| | Full Review | Ratings (375) |
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| 2.0 poor | doofy | December 15th 18 |
Putting lipstick on a pig - The Album
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.5 great | TheManMachine | October 17th 18 |
Decidedly designed to be a dead-set for Mitski, palpably polished+punchier while pushing for a sort of pithy pop-rock perfection. Which, in its own prudent and persona-pressing way, it kinda accomplishes. But starting suitably with the introductory explosion of "Geyser" is a feeling that a tunna the tunes are cut short prematurely, or more precisely, just outta caution. I applaud her song-set solidarity and grounded grandiosity and linkin' of lush/loud/tender, but it becomes a bit guarded-gone-drab. A husband-n-wife sticking together is the jocose jaunt surrounded by deadpan-desperate seekings of affection+attention, the depth is dubious, the distinction is there, the disco is real. To be honest, could use more power chords.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 0.0 | butcherboy | August 17th 18 |
2018-08-07.. all the reviews on the main feed of pitchfork are of rock music.. momentous day..
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | JuriHan | September 25th 23 |
Happiest project I've heard from Mitski, very lovey-dovey and sincere. this will definitely require a few more listens from me to fully settle in but it's still amazing. One thing I consistently love about Mitski (and it really shows on this project) is every time something feels too understated for me she immediately punches me in the gut and makes it worth that little bit of quiet. Very diverse pretty soundscape on here as well, feel like some of the sounds should've been an obvious direction but like, they still surprise me.
Bump |
| 4.5 superb | olisz | November 25th 22 |
I didn't get this on first listens, but there are many reasons why this is an outstanding album. For once the songwriting and production is great, with many memorable moments and catchy hooks. Then there is Mitski's incredibly passionate vocal performance, and as the cherry on top the lyrics, somehow at the same time simply, relatable and deep. The parts where Mitski is desperately begging for kisses hit extra hard if you are lonely.
Bump |
| 2.5 average | HelloJoe | January 15th 22 |
I really like Mitski as an artist and I think that these songs could be more enjoyable to listen to but they're sadly very compressed.
Bump |
| 3.5 great | charlopiano | March 18th 21 |
The lyrics are really great, ususally coupled with good songs, but the album is just way too short, the songs become forgettable when they're a minute long.
Bump |
| 3.0 good | Chino smoking it up! | December 29th 18 |
there's some kind of originality here but sometimes it feels like Nobody is the only actual "song".
Bump |
| 3.0 good | cjbizzlebizzle | October 23rd 18 |
Be the Cowboy is a lonely, bittersweet artsy pop/rock record that is a worthy follow up to Puberty 2 but ultimately falls short of Mitski's previous work as a full album. One of the main reasons for this is the abundance of short songs that fail to fully develop before they are gone. Of the 14 tracks, maybe 5-6 are rather memorable and of those 3 are excellent (Geyser, Nobody, Two Slow Dancers). Mitski has had better batting averages on previous releases. The songs in between are mostly good but in the grand scheme of things they tend to blur together as Mitski approaches this record with a more narrow set of instruments and singing/production styles than in the past. Putting the album on at any one point the track will sound really nice but as a full play through much of the content goes by without the true wow moments that Puberty 2 had. Mitski is a great vocalist but in the end much of Be the Cowboy feels underdeveloped and less engaging then her previous work, especially when enjoyed as a full album (which can sometimes feel long for just 32 minutes).
Bump |
| 4.0 excellent | MaSuPe | February 12th 24 |
| 4.0 excellent | perival | December 18th 23 |
| 2.5 average | MrFemil | November 26th 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | FunJan | September 25th 23 |
| 4.5 superb | AR0sas | September 22nd 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | Greem | March 13th 23 |
| 3.0 good | Timmy | January 31st 23 |
| 4.0 excellent | JackIvy | April 19th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Feels | February 17th 22 |
| 4.5 superb | Djang0 | February 9th 22 |
| 4.5 superb | Tom R. CONTRIBUTOR | January 16th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Pvzuzu | January 13th 22 |
| 3.5 great | Prole | December 5th 21 |
| 3.0 good | fog CONTRIBUTOR | October 14th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Tunnel | July 17th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Sam C. | March 20th 21 |
| 4.0 excellent | Preston | January 28th 21 |
| 5.0 classic | youlort | November 16th 20 |
| 3.5 great | jlsg | September 27th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Aszhi | September 3rd 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | Rowdy | June 25th 20 |
| 3.5 great | voff3 | March 25th 20 |
| 4.0 excellent | BigTuna | January 10th 20 |
| 4.5 superb | casey | December 15th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | CPCP | November 6th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Naseki | October 6th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | Josh | October 4th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | JAV | September 29th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Lagoped | September 19th 19 |
| 3.5 great | Mochin | August 6th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | ARDCWE | April 28th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | dafon24 | April 19th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | F1Aaron | March 20th 19 |
| 3.0 good | daxsic | February 15th 19 |
| 4.0 excellent | ghworin | February 13th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Coast | January 9th 19 |
| 3.0 good | Yebele | January 9th 19 |
| 2.0 poor | Ryus | December 27th 18 |
| 3.5 great | evolve9 | December 25th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Runeii | December 19th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Ewgads | December 19th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | NoSons | December 18th 18 |
| 2.0 poor | Hawks | December 17th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | Winndex | December 17th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | A.R.O. STAFF | December 15th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | alamo | December 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | PaabL | December 11th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Pangea | December 9th 18 |
| 3.0 good | gilly | December 8th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Mathias STAFF | December 8th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Atari STAFF | December 7th 18 |
| 2.5 average | Grzka | December 6th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | markyb | November 15th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | jkoh | November 15th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | ZBJE | November 8th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Alexxx | November 5th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Rail | November 4th 18 |
| 3.0 good | Yotimi | October 24th 18 |
| 3.5 great | jmh886 | October 18th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | xuewen | October 10th 18 |
| 3.0 good | kojpl | October 10th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Jadiel | September 24th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | hamid95 | September 18th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | aaronrkc | September 18th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | mommypig | September 14th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Arvesynd | September 12th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | ToT720 | September 11th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Luisito | September 11th 18 |
| 3.5 great | progsun | September 7th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | tthehoe | September 7th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Juanpa | September 7th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Juca89 | September 6th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | stasar | September 4th 18 |
| 3.5 great | KevinMM | September 2nd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Ramon777 | September 1st 18 |
| 4.5 superb | aroyp | September 1st 18 |
| 3.0 good | CGayda | August 30th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | YayoG1 | August 27th 18 |
| 3.0 good | wwf | August 25th 18 |
| 3.5 great | asaf | August 25th 18 |
| 3.5 great | Illume | August 24th 18 |
| 2.5 average | jtswope | August 23rd 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Gueero | August 22nd 18 |
| 3.5 great | bharry | August 22nd 18 |
| 4.5 superb | Rudy K. EMERITUS | August 22nd 18 |
| 3.5 great | TwigTW | August 21st 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Surette | August 20th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | iGuter | August 19th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Faraudo | August 19th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | Jade | August 18th 18 |
| 3.5 great | wg98 | August 18th 18 |
| 4.5 superb | robin | August 18th 18 |
| 3.0 good | ramon. | August 18th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | Risodo | August 17th 18 |
| 4.0 excellent | zzf1918 | August 16th 18 |
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