 |
A.V. Club
Reinforces that Bloc Party continues to be one of the most innovative, vibrant bands to emerge in the last decade
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7.0
45151
7.0 |
NME
An album that is daring, deep and confused in equal measures
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7.0
45288
7.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
If Bloc Party had to stray from what they know best on their most recent records in order to gain some perspective, the end results on Four prove that time worthwhile
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7.0
45313
7.0 |
God Is In The TV
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
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7.0
45364
7.0 |
Entertainment.ie
By the standards of much of what passes for Indie Guitar Rock these days, it is a resounding success but for a band that produced one of the best debut albums of the noughties, we have come to expect a little more
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7.0
45386
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Their best record since their 2005 debut
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6.5
45311
6.5 |
Beats Per Minute
It’s the sound of the band getting the last few years of separation out of their system. And, now that they have, it’s anybody’s guess as to what they’ll do next
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6.0
45296
6.0 |
The Quietus
That Four is laced with some of the band's hands-down strongest work, then, makes its weaker moments and occasional in-your-face insistence all the more grating
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6.0
45190
6.0 |
The Scotsman
Their most dynamic collection to date, bringing attack where before there was lassitude, and hunger in place of navel-gazing
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6.0
45200
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
Okereke's vocals are gentle yet muscular, exerting a delicate authority over proceedings
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6.0
45167
6.0 |
Evening Standard
As so often with this band, it’s disappointingly low on memorable tunes, but the sharper standout Real Talk makes their delayed return worthwhile
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6.0
45173
6.0 |
The Independent
Bloc Party’s touchstones remain firmly rooted in their indie upbringing
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6.0
45177
6.0 |
Independent on Sunday
After flirting with electronica and Kele Okereke's disco-tastic solo adventures, the fourth Bloc Party album sees them rediscovering guitars with a vengeance
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6.0
45002
6.0 |
The Irish Times
Four is about a band rediscovering their passion for making music together and sounding all the better for it
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6.0
45121
6.0 |
The Guardian
Introducing the reinvigorated Bloc Party as a live band – a band who don't pre-programme dance beats, but plug in and rock out
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6.0
45029
6.0 |
Q
May be too diffuse and rough around the edges to qualify as a knockout comeback. Print edition only
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6.0
45035
6.0 |
Mojo
Ultimately Four is an album of two (uneven) sides. Print edition only
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5.5
45337
5.5 |
Prefix
Four takes the audience's interest for granted, and refuses to step out of line to draw more interest
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5.0
45031
5.0 |
Uncut
The band's outlook remains too earnest and emo-ish for them to convince as rockers. Print edition only
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5.0
45112
5.0 |
Slant Magazine
Sadly, it seems the dynamism that once defined Bloc Party now defies them
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4.9
45040
4.9 |
Pitchfork
Everyone appears to have lost a slight but significant step over the past seven years, and Four conveys the experience of watching an athlete reliant on explosive physicality realize that his body is betraying him
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4.0
45241
4.0 |
Under The Radar
If the title seems like easy street, its 12 tracks follow suit with nonchalance
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3.0
45829
3.0 |
No Ripcord
Boring, forgettable, and embarrassing
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2.5
45073
2.5 |
Pretty Much Amazing
Four, like so much mediocre and failed art, goes through the motions of evocative composition but fails to generate any real visceral response
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