Art Angels
by Grimes
  • Record Label: 4AD
  • Release Date: Dec 11, 2015
User Score
8.8

Universal acclaim- based on 996 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 912 out of 996
  2. Mixed: 32 out of 996
  3. Negative: 52 out of 996
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  1. jhunterparrish
    Nov 16, 2015
    5
    I don't have much to say. I listened to the album several times, and I tried my best to let it grab hold of me. I just couldn't get into it. I love Grimes. I love Visions, Halfaxa...pretty much anything else she has put out. I was disappointed. No edgy weirdness. Bland, poppy tracks that seem to run onto each other. If this is her direction moving forward, so be it. As an artist she hasI don't have much to say. I listened to the album several times, and I tried my best to let it grab hold of me. I just couldn't get into it. I love Grimes. I love Visions, Halfaxa...pretty much anything else she has put out. I was disappointed. No edgy weirdness. Bland, poppy tracks that seem to run onto each other. If this is her direction moving forward, so be it. As an artist she has the right to take her music in whatever direction she wants. I was just super bummed. It's just such a far deviation from the Grimes I grew to love and appreciate.… Expand
  2. atmosphericrex
    Feb 14, 2016
    5
    I think that at the end of "Visions" there were two paths Grimes could take with her music. She could advance her use of arpeggiators and other electronic textures and continue to exist in the vein of indie pop, or she could create more accessible tracks that would appeal to a wider more mainstream audience. I feel like she chose the latter with "Art Angels", which is fine, just notI think that at the end of "Visions" there were two paths Grimes could take with her music. She could advance her use of arpeggiators and other electronic textures and continue to exist in the vein of indie pop, or she could create more accessible tracks that would appeal to a wider more mainstream audience. I feel like she chose the latter with "Art Angels", which is fine, just not really my scene. This album has a couple of really addictive tracks like "Kill V. Maim", but it is lacking the certain je ne sais quoi that "Visions" possessed that made it so appealing to me. Art Angels is a really good album, just not for me and not in the direction I wanted it to go.… Expand
  3. ReubenIsAGod
    Dec 29, 2015
    5
    Yeah, its a pretty average album. I mean, if anything this is basically just a so-so pop album with a few nice catchy hooks and some kinda nice beats. But like AOTY materiel, nah. Its definitely got some catchy songs on it but it ain't nothing special. I can only really remember abut 2 or 3 tracks from this thing. So yeah, i mean if u liked it u liked it, but not me.
  4. nirvanafreak
    Nov 9, 2015
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Favourite Songs: Laughing and Not Being Normal, Flesh Without Blood, Easily, Pin
    Least Favourite Songs: World Princess Part II, Artangels
    I'm struggling to understand why this is already one of the highest user reviewed albums of this year on metacritic, with mainly 9s & 10s out of 10. Sure it's good but it's not a **** masterpiece- if I really hated the **** like I did on the first couple of listens it would be very easy to rip into it. Luckily I like it. The album opens up with my favourite track 'Laughing and Not Being Normal'. Putting aside the highly relatable title, it's a great orchestral opener; the only problem being its short length. Weirdly this intro doesn't really introduce the album that well at all- an album full of sweet k-pop like melodies and standard electro-pop production. Now that doesn't sound all too promising, especially since a lot of artists have been jumping on that nostalgic electro-pop/synth-pop wave recently to little effect but it's alright on this record. I mean the production definitely isn't better than the production a lot of these artists have, in fact it's the main thing that puts me off the album at points, but some of her melodies are just unbelievably catchy and her lyrics still have enough edge to let you know this isn't Grimes cashing in and going full on mainstream. Even when I was going through a period of hating the album songs were getting stuck in my head. I'm glad I didn't leave this alone after the first listen it really took a lot more to unwrap in my opinion which is strange considering people are calling it her most accessible work to date. Maybe it is and I'm just a retard.
    Better Than Previous Project?: Yeah
    Try This If You Like: Emotion by Carly Rae Jepsen    … Expand
  5. Dinfire
    Feb 20, 2016
    6
    The reviews for this album are INSANE. I've been listening to Grimes since her demo and this album is her worst yet. Half the tracks are throwaways. The ones that do have hooks pale in comparison to Visions and are much more commercial/mainstream. Buy a couple tracks in iTunes and be done with it. This big fan is really disappointed in this album.
  6. Fairbottom
    May 23, 2018
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. All told this album is perfectly satisfactory. But there's a part around track 6 or 7, I'm no longer sure, where it goes: 'boom da dee da da dee da' and it's clear from that that Grimes was just mailing it in. Anyone who had been paying attention, with an eye toward producing genuine, quality music, would have had it thus: 'boom da dee da dee dee da'. Pretty shameful stuff. Gets only a 6 from me. I sincerely apologize for spoiling that track, whichever it was, for any who have yet to hear it, but I felt it necessary to make my point.… Expand
  7. diogopaes
    Oct 13, 2020
    4
    Um álbum que se perdeu na identidade, e tentou acrescentar muita diversidade sonora.
  8. iirreall
    Jul 10, 2022
    6
    Art Angels es el projecto mas destacado y críticamente aclamado de Grimes,pero no uno de mis favoritos. Después del minimalista y electrónico Visions Grimes toma un camino fa al pop básico, acabando por completo el camino que tenia desde geidi primes a lo extraño, lo cual es algo personalmente me desagrado. No digo que Grimes no pudiera tomar direcciones diferentes, pero Art Angels esArt Angels es el projecto mas destacado y críticamente aclamado de Grimes,pero no uno de mis favoritos. Después del minimalista y electrónico Visions Grimes toma un camino fa al pop básico, acabando por completo el camino que tenia desde geidi primes a lo extraño, lo cual es algo personalmente me desagrado. No digo que Grimes no pudiera tomar direcciones diferentes, pero Art Angels es meramente un camino fácil a lo básico. No tiene ese alma ni personalidad que grimes puso en sus antecesores, la mayoría de tracks son bastante olvidables y los instrumentos de cuerda son horriblemente incluidos a la fuerza, la producción aunque ya mas sofisticada y completa en comparación con sus trabajos iniciales, no tiene personalidad y cae en lo aburrido. En aspectos positivos tiene highlights como kill v. maim y la colaboración con janelle monae, y si quieres un álbum de pop para bailar edsta bien.… Expand
  9. djyannoushka
    Apr 16, 2023
    6
    This was fun, and the album feels cohesive ! I remember listening to it a lot when it came out but I'd say now I only ever come back to the intro & Venus Fly who are both really the two gems of the album for me. The sound overrall sounds a lot brighter/happier than what I like best from her, it's still good, just not my favorite. SCREAM was fun too honestly, I listened to it on repeat forThis was fun, and the album feels cohesive ! I remember listening to it a lot when it came out but I'd say now I only ever come back to the intro & Venus Fly who are both really the two gems of the album for me. The sound overrall sounds a lot brighter/happier than what I like best from her, it's still good, just not my favorite. SCREAM was fun too honestly, I listened to it on repeat for a looong time.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best Album of 2015
12
#12 Most Discussed Album of 2015
15
#15 Most Shared Album of 2015

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. AllMusic
    Dec 22, 2015
    80
    Claire Boucher's fourth album is wilder, more ambitious, and--at least on the surface--more accessible than her breakthrough
    Read full review
  2. Mojo
    Dec 18, 2015
    80
    Crackling with radio-primed hooks, whipsnap breakbeats and Boucher’s helium-pitched vocals, Grimes’ third album makes a convincing strike for playlist ubiquity, with a healthy dollop of the oddball chucked in.
    Read full review
  3. Uncut
    Dec 11, 2015
    80
    You can sense the deceptively complex Art Angels will only continue to yield further depths with time. [Jan 2016, p.76]
See all critic reviews »