NME - "...there is the amusing irony of seeing an anarchist band on EMI. Good attitude, subverting from within and all that jazz, although it will quite clearly end in tears. But let's enjoy the bizarre spectacle while it lasts..."
Entertainment Weekly - "U.K. ensemble Chumbawamba hae mastered the fist-in-velvet-glove sucker punch. Any weapon is fair game: jungle, synth-pop, hip-hop--even faux madrigals....Social commentary never tasted so sweet." - Rating: B+
Rolling Stone - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Chumbawamba employ rousing electronic power chords and have toned down some of the radical rhetoric....TUBTHUMPER may not enlighten the masses, but it'll make them dance."
Q - Included in Q Magazine's "50 Best Albums of 1997."
Melody Maker - "...fresh songs...positively over-flowing with that bleedin' trumpet and infectiously catchy choruses."
Rovi
Chumbawamba had been kicking around the British indie scene for years, releasing nine albums before Tubthumper unexpectedly brought the band to the top of the charts not only in England, but around the world. The difference between Tubthumper and the rest of Chumbawamba's catalog lay in "Tubthumping," a giddily infectious blend of big dance beats, pop hooks, and football chants. It's a standout single, one that finds the group at its catchiest, and there isn't anything quite as good on the remainder of Tubthumper, an album that finds the group downplaying its notorious political radicalism in favor of pop and dance. Still, there's a handful of cuts scattered throughout the record that make the album worthwhile, and there's no denying that "Tubthumping" is a hit single unlike any other. It's one of the least likely hit singles ever, and that alone makes the record distinctive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine|
Rovi