Catspaw
by Matthew Sweet
Matthew Sweet bestography
Catspaw is ranked 7th best out of 18 albums by Matthew Sweet on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Matthew Sweet is Girlfriend which is ranked number 2540 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 617.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Listen to Catspaw on YouTube
Catspaw track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 71 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Catspaw rankings
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  dihansse | Top 100 Music Albums of 2021 | 16/100 | 4 |
| 2026 | dihansse | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s | 55/100 | 6 |
| 2025 | arnellarsen | Top 100 Music Albums of the 2020s | 62/100 | 5 |
| 2024 | dihansse | My Overall Top 1000: 901-1000 | 73/100 | - |
| 2024 | dihansse | My Overall Top 1000: 801-900 | 41/100 | - |
| 2024 |  PAPPITUFO | Top 61 Music Albums of 2021 | 19/61 | 4 |
| 2022 | arnellarsen | more 2021 best-albums (201-300) | 56/99 | - |
| 2022 |  Handpora | Top 29 Music Albums of the 2020s | 14/29 | 7 |
| 2022 | marshallsbrother | Top 57 Music Albums of 2021 | 46/57 | 1 |
| 2021 |  Mercury | 2021 Spill Over, One-And-Dones | 25/40 | - |
| 2021 |  skelter54 | Top 100 Music Albums of 2021 | 79/100 | 1 |
| 2021 | Handpora | Top 12 Music Albums of 2021 | 8/12 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 12 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 29 | |||
Catspaw collection
Showing all 1 members who have this album in their collection
Catspaw ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 14 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/23/2025 20:06 |  TimBroad04 | 203 | 69/100 | |
| 12/19/2024 19:54 | dihansse | 6,263 | 75/100 | |
| 11/08/2024 06:45 |  zags7000 | 20,410 | 64/100 | |
| 12/10/2021 18:45 | Handpora | 1,241 | 82/100 | |
| 09/19/2021 23:10 | Mercury | 1,669 | 81/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 65.5/100, a mean average of 60.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 60.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 20.0.
Catspaw comments
Showing all 2 comments |
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dihansse 12/19/2024 19:57 | #306579
On the criticism of Mercury some years ago. I agree that many albums of Matthew Sweet sound a bit formulaic as in he has done this before. But that's not what I think of this albums which is to me one of his best. His songwriting and guitar playing sounds very inspired and I just like the general flow of the album.
Mercury 01/16/2021 19:35 | #264518
35 to 55/100 (Very very by the books Matthew Sweet power pop album with something or many somethings missing. I really didn't much like listening nor enjoy myself.)
This sounded quite bland and uninspired to me. The production and the way Sweet built out these songs are so plain. It's just electric guitar, bass, vocals for the whole album. Okay, maybe there were a couple extra things added here or there, but I honestly don't remember. But the stripped down power pop essentials approach to the songs are done in an almost lifeless way. The drums just sound so damn plain, almost plodding. There are a lot of awkward moments of silence and an emptiness in these songs for the most part. The guitar solos which are sometimes quite nice, sound strangely disconnected and un-integrated into the songs. I don't know how to describe it exactly. Like, this is the same formula as was so effective and vibrant on Girlfriend, Goodfriend, 100% Fun from 25-30 years ago. I don't know what element is lacking from those infectious and fun songs of the early 90s compared to these.
I thought I must be missing something here, so I am listening again now to see if it hits me different. Sadly, the utter emptiness of the songs is still glaring. The Tempos sound like they are dragging. I honestly am a bit perplexed and fixated on how terrible the drums and propulsive elements of these songs are. To my ears they just sound dead. Okay, I'm done beating that point to death.
You may know I hate dogging an album. I almost never like just trashing music, cuz I know someone else is hearing something totally different and is being blown away by almost any album I may have a bit of a distaste for. Also, I realize that I am just a guy with wifi, and also the context of when and how I listen to any piece of music is majorly influential to how I receive it.
So, just going over what I did enjoy here: There were some good melodies and Sweet has maintained that same charming voice somehow for 35 years (I could not hear a difference which is wild). The hook of "No Surprise" sounded good. "Challenge Your Gods" was pretty good I guess. Okay, I can't think of anything great sticking out.
That is basically all I have to say about this album. It hit me poorly. And I didn't like it much.
EDIT: On second listen, I like that there SOME weight and presence to the bassline in "Coming Soon". And maybe that is what is missing and why the sound is so empty and silent on other tracks, the bass is just not asserting itself enough. This song has harmonies and still some pretty lifeless drums, but also passable guitar soloing and it has some fucking energy! Good on it! I was about to give this a 25 to 45/100 grade, but this competent pop song raised it to 30 to 50/100
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