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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Mirrored
Universal acclaim
Based on 31 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 150 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warp
Release Date: 22 May 2007
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The unique New York four-piece math-rock outfit (that includes members of Helmet and Don Caballero) follows a string of three acclaimed 2004 EPs with this debut full-length, which adds (heavily processed) vocals into their mix of live and programmed instrumentation for the first time.
Also On The Web: Battles @ MySpace Official Artist Site Warp
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...
Playlouder
This is not just an album that can be appreciated by fans of the avant-garde, pop and rock alike but a genuine fuck you to the people claiming modern music has nowhere left to go.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Battles unite process and expression, making playing that’s as quantized and mechanical as Kraftwerk sound as wild and urgent as Albert Ayler.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The way repeated listens allow its unobvious rhythmic and melodic logic to take root is fantastically rewarding.
Read Full Review >Filter
They make heavy duty sound collages that rock, roll, and exemplify the increasingly small chasm between bliss and confusion. [#25, p.90]
Pitchfork
Mirrored is a breathtaking aesthetic left-turn that sounds less like rock circa 2007 than rock circa 2097, a world where Marshall stacks and micro-processing go hand in hand.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
Whereas before in their career the four-piece seemingly tossed myriad elements about with little to no regard for the actual acceptability of the composition at hand, here each and every piece – pieces that truly do flow into one another quite magically – sinks into the listener’s synapses silkily, short-circuiting them through disbelief rather than a simmering intolerance.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
If the Flaming Lips mated with Marilyn Manson and ate Underworld for breakfast, the end result might sound something like Battles' debut album, Mirrored.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
At times, the effect is akin to hearing Tortoise and Animal Collective covering the Steve Reich and Devo catalogs in tandem; but such reference points barely do justice to an album that just halfway through 2007, is already topping the year's best-of list in multiple genres. [Jun 2007, p.151]
Urb
Every song on the 52-minute masterpiece builds and bridges until everything self-destructs and the only thing left to do is dance. [May 2007, p.92]
Tiny Mix Tapes
Mirrored is a marvel, dastardly and wholly original as it is, and one of the year’s finest.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
It's dance music that's hard to dance to and post rock music that's post what everyone else making post rock is doing. Oh yeah, and it's also one of the best releases of the year.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
Powered by its fluid and seeming invincibility, Mirrored is almost frighteningly cosmic.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
The indie-rock universe hasn't coughed up a record as rhythmically thrilling as Mirrored in ages.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Mirrored is a focused, exhausting, and rewarding treasure. [Summer 2007, p.78]
PopMatters
Even if you’re not much of a cerebral-rock person, take a chance with this one—it pays off.
Read Full Review >Spin
Rock that's both fist-pumping and forward-looking. [Jun 2007, p.90]
Uncut
Worth catching. [Jun 2007, p.87]
Mojo
Mirrored explodes with twisting grooves and obtuse angles. [Jun 2007, p.102]
Blender
The outfit dispels any virtuoso vibe with their joyous absurdism. [Jun 2007, p.104]
BBC collective
While their sound might have progressed in an even more bizarre – if sadly less atmospheric – direction, it's still surprising, full of invention and totally unique.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
It's easy enough just to drift off and let these tracks gently massage your eardrums like a hover of trained hummingbirds. But if you choose to look beneath the surface, each track audibly vibrates with ideas.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Mirrored is unlike any recording out there at the moment. It's loud, funny, and astonishingly sophisticated, and doesn't feel pretentious in the least.
Read Full Review >Sputnikmusic
Some listeners may find the album samey or too similar but one aspect of Mirrored that can't be disputed is that it is a unique album with little to no similar peers.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Mirrored is Battles at their most experimental and their most immediate, their most wanky and most focused.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
Where before they gave the distinct feel of a quick side-project for a bunch of talented musicians who were currently in other bands, on Mirrored it's clear that their hearts and souls are in every one of these songs.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
It works best when the songs sound in thrall to themselves, reacting in different ways while retracing steps, but it also fishtails into missteps ("Rainbow") that sound oddly like Mannheim Steamroller.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
There’s nothing here that’ll shock experimental music acolytes, but it might be a bit much for those expecting only brawny post-rock. Like Goldilocks, I find it just right.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
Battles combine the power of hard rock with an experimental aesthetic.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Give Mirrored a handful of listens and you might just enjoy having your brains splattered against your speakers.
Read Full Review >MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
Just when I'd made my peace with pop prog and begun to hope arty prog would prove another casualty of the age of digital instantaneity, these postrock warriors get the bright idea of adding tune and humor to their higher mathematics.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
Elaborate time signatures and clever tape manipulations abound, and there's some fun trying to guess which instruments are synthesized and which are authentic, but Mirrored suffers from being too bright and spirited.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 150 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Dave F. gave it an8:
This music scares the shit out of me. It's like being in a love/hate relationship with a crazy genius lingerie wearing goddess with a casio keyboard on kryptonite.
David gave it a10:
One of the very best albums of 2007, this one needs several listens to yield its treasures. Hard to describe the sound, but it's truly great.
John P gave it a10:
One of the freshest albums I've heard in a long time.
Gilderoy L gave it a9:
Most people will likely find this, dull, repetitive, and not ample head-banging music. It's very out of the ordinary, but if you can appreciate its intricate rhythms, you will probably really enjoy it. It's just fun.
Jay L gave it a9:
To describe a cd as "genre-defying" is usually useless, but I make the exception for this cd. To describe it as "Indie" takes away from its electronic aspects, and to describe it as "rock" leaves out the more dancy tracks mostly uncommon to rock. The cd itself is amazing to listen to, even multiple times. The songs get stuck in your head like very little else that is this experimental, and is recommended to anyone who liked the singles off of it.
Alan P gave it a2:
The worst album I bought in 2007, complete toss.
Steven H gave it a9:
A must-listen.
