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Apocalypse
by
Apocalypse Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

  • Summary: The seven-track album is the third studio release for the singer-songwriter since dropping the name Smog.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Prefix Magazine
    Apr 20, 2011
    85
    Credit Callahan then not just for his latest vision, but for how he done it.
  2. cokemachineglow
    Apr 27, 2011
    81
    Callahan's made plenty of fine albums-some of which boast higher highs than this one-but Apocalypse is such a satisfying and downright elegant listen because of its commitment to a narrative arc; as soon as it ends and you step back, the album takes the shape of a remarkably complete thought.
  3. AllMusic
    Apr 7, 2011
    80
    Apocalypse is a song cycle that places the usually extremely inward-looking Callahan in the unlikely role of observer and interpreter of various American myths; myths both externally held and culturally self-referential, that inform the interior world of the protagonist.
  4. NOW Magazine
    Apr 7, 2011
    80
    Like the best singer/songwriters, Callahan is an English major's lyricist, and by deftly blending the personal, the political and the mythological, he again leaves us plenty to pore over.
  5. The Telegraph (UK)
    Apr 14, 2011
    80
    This latest effort is more muted, but no less complete, with fabulous images of rustic solitude and existential dread married to smouldering country-rock.
  6. PopMatters
    May 3, 2011
    70
    Callahan's stripped away a good degree of the hooks present on Eagle, and in the process he's made a more serious (and, sure, self-serious) album. He's a talent prodigious enough to warrant a lateral move, and Apocalypse will find its rightful place in his 20-odd-years-long canon.
  7. The Wire
    May 3, 2011
    40
    Throughout this solo effort--his fourth, for what it's worth--Callahan mumbles ever onward like a charmless, tranquillised version of Giant Sand's Howe Gelb. [Apr 2011, p.55]
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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Dingo
    Jun 30, 2011
    9
    This is my favourite since A River Ain't Too Much To Love, though I still really enjoyed the last couple. One Fine Morning is my highlight,This is my favourite since A River Ain't Too Much To Love, though I still really enjoyed the last couple. One Fine Morning is my highlight, bleeding out a sense of clarity that matches his apparent inspiration.… Collapse
  2. All_ButTrU4
    Oct 11, 2021
    8
    Vast and constantly intriguing. An interesting foray into emotional and physical territory as bill mediates on anything he can perceive withVast and constantly intriguing. An interesting foray into emotional and physical territory as bill mediates on anything he can perceive with the precision of a surgeon.… Expand
  4. hampusforev
    Apr 15, 2011
    8
    A cynic could easily criticize Callahan, whether recording under the Smog moniker or this one, for a lack of emotional range. And I wouldA cynic could easily criticize Callahan, whether recording under the Smog moniker or this one, for a lack of emotional range. And I would definitely see where they're coming from. Not many songs seem to stray out of the sparse, repetitive music, ambivalent dread and laconic poetry that Callahan creates for his songs. If you dislike one Callahan song, chances are that you're going to dislike them all. Being an avid Smog-fan, I think this is like criticizing Kandinsky for only painting lines. If you really listen there are many nuances to Callahan's work, and what he lacks in hooks and traditional songwriting talents, he easily makes up for with his artistic persistence and unique style.… Expand

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