Sparkle Hard

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.9/10[4]
Metacritic	84/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
The A.V. Club	B+[7]
Financial Times	[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Mojo	[10]
The Observer	[11]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[12]
Q	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Uncut	8/10[15]

Sparkle Hard has received acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, based on 26 reviews.[5] Jem Aswad of Variety said, "With nary a weak track, Sparkle Hard finds Malkmus hitting a new peak nearly 30 years into his career."[16]

Several publications ended up naming it one of the best albums of 2018, including Rolling Stone,[17] Spin,[18] Q,[19] Uncut,[20] Mojo,[21] Under the Radar,[22] Consequence of Sound,[23] and many others.

All tracks are written by Stephen Malkmus.

Credits adapted from liner notes.[24]

• Stephen Malkmus – vocals, songwriting, guitar, mellotron, piano, Memorymoog, bass
• Joanna Bolme – bass, backing vocals
• Mike Clark – keyboards, JUNO synthesizer
• Jake Morris – drums, backing vocals, percussion
• Chris Funk – production, acoustic slide guitar (10)
• Kim Gordon – vocals (10)
• Kyleen King – strings (3, 9)
• Luke Price – fiddle (10)
• JJ Golden – lacquer cut
• Adam Lee – recording, mixing
• Orion Landau – design
• James Rexroad – photography