Critics give Sleep a B-Side Breakdown of 79 (C+), from 8 reviews at outlets we track. Scores run 60 to 90.
The verdict on Sleep
6 of 8 critics liked it, and they mostly agree.
- Highest 90 Louder Than War and Drowned in Sound
- Lowest 60 The Guardian
- Career #2 of Max Richter's 4 albums with a Breakdown
- By the numbers Max Richter's best-reviewed album here since The Blue Notebooks (2004).
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Louder Than War via Wikipediaby Simon Tucker | 9/10 | 90 | 2015 | “Acclaimed composer Max Richter has created a work designed to send its listeners asleep with the aim of experimenting with our dreams and psyche.” |
| Drowned in Sound via Wikipedia | 9/10 | 90 | 2016 | |
| Uncut via Wikipedia | 8/10 | 80 | 2016 | |
| Record Collector via Wikipediaby Sue Matiz | 4/5 | 80 | 2015 | “Max Richter’s new creation looms over us as the eight-hour download, Sleep. One imagines it will eventually become a shelf-threatening box set but,” |
| The Line of Best Fit via Wikipediaby Max Sanderson | 8/10 | 80 | 2015 | “The composer's conceptual exploration of sleep is sure to leave you dumbfounded in more ways than one.” |
| AllMusic via Wikipedia | 4/5 | 80 | ||
| Pitchfork via Wikipediaby Grayson Haver Currin | 7.0/10 | 70 | 2015 | “The audacious composer Max Richter has created an eight-hour piece meant to serve as a sleep aid. But it is more than that. For these 31 uninterrupted pieces, Richter accepts…” |
| The Guardian via Wikipediaby Kate Molleson | 3/5 | 60 | 2015 | “Born of neurological research into how our brains deal with music while we dream, this ambient postminimalism is a warm, slow-moving daydream” |
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.
Sleep in Max Richter's catalog
How these critics usually treat Max Richter
- Pitchfork Harsher than usual10 points below the other critics here. Usually 3 points above on Max Richter's other albums (3).
More from Max Richter
← Earlier The Blue Notebooks (2004)Later → In a Landscape (2024)
Would you spin it again?
Be the first to answer. Results show once 3 listeners weigh in.
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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