Dear Science | ||||
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Studio album by TV on the Radio | ||||
Released | September 22, 2008 | |||
Genre | Art rock, indie rock, alternative rock, funk | |||
Length | 50:21 | |||
Label |
Interscope (USA and Canada) Touch and Go (iTunes) 4AD (worldwide) |
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Producer | David Andrew Sitek | |||
TV on the Radio chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 88/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
The A.V. Club | A− |
Entertainment Weekly | A− |
The Guardian | |
Los Angeles Times | |
MSN Music | A |
NME | 8/10 |
Pitchfork Media | 9.2/10 |
Rolling Stone | |
Spin |
Dear Science is the third album by American art rock band TV on the Radio. It was released via Interscope Records in the United States, Touch and Go Records on iTunes and was licensed through 4AD in Europe and all remaining territories. Despite the marketed release date of September 22–23, the album was available for download on the U.S. iTunes Store on September 16, 2008. The vinyl LP also comes with a free MP3 download coupon. Dear Science received near unanimous acclaim from critics and charted worldwide.
Kyp Malone said that the title came from "a note that Dave [Sitek] wrote in the studio that said,
In promotion of the album, TV on the Radio was interviewed on the February 9, 2009 episode of The Colbert Report. "Dancing Choose" was performed to end the show.
The song "DLZ" is featured during the 10th episode of season 2 of the drama Breaking Bad and on the 12th episode of Season 2 of The Vampire Diaries.
"Halfway Home" was used in the promotional trailer for Skins series three.
"Dancing Choose" is featured in the video game Tony Hawk: Ride.
The rock band Phish began covering "Golden Age" in 2009.
Dear Science received rave reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 88, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 40 reviews. It was named the best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone,The Guardian,Spin,MTV,Entertainment Weekly, the Pitchfork Media's readers poll, and the Village Voice.Pitchfork Media placed Dear Science at number 140 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s, and 6th on their "50 Best Albums of 2008" list.Rolling Stone named it the 48th best album of the decade. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.