Annie Up
by Pistol Annies
  • Record Label: RCA
  • Release Date: May 7, 2013
Metascore
87

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
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  1. AllMusic
    May 7, 2013
    90
    The camaraderie of the Pistol Annies cuts deep--they're a gang, encouraging the other two not to talk about Tina, praising sobriety, realizing life goes on even when love leaves--and that gives Annie Up a bruised, beautiful richness.
  2. Country Weekly
    May 7, 2013
    91
    The trio’s second album, Annie Up, (thankfully) picks up where their debut, Hell on Heels, left off, offering more engaging studies of real-life heartbreak, domestic inertia and the daily trials of womanhood.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    May 7, 2013
    91
    Annie Up is a more fully formed take on Southern sisterhood.
  5. Expert Witness (MSN Music)
    May 10, 2013
    91
    A lark evolves into a business proposition as an album of 10 inspired three-minute songs eventuates in an album of 12 expert three-and-a-half-min​ute songs.
  6. Los Angeles Times
    May 7, 2013
    88
    Their switchblade-sharp vision incorporates acute observational powers about the human condition and savvy compositional skills that come together in songs that are piercingly honest, funny and sometimes both.
  7. Paste Magazine
    May 16, 2013
    81
    They’re too big to fail though, so lightning half-strikes plenty here.
  8. PopMatters
    May 15, 2013
    80
    What they might lose in flair, they gain in severity, perspective, focus and the strength of their connection to the well of deep sadness at the center of the country-music tradition.
  9. Rolling Stone
    May 7, 2013
    70
    Like its 2011 debut, full of attitude and guffaws, delivered in three-part harmony over down-home country.... But there's pathos beneath the jokes.
  10. Slant Magazine
    May 7, 2013
    70
    If Annie Up doesn't quite break the country genre's familiar format, it's a hell of a lot of fun, and one could do worse than spend 40 minutes with these sassy almost-outlaws.
  11. Spin
    May 9, 2013
    70
    Though it's not exactly Leave Home to its predecessor's Ramones, Annie Up is still a pretty tasty serving of grits and sass.
  12. The Guardian
    May 16, 2013
    80
    The songwriting paints in broader strokes than the hyper-specific character studies of the debut. What the Annies lose there they gain in fuller, more ambitious arrangements.

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best Album of 2013

User Reviews

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User Score
5.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 40 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 40
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 40
  3. Negative: 18 out of 40
  1. TheRewind
    Jul 7, 2013
    7
    These three women have a definitive knack for melody, both in their vocal harmonies and their surprisingly skillful guitar playing, and theirThese three women have a definitive knack for melody, both in their vocal harmonies and their surprisingly skillful guitar playing, and their defiant spunk is just as cliche as it is fun to listen to. It doesn't come without its share of filler, but this album is a bright spot in an otherwise despicably bland genre.… Full Review »
  2. honeybubble
    Nov 8, 2018
    10
    I laughed, I cried... I wanted to join in with them. An amazing follow up to their masterful debut album. They hit all the write notes andI laughed, I cried... I wanted to join in with them. An amazing follow up to their masterful debut album. They hit all the write notes and know how to write a song that will make you really feel something.… Full Review »
  3. Waylon
    Nov 8, 2018
    10
    Raw and unflinching. Their voices are beautiful and nobody can compete with the level of songwriting between them. Such an underrated group.
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