Common Dreads is the second studio album by Enter Shikari released on June 15, 2009 and June 16 in the US. Recording of the album began in September 2008 and ended in late February 2009. The album was produced and mixed by Andy Gray at Arreton Manor. Guitar production was carried out by Dan Weller of WellerHill and the defunct band SikTh. Common Dreads has polarised critics. Ultimate-Guitar rated the album with an overall rating of 9.3/10. Similarly, music magazines Kerrang! and Metal Hammer gave very positive reviews, Kerrang! rating the album 5/5. The album also has its critics. Digital Spy gave the album 3/5 calling it 'hit and miss'. Pete Paphides of The Times gave the album 2 stars out of 5, describing it as "a titanically inadvisable mash-up between Gallows and John Craven’s Newsround." Similarly, Lauren Murphy of entertainment.ie described it as "an overkill of brawn, insufficient brain." There is a drastic lyrical change in the new album. The band formerly wrote lyrics concerning various different subjects and made frequent use of metaphors. In Common Dreads, the band's lyrical subjects concern socio-political topics, like in "Step Up", a song that critiques free world trade. The song "No Sleep Tonight" speaks about the ecological situation of today. The song "Fanfare for the Conscious Man" contains lyrical connotations to the injustice of the various wars the government were engaging in whilst Enter Shikari were writing the album, the line, "Our gracious queen shou