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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

HoboSapiens
by John Cale


9.5

based on 16 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Black Acetate

Produced by Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly, 'Hobo Sapiens' finds the 61-year-old Cale still willing to explore new musical territory. Note that none of the 12 songs here were on the "5 Tracks" EP released earlier in 2003.

LABEL:	EMI / Or Music
RELEASE DATE:	07 September 2004
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Alternative, Rock

NOTES: Original UK release 6 October 2003. The 2004 U.S. release on Or Music contains a bonus track.

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

Uncut

It is music whose scope, erudition and vitriol makes everything else in this year of exceptional musical timidity seem puny. [Nov 2003, p.106]

Stylus Magazine

There seem to be enough ideas, stories, counter-melodies and references here for three albums worth of material - if for that reason alone, Hobo Sapiens ought to be one of the avant-pop templates for years to come.

Entertainment Weekly

An audacious marriage of restless experimentalism and eloquent melodic craft. [10 Sep 2004, p.165]

Mojo

As complex, compelling, and at times unsettling a record as Cale has unleashed since 1982's Music For A New Society. [Oct 2003, p.105]

All Music Guide

This is the Welsh iconoclast at his most elegant, energetic, and innovative.

Q Magazine

Deep voiced, disquieting and bristling with intelligence, Hobo Sapiens is a reminder of how intoxicating an artist Cale can be. [Nov 2003, p.107]

ShakingThrough.net

There's an unwavering confidence and muscular focus behind the music that holds from start to finish.

The Guardian

His most direct, energised and modernist work in years.

Launch.com

This is an astounding body of work--and definitely one of the year’s best.

Billboard

Instead of coming off as dilettantish, Cale instead sounds intrigued with how these new tools can enhance his music.

Rolling Stone

A luxuriant union of black-ice electronics and chamber-pop instrumentation. [14 Oct 2004, p.98]

The Wire

Hobo Sapiens is a confident and consistently rewarding record, and some of its songs rank alongside Cale's best. [#236, p.56]

PopMatters

HoboSapiens is still dense and difficult for much of its running time, but the challenge comes from following the author through his many compositional twists rather than sitting through passages that drone on far too long.

Paste Magazine

Like a Fellini movie, filled with rich textures and intriguing characters.

Blender

He is clearly invigorated by the tensions between pretty and ugly, simplicity and chaos. [Nov 2004, p.130]

Pitchfork

About half of it works reasonably well, though the end result is somehow closer to Low-era Bowie or Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain than anything truly contemporary or avant-garde.

The average user rating for this album is 9.5 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

BJ Morgan gave it a 10:
This album, while a departure for Cale at times, is a fantastic masterpiece. It makes me wish Lou Reed could put out a cohesive, meaningful, and stunning like this. At this point, John Cales solo recordings far surpass that of his VU-counterpart. This record is evidence of a master songwriter.

daniel r gave it a 10:
Deepening with each listen, a playful, dark, haunting journey past Mondrian and Archimedes to Charlie Brown. Good grief.

GEORGE D gave it a 10:
Good as always

Michael M gave it a 10:
Remarkable album, darkest blacks and crispest whites sitting together but never blurring to grey, with songs and remarkable production that reveal greater depths each time I listen to it.

John K gave it a 10:
An incredibly strong album, possibly the best of his long career. Gets better with each listen. Remarkable depth and beauty. I do not give out a 10 lightly, but this is probably the best album of the year.

xc xc gave it an 8:
real good totally different from the velvet underground. Yet still manages to sound real creative and extremely druggy.

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HoboSapiens by John Cale

HoboSapiens
by John Cale