Critics give Don’t Try This at Home a B-Side Breakdown of 82 (B-), from 8 reviews at outlets we track. Scores run 60 to 100.
The verdict on Don’t Try This at Home
6 of 8 critics liked it, with some disagreement on how much.
- Highest 100 Select
- Lowest 60 Rolling Stone
- Career #2 of Billy Bragg's 5 albums with a Breakdown
- Reputation 75 85 at release, then five or more years later
- By the numbers Billy Bragg's best-reviewed album here since Talking with the Taxman about Poetry (1986).
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Select via Wikipediaby Michele Kirsch | 5/5 | 100 | 2006 | |
| Entertainment Weekly via Wikipediaby Gina Arnold | A- | 91 | 1991 | |
| NME via Wikipediaby David Quantick | 9/10 | 90 | 2006 | |
| AllMusic via Wikipediaby Mark Deming | 4.5/5 | 90 | ||
| Q via Wikipediaby Mat Snow | 4/5 | 80 | 2006 | |
| Chicago Tribune via Wikipediaby David Rothschild | 3/4 | 75 | 1991 | “Billy Bragg Don`t Try This at Home (Elektra) (STAR)(STAR)(STAR) Bragg has made his most accessible album by dressing up his romantic and political ballads. Contrary to his characteristic solo electric…” |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide via Wikipediaby J. D. Considine | 3.5/5 | 70 | 2004 | “Previously published as: Rolling Stone album guide” |
| Rolling Stone via Wikipediaby Rob Tannenbaum | 3/5 | 60 | 1991 |
Every Sunday: the week's new albums, scored by the critics. Plus our own reviews when we post them. Free, and one click to leave.
More from Billy Bragg
← Earlier Talking with the Taxman about Poetry (1986)Later → William Bloke (1996)
More Folk, Country & Americana from around 1991
Would you spin it again?
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How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.
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