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You Cross My Path
by The Charlatans

The Charlatans reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 69 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.2 out of 10
based on 14 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The British band released You Cross My Path as a free download by way of the radio station XFM's Web site.

LABEL: Cooking Vinyl
RELEASE DATE: 10 June 2008
DISCS: 2 disc
GENRE(S): Rock, Indie

NOTES: Original UK release 12 May 2008.


What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80
Mojo
They've made their finest LP since 1995's "The Charlantans." [June 2008, p.112]
80
Observer Music Monthly
The result, typified by the rousing 'Oh! Vanity' and emotive 'This is the End', is a melodic and hard-fought triumph.
Read Full Review
80
All Music Guide
The Charlatans are taking risks again without losing their identity.
Read Full Review
80
Under The Radar
You Cross My Path isn’t going to gain the Charlatans attention stateside. But it is going to be a real reward for their longstanding fans. [Summer 2008]
80
PopMatters
That it’s their best album in a decade, not to mention one of the best albums of the year, is a bit of a surprise. But here it is, 10 songs that prove, quite literally, that the Charlatans are back and they’re serious about it.
Read Full Review
68
Filter
Much more solid than their latest records...sounds like a bit of the old Charlatans. [Spring 2008, p.100]
67
Austin Chronicle
This 10th studio album from the Norwich, England, Brit-psychers pulls double duty as its own tribute LP, layering the best bits of L.A.-based frontman Tim Burgess' vast back catalog of emotionally disconnected couplets atop the band's trademark soaring keyboards and insistently hummable guitars.
Read Full Review
60
Uncut
It's a concept album about vengeance and contempt, and reminds that they're one of the only UK bands of their era still worth following. [June 2008, p.86]
60
musicOMH.com
So Tim Burgess still has attitude, the kind we saw on One To Another but one that doesn't surface all that often in Charlatans songs.
Read Full Review
60
Pitchfork
It's difficult to determine whether You Cross My Path is a victim of the times or its own merits; it's the sort of thing that's so competent that it's more likely to be defined by its failures than its success.
Read Full Review
60
Q Magazine
There's a welcome freshness here. [June 2008, p.137]
50
Dot Music
The Charlatans have cottoned on to the electro-is-back wave, but not in a cool, Spank Rock or New Young Pony Club sense, but a magpie parody, a homage.
Read Full Review
50
Drowned In Sound
The biggest problem with You Cross My Path isn’t so much the music though; sure it’s not an invigorating brew, but the blend of swirling Hammond and ponderous bass and drums stays on the right side of tepid most of the time.
Read Full Review
40
NOW Magazine
The five-piece’s attempts at New Order-style electronica (after previously aping Dylan, Stones, Britpop, then reggae on 2006’s Simpatico) add a new dimension but can’t mask the lukewarm songwriting here.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Joris gave it a9:
After their disappointing last effort it's a fresh return to form for the pioneers of britpop. Charlatan's classic dancy shoegaze madchestersound is back. It's the '90s all over again without ever sounding outdated here... a very strong album featuring some of their catchiest and best tunes tunes to date: Mis-takes, The Misbegotten (although it has New Order written all over it) as well as epicrockers You Cross My Path and Bad Days. Only opener Oh Vanity! and My Name is Despair are a bit of a let down and keep this cd from being perfect. Anyway, this one's almost up there with Us and Only Us, Wonderland and Between 10th and 11th! A shame they don't get any airplay anymore cause this one is very highly recommended.

archisecte gave it a9:
Once a big fan of the band and amazed to learn that they were still kicking around after 18 years, I decided to give "You Cross My Path" a listen. I was surprisingly delighted by what I heard. Unlike several of their Baggy/Shoegazer/Brit Pop contemporaries who have either fell off the face of the planet or have lost their edge with middle-age, releasing unremarkable records that only the die hard fans still buy, "You Cross Your Path" proves that the Charlies are still relevant in 2008. The sound is characteristically Charlatans, Hammond organ and all, but gone are the endless 70s jams that muddied some of their mid-nineties work. In their place is absolutely addictive pop/rock melody track after track. Tim Burgess's vocal has gained an edge on outings like "Acid in the Tea" and the title track without losing that boy next door quality that we indie kids of the early nineties swooned over. The live bonus tracks are fairly straightforward renditions but reveal an energy reminiscent of those vital early nineties gigs.

Charlie Q. gave it an8:
Surprisingly strong, fresh-sounding, aggressive and melodic Brit-pop with an edge. One of the best albums of their career.

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