“It only matters that you can be proud of where you came from,” says Badly Drawn Boy [Aka: Damon Gough] over gentle piano in the introduction to his fifth album, Born In The U.K. No one in the U.K., however, will be proud enough of this uneventful effort to embrace it as Britain’s answer to Bruce Springsteen. ”Start your fire,” an intended-to-be-inspirational chorus sings over jagged chord changes on “Welcome to the Overground.” It takes more than stale melodies and clichéd lyrics to create a Boss-like ballad and the song falls flat. The rest of the album is tired and monotonous with the epitome of its confusion and ineffectiveness evident on the title track’s sampling of “Pomp and Circumstance,” the British march better known to American ears as “The Graduation Song.” When misplaced power chords and piano slams kick in, any doubts that the song (and the album) might not work become definite. Grade: C
— Neil Mirochnick, Muse Staff