Guerrilla (album) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Guerrilla received generally positive reviews from critics. Mojo called the album "magical stuff" and commended the band for their ability to mix musical styles, being particularly impressed with the juxtaposition of the esoteric "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" and the "trad-sounding" "Fire in My Heart". The magazine suggested that Guerrilla's melodies were good enough to provide the band with number one singles and praised "Northern Lites" in particular, stating that it was "one of the most frothily inventive pop confections" since the band's own "Ice Hockey Hair", released in 1998. Pitchfork Media were similarly impressed with the eclecticism of the album, stating that the group seemingly try every musical genre possible and succeed in their efforts. The website claimed that the album sees the band take their "long-standing whimsicality to its logic-warping extreme". Cokemachineglow also commented on the band's musical versatility, stating that, although the record features a mix of styles, it is a cohesive whole; a "perfectly flowing album", that showcases some of the Super Furry Animals' best songs. Allmusic agreed calling Guerrilla arguably the band's "most cohesive" album and a "pleasingly and consistently unpredictable" record. Yahoo! Music called Guerrilla a "strange bag of mixed fruits" and stated that, as the record is so difficult to pigeonhole, it "takes some getting into". The website felt that this was a good thing however, and again praised the album for its shifting musical styles. CMJ New Music Report stated that the record sees the band capturing "an enviously gentle interplay between electronic and organic instruments".

The NME called the album "an acid fried quadrophonic vision of rock 'n' roll" and suggested that it was a masterpiece which could define the era in which it was released, in the same way that Primal Scream's Screamadelica did in 1991 and (What's the Story) Morning Glory? by Oasis did in 1995. The magazine also stated that, despite the very different musical genres evident on the album, it succeeds in being a coherent, startlingly beautiful record, which showcases the band's "thunderous imagination and three-dimensional vision" and could be described as "experimental music with a beating heart". The NME ranked the album at number three in their Albums of the year 1999 feature, praising the record for its "superabundance of creativity". The Melody Maker also claimed that the album accurately reflected the era in which it was released and called it the group's best release. The magazine went on to compare Guerrilla to the "romance" of drug taking, calling it a "beautifully suggestive and inspiring testament" to illegal substances. Select placed Guerrilla at number nine in their albums of the year award for 1999 and called "Somethings Come From Nothing" the record's highlight, stating that the track "oozes an epic, sonourous electronic sadness around Gruff's muted mumbling of a single sentence". Despite dismissing "Wherever I Lay My Phone (That's My Home)" as a throwaway novelty song, the magazine stated that Guerrilla "makes experiment engaging" and concluded that it was a "brilliantly subversive" attack on the charts. The record appeared in the "Best New Albums of 1999" feature in the January 2000 issue of Record Collector, with the magazine calling it "upbeat and mischievous, with as many touching moments as there are puzzling".

Spin claimed that the album was "more-hit-than-miss" and shows that "prog can be fun". The magazine was critical of "The Turning Tide" and "Northern Lites" however, calling the former "cosmically ridiculous" and the latter "overipe fruit". British newspaper The Independent stated that, although the record includes a number of exceptional tracks, it also features a "lot of noodling" and claimed that it does not compare favourably with the work of The Flaming Lips. Q called Guerrilla a "great big bouncing ball of confusion" and stated that the record "explodes all over the place with almost cartoon glee". The magazine did, however, feel that the record's disparate influences were too often "left hanging like loose wires" and that there was an air of forced eccentricity about the release, despite praising lead single "Northern Lites".

Accolades