Critical Response
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| BBC | (mixed) |
| Blender | |
| Robert Christgau | |
| entertainment.ie | |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B) |
| The Guardian | |
| PopMatters | (positive) |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant Magazine | |
According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received generally positive reviews, scoring 69 out of 100 points based on 12 reviews. Jason MacNeil, from PopMatters, gave a very positive review, finishing with: "this record seems to outweigh the previous album in terms of quality and depth". Alexis Petridis wrote "It would be nice to report that Dido's second album is strong enough to reveal her detractors as snobs, who hate the notion that her music appeals to 'ordinary' people ... Sadly, it proves a little more complicated than that". MSN Music critic Robert Christgau gave a "Choice-cut symbol", which represents "a good song on an album that isn't worth your time or money", selecting "Mary's in India" as the only "good song" on the album. Barry Walters, of Rolling Stone, declared "Like No Angel ... isn't groundbreaking, but it has its own kind of integrity. "Life for Rent doesn't offer anything that drastically different from Dido's debut album, ... she's unassuming and gentle, but her songs are so melodic and atmospheric they easily work their way into the subconscious" was the review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, from Allmusic. Andrew Lynch, from entertainment.ie noted: "Life For Rent is no masterpiece, but it has the same kind of sweet, unassuming, girl-next-door charm that made its predecessor such a smash hit". Derryck Strachan, BBC Music reviewer wrote " ... she treads a fine line between credibility and popularity ... But, she hasn't put a foot wrong with this album. On the positive side that means more well-crafted folk-pop tunes, on the negative side she hasn't moved forward", also said "Although Dido played a significant part in older brother Rollo's band, ... Faithless, it would be misleading to say that the groups success brought her fame".
Read more about this topic: Life For Rent
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