This Is Happening

Reception

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, This Is Happening received an average score of 84, based on 38 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". It also achieved an ADM Rating of 7.7/10 on another review aggregator, AnyDecentMusic?.

Guardian reviewer Alexis Petridis observed that the album did not contain Sound of Silver's "startling sense of mapping out new territories", instead sticking to a template that worked "incredibly well." In his review for AllMusic, Tim Sendra had a similar opinion, stating that while This Is Happening "doesn't quite reach the monumental heights" of the band's previous album, it still provided proof that LCD Soundsystem was "one of the most exciting and interesting bands around in the 2000s." Sendra also commended Murphy's expansion as a lyricist and songwriter, and said that his production on the album "reveal[s] him at the top of his game", while Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone said that it contained some of Murphy's "most earnest, lovelorn songs." Pitchfork Media's Ryan Dombal awarded the album a Best New Music accolade, describing it as "pretty perfect".

Accolades

This Is Happening placed third in Exclaim! magazine's annual Electronic rankings. In writing about the rumour that this may be the last LCD Soundsystem album, Cam Lindsay of Exclaim! wrote "If it's the 'end of an era,' at least he left us with his best." This Is Happening was named the second best album of 2010 by Pitchfork Media. This album was number 10 on Rolling Stone's list of the 30 Best Albums of 2010.

Track listing

All lyrics written by James Murphy; all music composed by James Murphy, except where noted.

Charts

The album debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 in its first week on sale, selling approximately 31,000 copies. It also topped Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums chart the same week of its debut, which dethroned Lady Gaga's The Fame from its five-month reign on the chart for one week.