Critical Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 73/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| NME | 7/10 |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+) |
| Allmusic | |
| The Observer | |
| Now | |
| Q | |
| Robert Christgau | (B-) |
| Rolling Stone | |
Stadium Arcadium received favorable reviews, with Rolling Stone stating it was the band's best album yet and giving it a rating of 4/5. Rolling Stone also declared it to be the second-best album released in 2006, behind Modern Times by Bob Dylan. Q magazine said it was one of the year's best albums and rated it at 5/5, whilst Allmusic called it over-produced and self-indulgent and thus gave it 3.5/5. The Observer, awarding the album 5/5, stated it was "relentless, purposeful, as moreish as McDonald's - is mainstream America in excelsis."
A problem often pointed out by audiophiles is Vlado Meller's mastering for the CD release. It can be regarded as a product of the loudness war, with heavy use of dynamic range compression, and suffering of frequent clipping. In contrast, Steve Hoffman's mastering for the vinyl release was praised for its quality.
Rolling Stone critic Brian Hiatt noted Kiedis' growth as a singer and songwriter: "the guy who once yelped, 'I want to party on your pussy!' whisper-sings a gentler, though not unrelated, proposition: 'All I want is for you to be happy/And take this moment to make you my family.' The delicate 'Hard to Concentrate' is the most vulnerable Peppers tune ever—a full-on marriage proposal from Anthony Kiedis, with Flea's muted bass and John Frusciante's layered guitars slow-dancing over Afrobeat hand drums."
Read more about this topic: Stadium Arcadium
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