Spilt Milk (Jellyfish album)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Chicago Tribune	[14]
Entertainment Weekly	A[15]
NME	8/10[16]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[17]
Q	[18]
Rocky Mountain News	B+[19]
The Sacramento Bee	[20]
San Jose Mercury News	[21]

In his review for Rocky Mountain News, Justin Mitchell called Spilt Milk a "lavishly produced album that begs comparisons to the best of Queen, Supertramp, Squeeze and Paul McCartney, remixed through Jellyfish's '90s sensibilities." He wrote that "what pulls the whole CD together is an unerring sense of superb melodies, harmonies and a lush wall of instruments ranging from basic guitars, bass and drums to the occasional banjo or woodwind section flying through the mix. ... symphonic but never pretentious, sweet but not cloying and crafted throughout with a sly, lyrical sense of humor."[19] Jon Pareles, in The New York Times, said that the band "proudly join[ed] pop's lineage of tuneful tricksters."[8] OffBeat's Pete Fight wrote that the production was "superb, full of clever flourishes and turnarounds" and that "the songs themselves are great, full of memorable melodies, hooks and lyrics". Although he believed the album was less immediately accessible than Bellybutton, "the more complex arrangements hold promise for future endeavors."[22]

Bruce Bitt of the San Jose Mercury News described Spilt Milk as being "as compelling a homage to the Beatles and the Beach Boys as there is", but one that is "so heavy on production sleight-of-hand that the melodies sometimes collapse beneath the weight of the sound." Though he criticized the album for being "frustratingly derivative", he praised its "sprawling production and loving performances".[21] Spin's Eric Weisbard said that "by pretending to emulate the past, Jellyfish obliterates it. ... When events of not-so-great importance occur twice, the first time it's a farce, the second time it's a dull tragedy."[23]

David Barton of The Sacramento Bee wrote that the album "stoops beneath the Beatles to borrow from Supertramp and Queen at its most bombastic, which may be fascinating listening at first, but quickly grows irritating." He also criticized the lackluster songs and the band for failing to define their own "style and personality".[20] Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune praised the album's instrumentation, production, and Manning and Sturmer's songwriting, but asked, "Is it possible for "The Ghost at Number One" to cram in just a few more Beach Boys/"Pet Sounds" touches? Is there really a song here called "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late"?" He concluded that "Pop's greatest groups have been about more than just craftsmanship, and they didn't require the listener to expend so much energy discerning between the homage and the fromage."[14]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[24]

Writing in Far Out magazine in 2015, Tony Curran wrote that Spilt Milk had improved with age and said it was a "wonderfully unpretentious homage to pop music in its essential form: catchiness and melody are the keynotes here. From the soaring 'Joining A Fan Club' ... to the psychedelic pop doodlings of 'Sebrina, Paste and Plato' the band explore a range of possibilities within the pop format—and well beyond."[25] Jon Meyers of The Vinyl District said the album was "sharper and far more vibrant than its predecessor, with clever hooks galore."[26] Reviewing the album's 2015 remaster, Alan Sculley of Florida Weekly wrote: "Spilt Milk was an excellent follow-up to the debut, rocking a bit harder without losing any hookiness."[27] Also reviewing the remaster, John Borack of Goldmine opined that "Jellyfish [took] a great leap forward in songwriting, arranging and sonic sheen."[28]

AllMusic's Mark Deming gave Spilt Milk a positive review, describing it as "conceived and executed on a grand scale". He noted that "Sturmer and Manning sound like joyous kids left in a toy shop and making splendid use of every plaything at their disposal." While Deming criticized the production for being "too big for its own good", he concluded that the album was a "a massive balancing act that Jellyfish miraculously pull off; it might seem like a power pop Spruce Goose, but in this case it not only takes off, it flies high as a remarkable experiment in pop-minded rock on the grandest scale."[24]

In 2011, the album was included in a listicle by PopMatters of "The Best Music for Summer".[29] It also appeared in a similar 2015 list by Newsweek of the "best summer albums (released between 1985 and 1997)". Contributor Zach Schonfeld decreed that Spilt Milk was a "lost power-pop masterwork" containing "12 unfashionably sunny and remarkably well-built pop gems about fan clubs, kindergarten classrooms and—in one less-than-subtle instance—the singer's penis. It's the colorfulness of it all that makes it such a great summer record."[30] McFly took influence from Spilt Milk when recording their third album Motion in the Ocean (2006), having been introduced to it by Matt Willis of Busted.[31] Tom Fletcher of McFly described Jellyfish's album as a "masterpiece".[32]