The Amazons 21st Century Fiction
The Amazons's 21st Century Fiction marks a deliberate and often thrilling reinvention, one where mood and muscle collide to push the band into darker, more urgent territory. Across four professional reviews, critics register a clear shift toward heavier alt-rock and Southern-tinged grit, with the record earning a 74.5/100 consensus score from four reviews and prompting repeated praise for its most striking moments.
Reviewers consistently point to a core set of standout tracks as proof of the record's success. “Pitch Black” and “Living A Lie” recur as the album's defining pieces, lauded for tight dynamics, orchestral heft and a menacing sonic push. Critics also highlight “Night After Night” and “Love Is A Dog From Hell” for marrying urgency with grit, while “Go All The Way” and “My Blood” supply widescreen tenderness and guitar fireworks. Professional reviews note themes of coming of age, disillusionment with progress, frustrated masculinity and introspective reckoning, all framed by the band's renewed ambition and production choices.
Not every critic agrees on degree: some reviews emphasize raw reinvention and arena-ready anthems, others point to occasional excess where polish threatens subtlety, but the consensus suggests 21st Century Fiction is both a stylistic leap and a confident consolidation of The Amazons' strengths. For listeners asking whether 21st Century Fiction is good or which are the best songs on the record, critics consistently steer you to “Pitch Black”, “Living A Lie” and “Night After Night” as essential entry points into the collection. The summary below unpacks these viewpoints and situates the album within the band's evolving catalog.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
Pitch Black
3 mentions
"we are then presented with the warm, smoky guitars of standout single, ‘Pitch Black’"— Clash Music
Living A Lie
3 mentions
"Lead single ‘Living A Lie’ is an exceptional opener here"— Clash Music
Night After Night
3 mentions
"‘Night After Night’ continues the opener’s sense of urgency, with its alarming, siren-like guitars"— Clash Music
we are then presented with the warm, smoky guitars of standout single, ‘Pitch Black’
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
Living A Lie
Night After Night
(Panic)
Pitch Black
My Blood
(Shake Me Down)
Wake Me Up
(Intermission)
Joe Bought A Gun
Love Is A Dog From Hell
The Heat! pt.2
Heaven Now
Go All The Way
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 4 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
In The Amazons's 21st Century Fiction the best songs land where mood and muscle meet, most notably “Pitch Black” and “Living A Lie”. The reviewer's voice latches onto “Pitch Black” as the record's moment of stride, a tightly-coiled spring that shows the band's evolution, while “Living A Lie” sets the darker, confrontational tone from the off. There is also praise for “My Blood” where Mike Kerr's touch adds a muscular polish that suits their heavier moments. Overall the strongest tracks are those that balance restraint and release, and they make clear why these are the best songs on 21st Century Fiction.
Key Points
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Pitch Black is best because it crystallises the band’s evolution with restraint and release.
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The album’s core strengths are muscular production and thematic honesty about growing up and disillusionment.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Amazons enter a darker, more thoughtful era on 21st Century Fiction, where the best songs - “Night After Night” and “Love Is A Dog From Hell” - marry urgency with grit. Darryl Sterdan's tone is celebratory and analytical, noting the call-to-arms grunge of “Night After Night” and the rollicking blues of “Love Is A Dog From Hell” as clear highlights. He also singles out the towering tenderness of “Go All The Way” and the Jack White snarl of “Wake Me Up”, arguing these tracks crystallize the album's themes of frustrated masculinity and renewed ambition. The review frames these songs as both personal confessions and arena-ready statements, making them the standout tracks on the album.
Key Points
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The best song is “Night After Night” because its call-to-arms grunge most clearly channels the album's urgency.
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The album's core strengths are its blend of riff-driven aggression and heightened introspection about masculinity and adulthood.
Themes
Ke
Critic's Take
The Amazons sound chewed up and cranked to the rafters on 21st Century Fiction, and the best tracks - notably “Living A Lie” and “Pitch Black” - sell that gnarly, menacing shift with relish. Rachel Roberts hears an album that shapeshifts, moving from orchestral opener “Living A Lie” into the smokey, country-tinged stomp of “Pitch Black”, which together make clear why listeners searching for the best songs on 21st Century Fiction will land on those highlights. The record’s heavy alt-rock edge, sudden tempo changes and lyrical focus on dissatisfaction make these tracks the standouts here.
Key Points
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The best song is the orchestral opener “Living A Lie” for its cinematic start and clear role as a standout.
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The album’s core strengths are its heavier alt-rock reinvention, shifting tempos, and lyrical focus on dissatisfaction and maturation.
Themes
Critic's Take
The Amazons sound reinvigorated on 21st Century Fiction, and the record's best songs - notably “Living A Lie” and “Go All The Way” - feel like mission statements. Karl's voice is celebratory and exacting, praising the band for trading mellowness for a thrilling, no-holds-barred approach that yields widescreen anthems. He highlights “Pitch Black” and “My Blood” as standout moments for guitar fireworks and cinematic ambition, arguing the trio have made their most accomplished record yet. The narrative lands on the band's evolution into one of the best pure rock acts today, which explains why listeners will look for the best tracks on 21st Century Fiction again and again.
Key Points
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The best song, “Living A Lie”, is the album's mission statement: explosive, thematically central and an exceptional opener.
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The album's core strengths are ambitious songwriting, towering guitar work, and confident evolution into widescreen, festival-ready anthems.