Editing Cosmic Thing (section)

==Critical reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="Erlewine">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/cosmic-thing-mw0000199654 |title=Cosmic Thing – The B-52s |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=August 23, 2016 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-08-03-8901010908-story.html |title=The B-52's: Cosmic Thing (Reprise) |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=August 3, 1989 |access-date=August 23, 2016 |last=Heim |first=Chris}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="McKenna">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-08-13-ca-744-story.html |title=The B-52's 'Cosmic Thing.' Warner Bros. |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=August 13, 1989 |access-date=July 22, 2022 |last=McKenna |first=Kristine |author-link=Kristine McKenna}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev4score = 7/10<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The B-52's: Cosmic Thing |magazine=[[NME]] |date=July 22, 1989 |last=Fadele |first=Dele |author-link=Dele Fadele |page=31}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[PopMatters]]''
| rev5score = 9/10<ref name="Wilhelm">{{cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/ranking-the-b-52s-albums |title=Ranking the B-52s Albums |website=[[PopMatters]] |date=May 3, 2022 |access-date=July 22, 2022 |last=Wilhelm |first=Rich}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev6score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Farber">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theb52s/albums/album/175618/review/5943505/cosmic_thing |title=The B-52's: Cosmic Thing |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=July 13–27, 1989 |access-date=August 23, 2016 |last=Farber |first=Jim |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114062945/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theb52s/albums/album/175618/review/5943505/cosmic_thing |archive-date=November 14, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev7score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="Considine">{{cite book |chapter=The B-52's |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA67 |access-date=November 2, 2011 |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/67 67–68]}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev8score = 8/10<ref>{{cite book |chapter=B-52's |last=Huston |first=Johnny |title=Spin Alternative Record Guide |title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide |editor1-last=Weisbard |editor1-first=Eric |editor1-link=Eric Weisbard |editor2-last=Marks |editor2-first=Craig |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |year=1995 |isbn=0-679-75574-8 |pages=38–39}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[The Village Voice]]''
| rev9score = B<ref name="Christgau">{{cite news |url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv989-89.php |title=Consumer Guide |newspaper=[[The Village Voice]] |date=October 3, 1989 |access-date=August 23, 2016 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau}}</ref>
}}

[[Robert Christgau]] of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' opined that the album was "an almost touchingly brave attempt to dance away from the edge of ecocatastrophe" and found the band "trying to be seriously silly", but concluded that, "between Ricky Wilson's guitar and the permanent defeat his loss doesn't merely signify, they can't quite bring it off."<ref name="Christgau"/> Jim Farber of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' thought the album found the B-52's "on summer vacation, hanging out in the heat, fashioning insouciant odes to sloth", and that the band still mixed seriousness with "an impassioned commitment to goofiness." He continued that the best songs "proudly declare silliness as a central part of identity" and that their most exciting material had always been "ballads with a backbeat", citing "Roam" and "Dry County" as examples.<ref name="Farber"/> [[Kristine McKenna]] of ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' felt the album sounded "remarkably fresh", despite adhering to a classic formula, and observed that "the slower pace of life associated with the South colors the entire album", noting that Wilson and Pierson "give soul to this irresistible LP, which may shape up to be the record you hear at every party this summer."<ref name="McKenna"/>

In retrospective reviews, [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] of [[AllMusic]] found the album to be "a first-class return to form" that "updated their sound with shiny new surfaces and deep, funky grooves", containing "their best set of songs since at least ''[[Wild Planet]]'', possibly since their debut."<ref name="Erlewine"/> [[J. D. Considine|J.D. Considine]] in ''[[The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' observed that the songs "reprise the band's early sound without any edge or ambiguity", and saw the band "tumble into self-caricature."<ref name="Considine"/> Rich Wilhelm of ''[[PopMatters]]'' noted that while ''Cosmic Thing'' "fully brought the band's sound to the mainstream", it also "proved to have depth" and was "a fun, beautiful, and life-affirming record that was also a big hit."<ref name="Wilhelm"/>