• Record Label: Rykodisc
  • Release Date: Aug 26, 2003
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. If you say you've heard a better adult pop record this year, you are lying.
  2. All told, it may be the best set of songs Rouse has yet to offer.
  3. Uncut
    90
    It's all done with such obvious love and affection and literate craft that Rouse has gone and made one of the albums of the year. Even if the year is 1972. [Oct 2003, p.114]
  4. Mojo
    70
    The danger with this kind of project is sounding like a '70s revue, but Rouse avoids that with his intimate vocal style and quirky songwriting. [Sep 2003, p.104]
  5. Q Magazine
    80
    The most intimate record of the year, and one of the warmest. [Oct 2003, p.113]
  6. Rolling Stone
    70
    Rouse... comes on like a happier and wittier Elliott Smith. [30 Oct 2003, p.93]
  7. Rouse shadows the sophistication and perfection of classic pop, trying to replicate its power to make listeners feel more at peace with their awkward relationships.
  8. Magnet
    80
    Even the most seriously depressed songs here have a lightness that's been missing in the past. [#60, p.111]
  9. Blender
    70
    His perkiest album yet. [Sep 2003, p.132]
  10. 1972 has less urgency than Rouse's inconsistent but promising debut, Dressed Up Like Nebraska, and save for the last two tracks doesn't approach the earnest, careworn sublimity exhibited on Under Cold Blue Stars. It is, however, one of his most polished releases.
  11. Rouse pushes the envelope in a completely different direction, and with modest, although not total, success, he delivers an album that will rival the New Pornographers' Electric Version as the -- for lack of a better word -- most fun album of the year.

Awards & Rankings

User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. Apr 4, 2013
    10
    I've listened to this album countless times and I never get bored of it. Slaveship, Come Back, Rise and Sunshine, 4 of the best songs on theI've listened to this album countless times and I never get bored of it. Slaveship, Come Back, Rise and Sunshine, 4 of the best songs on the album. A top album, deserves so much more attention that it receives. Full Review »
  2. Aug 6, 2011
    9
    Great album. Every song is great and Josh Rouse is extremely underrated. Buy this and Nashville. "Rise", "Sparrows Over Birmingham", "ComeGreat album. Every song is great and Josh Rouse is extremely underrated. Buy this and Nashville. "Rise", "Sparrows Over Birmingham", "Come Back", "Flight Attendant." Full Review »
  3. PhilippeD
    Oct 29, 2005
    10
    An absolute classic, not a single average song. Grows on you over time