The Life Pursuit
by Belle and Sebastian
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 120 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 109 out of 120
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 120
  3. Negative: 4 out of 120

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  1. andrewm
    Feb 7, 2006
    10
    B&S get better with each release! Love it already.
  2. dodobird
    Feb 7, 2006
    10
    This may arguably be the best album that B&S has put out.
  3. KeriH
    Feb 8, 2006
    8
    This is how pop used to be done in the 60's and 70's. Lots of good infuences used on thei album to good effect. An album to lift your mood!
  4. CulleyS
    Feb 8, 2006
    8
    I first heard Belle & Sebastian 10 years ago in 1996. I walked into a record store and "If You're Feeling Sinister" was playing. The store manager, a friend of mine, told me this was the new B&S album and then gave me a promo copy, which I still have today. Over the past ten years I have seen B&S live and will seen them again this March with The New Pornographers. I have about 30 I first heard Belle & Sebastian 10 years ago in 1996. I walked into a record store and "If You're Feeling Sinister" was playing. The store manager, a friend of mine, told me this was the new B&S album and then gave me a promo copy, which I still have today. Over the past ten years I have seen B&S live and will seen them again this March with The New Pornographers. I have about 30 live shows, have every single, EP, and album they have put out. A few DVDs and some other live footage from festivals and TV spots as well. When I first heard "The Life Pursuit" several months ago, it was a live version... I then heard a promo of the full album shortly thereafter. When I purchased the album, I purchased the deluxe version with DVD. The DVD features B&S playing six songs from "The Life Pursuit" live in a BBC studio. This album has some very strong songs on it: Mornington Crescent is a standout, but other highlights include: White Collar Boy, For the Price of a Cup of Tea, and Dress Up in You. Belle and Sebastian have defintely improved over the past ten years as musicians and songwriters. While this may not have the classic feel of "If You're Feeling Sinister," it is still an improvement from a technical standpoint.… Expand
  5. Mark
    Feb 8, 2006
    9
    A little over-produced, but, a GREAT album
  6. PiotrW
    Mar 20, 2006
    8
    Brings a beatiful springtime to still winter Poland... Each song seems like a different separate jewel... Makes me smile every time I put this into my player.
  7. BradK
    Mar 6, 2006
    10
    I'm going to just go ahead and say this is the best Belle and Sebastian CD I have heard (including Sinister). With energy and vitality to spare, the hooks grab and the harmonies move. Looking at its worst three reviews, you see they come from Rolling Stone and Blender -- not , in my book, sources of trustworthy reviews -- and Alternative Press, an emo/punk magazine that for some I'm going to just go ahead and say this is the best Belle and Sebastian CD I have heard (including Sinister). With energy and vitality to spare, the hooks grab and the harmonies move. Looking at its worst three reviews, you see they come from Rolling Stone and Blender -- not , in my book, sources of trustworthy reviews -- and Alternative Press, an emo/punk magazine that for some reason decided to review every genre. I hope metacritic isn't weighting those critics at an average or high level.… Expand
  8. Andrew
    Feb 15, 2006
    8
    Really good album. A happy dissonance between the words and the music.
  9. ZhibinD
    Feb 20, 2006
    9
    brilliant
  10. Matt
    Feb 7, 2006
    9
    Yes, it's different, but it's a good example of how pop doesn't have to be superficial.
  11. JohnK
    Feb 7, 2006
    10
    Great, great album.
  12. BernardA
    Mar 8, 2006
    10
    This cd proves once again why I think that the B & S are one of the best bands of the last decade & a half. I know many people will compare this to IYFS & DCW but it is great on its own terms. Songs like Another Sunny Day, Funny Little Frog & Dress Up in You are classic B & S. Most of the other songs show the band going in a different directions with lots of success. I do hear some glam This cd proves once again why I think that the B & S are one of the best bands of the last decade & a half. I know many people will compare this to IYFS & DCW but it is great on its own terms. Songs like Another Sunny Day, Funny Little Frog & Dress Up in You are classic B & S. Most of the other songs show the band going in a different directions with lots of success. I do hear some glam influences in songs llike The Blues are Still Blue. Another great release by the B & S.… Expand
  13. BrendanD
    Dec 27, 2006
    10
    Simply put, this is the best record of the year, and quite possibly it's the best pop record of the decade. Honestly, I know there are a lot of B&S fans out there, but I've never, ever been one of them. They were always to cute, to precious, too twee for me, which is kind of funny, considering I absolutely adore the Sea and Cake. So I turn on "The Life Pursuit," and I'm Simply put, this is the best record of the year, and quite possibly it's the best pop record of the decade. Honestly, I know there are a lot of B&S fans out there, but I've never, ever been one of them. They were always to cute, to precious, too twee for me, which is kind of funny, considering I absolutely adore the Sea and Cake. So I turn on "The Life Pursuit," and I'm listening to the first track. Ho-hum. La-de-da. Then the chorus of "Act of the Apostle" comes in, replete with its ringing organ and Carol Kaye-esque bass line, and I get kind of happy. 'Okay,' I think, 'This might not be too bad.' And then, "Another Sunny Day" comes on and absolutely blows my mind. I remember distinctly that it was springtime here in Chicago. I remember that because it was nearing the end of my last year in college, the trees were coming back, the weather was warming up, and I wasn't sober a day. And Belle & Sebastian made it all the better. I'd walk down the street listening to "The Life Pursuit" on my now dearly-departed iPod, smiling irrepressible smiles because the music made my so freakin' happy, like the Beach Boys' "Sunflower" or any number of Polyphonic Spree live shows I've got. Art Brut's got the chops, the Secret Machines have the emotion; Grandaddy's got the sentiment, and Jenny Lewis has the beauty. But Belle & Sebastian get my vote -- easily -- for album of the year.… Expand
  14. AdriansREvenge
    Feb 10, 2006
    9
    Belle and Sebastian
  15. stanh
    Feb 10, 2006
    10
    Love them, and love the album!!!!
  16. JustinB
    Feb 10, 2006
    9
    this is a great album...the songs are fun, everyone who listens will enjoy this.
  17. ScottP
    Feb 10, 2006
    7
    Pretty good, but they have done better.
  18. tommyph
    Feb 27, 2006
    10
    This album is likely to be in my top 10 of '06 and top 200 of all time! Nice bluesy feel!
  19. Shane
    Feb 6, 2006
    10
    A pop masterpiece.
  20. MachuzzlewitSweedlepipe
    Feb 7, 2006
    8
    Another collection of melodies and lyrics that any songwriter would give their left lung for. Slightly more genre-hopping than previous albums but no less charming.
  21. ChrisC.
    Feb 7, 2006
    9
    Solid. I think overall it is more consistent than DCW. It can't touch IYFS or Tigermilk though.
  22. PeterP
    Feb 7, 2006
    9
    It's fun.
  23. [Anonymous]
    Feb 7, 2006
    10
    A masterpiece!
  24. LanaM
    Feb 7, 2006
    9
    This is my favorite band. B&S never disappoint me. Their new album lives up to their existing high standards and was completely worth the wait.
  25. CarlosM
    Feb 7, 2006
    8
    Ver good, definitively is the second albm of the rebirth of Belle and Sebastian (after the Storytelling soundtrack). The femenine chorus are reallyt catchy and, sometimes, sublime. Really deserves to be number one in UK. And this album proves that, basically, Stuart Murdoch is a pop genius. Period.
  26. ALittleMulroneycakesSoBeguiling
    Feb 8, 2006
    10
    "And lo, for the mighty Stuart of Murdoch and his Apostles did finally Release a New Album. And there was much rejoicing, for The Mulroneycakes did return to Metacritic to proclaim that it was good." Yes, it's Dear Catastrophe Waitress 2 and it's ace. Look how many people have called it "their best since If You're Feeling Sinister". It probably is, too. I loved Dear "And lo, for the mighty Stuart of Murdoch and his Apostles did finally Release a New Album. And there was much rejoicing, for The Mulroneycakes did return to Metacritic to proclaim that it was good." Yes, it's Dear Catastrophe Waitress 2 and it's ace. Look how many people have called it "their best since If You're Feeling Sinister". It probably is, too. I loved Dear Catastrophe Waitress to little bits as well (to the extent that I actually posted an epic review of it on Christmas Day of all times). The Life Pursuit takes the template of DCW and uses it to build an album that leaves its predecessor in the dust. Anyone else notice that their influences seem to be moving forward in time as they go on? Early B&S was sixties as anything, but now we seem to be up to the mid-seventies - savour the squelchy glam-funk of White Collar Boy, or the frankly glitter-covered The Blues Are Still Blue, which features Murdoch doing quite a commendable impression of Marc Bolan, and the band doing an equally good impersonation of T-Rex with tambourines. And then there was Sukie in the Graveyard. The title, the lyrics, suggest another mid-paced, catchy, whimsical, string-drenched quasi-ballad about another sensitive girl. What we get is boisterous snyth-funk, half-rapped by Stuart Murdoch. Even knowing B&S' propensity for surprise, I was shocked at that first burst of power-Geddes. Not that they've left behind the fey indie pop with strings and horns and that simultaneously annoying and endearing thing where Stevie scrapes his finger across the guitar strings - Dress Up In You and Another Sunny Day will satiate your Feeling Sinister urges (if you don't mind a chorus centred around a swearword on the former, and why should you?). Oh, and then there's Funny Little Frog, which almost went top ten in this country and deserved to as well. I should point out that Sarah Martin's backing vocals are, at times, almost indistinguishable from the dear departed Isobel's by this stage. All that's missing is Stevie's song and Sarah's song - Murdoch's front and centre on all of these. Not that that's a bad thing - Stevie has a B-Side on the Funny Little Frog CD single, fact fans, and Sarah practically duets We Are The Sleepyheads - which incidentally is a highlight, another piece of lyrical dummy selling, reading like a creepier Fox In The Snow, but playing something like an energised Bowie pre-Eno. So many famous names glide through the listener's head as the album wears on...Bolan, Slade, Bowie, George Clinton for heaven's sake - Clinton collaborating with Stevie Wonder on Song for Sunshine. And yet it's all uniquely Belle and Sebastian in the final analyisis, and all the better for it. Blimey, even Playlouder like it, and they rode the post-Peasant B&S hatred bandwagon like they had Sitting Bull on their tail. What am I talking about? Look, speaking as Recognised Authority On Belle And Sebastian (in the Plymouth postal district), I can confirm: This Album Is Good. In fact, it probably IS their best since Sinister. There's a turn-up. Peace.… Expand
  27. matta
    Feb 8, 2006
    9
    The first truly fantastic album of 2006. B & S's poppiest, catchiest album to date, and probably their best (although DCW and IYFS are up there too). Not a bad track (Except for the lone not-written-by-Stuart Murdoch track "To be Myself Completely"), and several instant classic B&S tracks, including White Collar Boy, Dress Up In You, Sukie in the Graveyard, and For the Price of a Cup The first truly fantastic album of 2006. B & S's poppiest, catchiest album to date, and probably their best (although DCW and IYFS are up there too). Not a bad track (Except for the lone not-written-by-Stuart Murdoch track "To be Myself Completely"), and several instant classic B&S tracks, including White Collar Boy, Dress Up In You, Sukie in the Graveyard, and For the Price of a Cup of Tea. An absolutely essential album.… Expand
  28. RobP
    Feb 8, 2006
    10
    Lovely. 13 great pop songs on one album. Not as long lasting as their old stuff.
  29. AbrahamJ
    Feb 8, 2006
    10
    I really like this albums sincere enthusiasm for the music we call pop. It's their best since 'If You're Feeling Sinister'. Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan's new album is great too!
  30. Jamie
    Feb 9, 2006
    10
    This bit of pop perfection ties with Tigermilk as B&S' most coherent LP in my book. And it's a friggin' blast to listen to.
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Awards & Rankings

36
#36 Most Discussed Album of 2006

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Q Magazine
    70
    The presence of more filler than is comfortable does not detract from the creative health in evidence on the better songs. [Feb 2006, p.100]
  2. The A.V. Club
    91
    The band sounds reinvigorated even when returning to well-trodden turf, and even livelier when moving away from it.
    Read full review
  3. Dot Music
    80
    Hence we get an album which, musically at least, veers all over the place, from chamber pop to glam to, God help them, hotel lobby jazz. In other hands, this would be a terrible mess, but in each instance you feel like the group are inching ever closer to that perfect pop moment.
    Read full review
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