GAMES: GameSpot | GameFAQs MUSIC: Last.fm | MP3.com MOVIES: Metacritic | Movietome TV: TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Music

Upcoming Release Calendar
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Music In Our Forums

 

Upcoming & Recent Releases

sort by name sort by score

64 A Camp
78 Akron/Family
73 Dave Alvin & the Guilty Women
74 Amazing Baby
62 Tori Amos
54 The Answer
74 Anti-Flag
74 Art Brut
71 Au Revoir Simone
65 Zee Avi
70 Bachelorette
77 Bat For Lashes
68 Big Business
76 Ryan Bingham & The Dead Horses
67 Black Dice
57 Black Eyed Peas
74 Black Moth Super Rainbow
71 Blank Dogs
65 Booker T.
54 The Boxmasters
65 The Boy Least Likely To
74 Brakes [aka brakesbrakesbrakes]
68 British Sea Power
66 Jeff Buckley
75 Busdriver
59 Busta Rhymes
64 Cage The Elephant
82 Bill Callahan
80 Camera Obscura
68 Cam'ron
79 Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
58 Chester French
82 The Church
61 Ciara
72 Clues
69 The Coathangers
74 Jarvis Cocker
90 Leonard Cohen
70 Elvis Costello
66 Graham Coxon
76 Crippled Black Phoenix
71 The Crocodiles
69 Cryptacize
71 Crystal Antlers
56 The Crystal Method
69 Dananananaykroyd
76 Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse
71 De La Soul
77 Death Cab For Cutie
68 Deer Tick
81 Deerhunter
70 Depeche Mode
78 Dinosaur Jr.
85 Dirty Projectors
86 DJ Quik & Kurupt
77 Doves
68 Dredg
76 Bob Dylan
82 Steve Earle
70 Eels
62 El Grupo Nuevo de Omar Rodriguez Lopez
58 Eminem
60 Empire Of The Sun
54 The Enemy
67 Jeremy Enigk
68 Nathan Fake
85 The Felice Brothers
79 The Field
65 Fink
60 Fischerspooner
77 Flatlanders
62 Flo Rida
64 Franz Ferdinand
77 Gallows
72 Melody Gardot
59 Ginuwine
71 Golden Silvers
61 Gomez
69 Grand Duchy
73 Great Lake Swimmers
59 Great Northern
72 Green Day
86 Grizzly Bear
75 The Handsome Family
69 Ben Harper And Relentless7
75 PJ Harvey & John Parish
66 Heaven & Hell
85 Levon Helm
74 The Hold Steady
79 Patterson Hood
75 Jon Hopkins
82 The Horrors
69 Hanne Hukkelberg
74 Ida Maria
65 Immaculate Machine
75 The Intelligence
76 Iron & Wine
79 Isis
68 It Hugs Back
88 J Dilla aka Jay Dee
61 Jadakiss
86 Japandroids
61 Joan Of Arc
84 Joe Lovano Us Five
72 John Doe & The Sadies
70 Joker's Daughter
62 Jonas Brothers
53 Mike Jones
71 The Juan Maclean
76 Junior Boys
68 Kasabian
74 Diana Krall
56 Lady Sovereign
43 Ben Lee
68 The Lemonheads
76 Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard
77 Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
65 Little Boots
79 The Low Anthem
67 Jason Lytle
75 The Maccabees
76 Magik Markers
80 Major Lazer
70 Malajube
71 Manchester Orchestra
85 Manic Street Preachers
57 Marilyn Manson
66 The Mars Volta
68 Dave Matthews Band
62 Maximo Park
70 Meat Puppets
80 Method Man & Redman
77 Metric
75 Micachu & The Shapes
69 Chrisette Michele
76 Miike Snow
67 Mika Miko
75 Rhett Miller
49 Mims
72 Mr. Lif
72 Moby
78 Moderat
70 Mandy Moore
80 Mos Def
70 Bob Mould
74 Nadja
72 New York Dolls
72 Nite Jewel
67 NOFX
76 Noisettes
60 Paolo Nutini
67 Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band
74 Papercuts
76 Passion Pit
74 Peaches
71 Pet Shop Boys
68 Peter Bjorn And John
82 Phoenix
76 Pink Mountaintops
63 Placebo
66 Pomegranates
64 Iggy Pop
67 Prefuse 73
81 Ramblin' Jack Elliott
76 Rancid
54 Rascal Flatts
68 Lionel Richie
77 Alasdair Roberts
73 Rick Ross
55 Asher Roth
72 Savath & Savalas
61 Polly Scattergood
65 The Shortwave Set
60 Shout Out Out Out Out
66 Silversun Pickups
85 Todd Snider
78 Sonic Youth
72 The Soundcarriers
61 The Sounds
74 Regina Spektor
63 Spinal Tap
65 Spinnerette
81 St. Vincent
59 Still Flyin'
58 Street Sweeper Social Club
87 Sunn O)))
82 Sunset Rubdown
84 Super Furry Animals
74 Richard Swift
78 Taking Back Sunday
85 Tanya Morgan
81 Otis Taylor
71 Telekinesis
70 Telepathe
80 Thee Oh Sees
79 The Thermals
74 Rob Thomas
64 Thunderheist
74 Tiga
57 Tinted Windows
72 Tortoise
82 Allen Toussaint
71 Trembling Bells
69 Two Fingers
84 UGK
68 Keith Urban
71 John Vanderslice
85 The Vaselines
74 The Veils
73 Viva Voce
63 Patrick Watson
79 White Denim
77 White Rabbits
57 The Whitest Boy Alive
74 Wilco
80 Wildbirds & Peacedrums
78 Wolves In The Throne Room
65 The Wooden Birds
67 Wooden Shjips
81 Yeah Yeah Yeahs
70 Pete Yorn
93 Neil Young
60 Neil Young
72 Yusuf

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Fur & Gold
by Bat For Lashes

Bat For Lashes reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 81 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.0 out of 10
based on 15 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 26 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

The debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize for best British album this year.

LABEL: Caroline
RELEASE DATE: 31 July 2007
DISCS: 1 disc
GENRE(S): Alternative, Indie

NOTES: Original UK release 11 Sep 2006.


What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
musicOMH.com
Fur and Gold announces Natasha Khan's Bat For Lashes as a talent impossible to ignore and beguiling to behold, an album that, time and again, plucks one away from the mundane and offers a bewitching alternative galaxy of delights.
Read Full Review
91
Filter
The U.K. sensation weaves her tales of wizards, horses and magic in a warm bearskin coat of Kate Bush sensibilities, piano playing that’ll bring you to tears and instruments that only real musicians understand, like the harpsichord.
Read Full Review
91
Entertainment Weekly
Fur is, indeed gold. [17 Aug 2007, p.73]
88
Los Angeles Times
The collection offers a fresh take on England's druid-rock legacy, blending electronics with the elemental skin and seeds of drums and shakers in a sound that's both atmospheric and richly textured.
Read Full Review
85
Hot Press
Bat For Lashes' debut, Fur And Gold, is an album that delivers the listener from any form of humdrum existence into a deeper realm of dream and dementia.
Read Full Review
83
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Closing with a bonus cover of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire" ends things on an uninspired, Tori Amos-like note, but by then, most will be too far under Khan's spell to notice.
Read Full Review
80
Slant Magazine
Bat for Lashes' music feels like some lost specter that has fortuitously wandered into your home and can't help but haunt you.
Read Full Review
80
Under The Radar
Despite her ear for meditative melodies, however, her most complex arrangements are usually her best. [Summer 2007, p.72]
80
Drowned In Sound
An entrancing, wonderfully surprising record which manages to feel both refreshing new and strangely timeless.
Read Full Review
80
Boston Globe
Even though Khan's music is not yet as ambitious as [Kate] Bush's best work, it has enough arresting moments and unique beauty to suggest that Khan is an indie songwriter and chanteuse to watch.
Read Full Review
70
Urb
Lyrically, Khan really cuts loose, switching from everyday matters to sinister fantasies, often during the same song, and all with extraordinary confidence.
Read Full Review
70
Prefix Magazine
Any other attempt at describing Khan's sound of Renaissance antiquity cross-pollinating with postmodernity--the trip-hop bass of 'Trophy' that riptides into the autoharp lilt of the spectral 'Tahiti,' for instance--falls woefully short of music so cleverly askew and oddly beautiful.
Read Full Review
70
PopMatters
Fur and Gold is not the greatest album of the 2007, but it’s certainly the most breathtaking.
Read Full Review
67
Stylus Magazine
Fur and Gold is admittedly not as strong and cohesive a record as "Wind in the Wires." At its finest, though, it does show off a rare talent for haunting and evocative songwriting.
Read Full Review
65
Pitchfork
Fur & Gold sounds a little bit too comfortable for its own good. Khan is a great singer, and her band is undoubtedly competent and capable, but the record sounds like it wants to be more than it is.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now! The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 26 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ste A gave it a9:
Absolutely brilliant.

Jon gave it a10:
An engaging, fantastic and sometimes brutal album. The surrealistic lyrics and beautiful sounds make this the best album of 2007.

Tim e gave it a7:
I don't understand the comparisons to Kate Bush. I guess because this band features a British woman that's what critic's automatically link her to. This is one of those Cat Power followers like Feist. It's not bad but please it's not Kate Bush.

Tim C. gave it an8:
This is a fabulous album. Full of atmospheric songs and some quite extraordinary and original music.

Bjorn C. gave it an8:
An enjoyable listen for sure; upon repeated listening, however, I do find some of the lyrics a tad bit cringeworthy. It's as if she's reaching for the same childish faerie-musings as the likes of... say Cocorosie, but there's definitely a less expressionistic and more literally mapped quality to some of the yarns that might fare better in the hands of a more accomplished lyricist. Instead, in my opinion, they come off sounding occasionally prosaic and forced, milking the magic from the mare, as it were. On the other hand, I do find the arrangements and instrumental choices supremely blissful, and her voice manages to effectively carry her sometimes "pedestrian" sense of mysticism. However, for love of all the boys and girls out there who refuse to trade in musings of glacial palaces, fire-hooved steeds and winged-tiger saviors for a life of mindless wage-slaving for the marketed "perks" of capitalism...I give this offering an 8. I do highly recommend Faun Fables (Mother Twilight or Family Album) or Cocorosie as a no less magical complement to this album.

Jeff D. gave it a2:
I'd rather listen to Cocteau Twins, Siouxsie, Tori Amos, Cat Power, Feist, Björk or just about anything else. For those who compare Kate Bush to this...not in my opinion. Definitely a waste of space on my iPod. Very tuneless, meandering and didn't engage me whatsoever.

Auntie S. gave it a10:
Ephemeral, beautiful, absolutely otherworldly! Nicely scratches the same itch as, and compares nicely with earlier female UK trailblazers (and obvious influences) such as Kate Bush at her peak ("Hounds of Love") & early Sinead O'Connor (Think "Lion and the Cobra" era), and more thoughtful and complex than contemporary Goldfrapp. I can't stop playing it.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this album in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: iPhone 3G | Fantasy Football | Moneywatch | Antivirus Software | Recipes | E3 2009

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use