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100

Alternative Press

The rare sort of album that convinces you original music still exists. [Jan 2004, p.110]

Pitchfork

Yes, it sounds quite a bit like The Books' debut, but it also sounds like nobody else. The Books remain more or less a genre of one.

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ShakingThrough.net

While The Lemon of Pink might not sport individual tracks as strong as [Thought For Food's] "Enjoy Your Worries, You May Never Have Them Again" or "All Bad Ends All," it's nonetheless a stronger effort overall, revealing a band growing in confidence with the application of its ideas.

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Dusted Magazine

Perhaps the best thing about The Lemon of Pink is that it possesses a cohesion that its predecessor, even at its frequent best, still somehow lacked.

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Almost Cool

The Lemon Of Pink is built in much the same way that its predecessor was, and while it conjures up similar feelings at times, it also takes off in different directions entirely with the addition of actual vocals.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

Some of the exposed-seam splicing sounds sloppy and/or twee, but the guys in The Books wield a solid musical hand over melodic figures that hint at swooning grandeur without falling prey to florid temptation.

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All Music Guide

It isn't often that one finds an American artist with such a mastery of collage technique and a desire to incorporate traditional folk instruments and melodies.

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Stylus Magazine

Honestly, I can think of few albums more perfectly structured than The Lemon of Pink, and far fewer that end as nicely.

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Q Magazine

Some of the shorter tracks feel like distractions, but when the fragile mixture of field recordings, samples from radio broadcasts and twanging folk instruments comes into focus, the results are quietly fascinating. [Dec 2003, p.120]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Frank W gave it a10:
Nick's got it dead on. This is wonderful, important music, and easily the best of the decade. It's warming, comforting, relaxing, and energizing. If I'm in a bad mood, this album gets rid of it. If I'm in a good mood, this album enhances it. Trying to describe what makes this music as good as it is is futile - it is an album that simply HAS to be heard.

nick gave it a10:
Best record released post 2000. Yeah, I think this is better than any record released this decade and the decade is only half over. I don't see someone easily contending with this unless The Books do it again.

Francois C gave it a 10:
8, 9 and 10 at the third listening!

luke c gave it a 10:
startlingly ugly for about a minute, then a new world of beauty

Ray C gave it a 10:
Oh god this is so much better than Thought for Food. And Thought for Food was good. But this is uh more good. Do not use all caps guys

Simon W gave it a 9:
Nice mix of acoustic intrumentation & found sounds held together with a solid yet novel structure. I hesitate to use the word 'organic', but at some level the choices made in the construction of the collages do seem to arise naturally.

Benjamin Bunny gave it a 9:
And I thought Matmos were brilliant, but after listening to The Books I know what Matmos lacks...HEART. The Books manage to be innovative AND touching. Top 10/2003.

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