Screamadelica - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Screamadelica has received widespread acclaim, frequently appearing in critics' lists and audience polls. Allmusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine called Screamadelica "an album that transcends its time and influence." Pitchfork Media praised the album on their 2003 list of the "Top 100 albums of the '90s," saying: "Screamadelica's atmospheric and imaginative hybrid of past, present and future captured its moment in vivid color and splendor, and it still radiates with a kaleidoscopic glow." In a 2009 review, the BBC hailed the album as "a solid gold classic."

• It won the first Mercury Music Prize in 1992.
• It was Melody Maker's album of the year in 1991.
• It was Select's album of the year in 1991.
• In 1996, Select named it as the #1 album of the 1990s.
• NME placed it at no. 3 in its "Best Albums of 1991" list.
• In 2003, NME placed it at no. 23 in its "100 Best Albums Ever" list. In 2006, the magazine also placed it at no. 15 in its "Greatest British Albums Ever" list.
• In 2000, Q placed the album at #18 on their list of the "100 Greatest British Albums." In 2001, Q placed it at #81 on a list of the "Top 100 Albums of All Time." The album ranked #2 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" list.
• In 2003, Pitchfork Media placed it at #77 in a list of the "Top 100 Albums of the '90s."
• It appeared in Channel 4's list of the "100 Greatest Albums of All Time."

"Movin' on Up" was used on the previous Telewest Broadband commercials before Virgin Media bought them out. Subsequently, Bacardi spirits used the song on a UK television ad. The song was also featured in the popular game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas on fictional alternative radio station Radio X. A Northern soul version was also recorded by the late Edwin Starr for the cult British surfing film Blue Juice.