Phoenix It's Never Been Like That

Ranked #50 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "Phoenix achieve a harder, more aggressive guitar-driven sound..."
3 stars out of 5 -- "Versailles four-piece Phoenix have now decided to loosen up....This suits frontman Thomas Mars's dolorous vocals and the album's sustained mood of melancholy."
"For Phoenix, pop music is defined not only by accessibility, but also malleability....[The album] is all jingle-jangle mornings and Hollywood nights, a more streamlined power-pop statement."
"[The album] showcases Phoenix's most haute-blooded guitar riffs. Freed from dancefloor expectations and no longer relegated to chic background music, Phoenix have made their most fully realized record yet."