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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Loyalty To Loyalty
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Downtown
Release Date: 23 September 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Indie
Summary
The sophomore album for the California indie rock band.
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
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...
Entertainment Weekly
On their stunning and haunting second album, the Long Beach, Calif., quartet have racheted up their faux-mono production values and woozy chops. [26 Sep 2008, p.93]
Filter
Loyalty To Loyalty proves that, through it all, the Cold War Kids are a keeper. [Fall 2008, p.90]
Paste Magazine
It’s a better-than-solid album from a band that seems equipped to someday make a classic one.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Cold War Kids are perhaps the only band out there ambitious enough to tackle head-on the contradictions and heartaches of America, past and present, and to do so with this passion and intelligence.
Read Full Review >Urb
Loyalty to Loyalty, the band’s sophomore release, isn’t as immediately impacting as that first round of songs, but CWK didn’t lose their charm (or literary obsessions), either.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
The members of Cold War Kids have deepened their sound rather than expanding it.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
For those who can accept Willett's voice for what it is--a jagged, yet neccessarily appropriate fixture that suits the music's rough edges--Cold War Kids have made a record that will please the existing fanbase, and quite possibly earn some new pledges of loyalty. [Fall 2008, p.74]
New Musical Express
Almost in defiance of poor sales and cult following, CWK and their charming second album embody everything you hoped music might be.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Cold War Kids attack their songs with unusual intensity, infusing even the most noirish, unsettling songs--fractured narratives about hipster bohemia and suicide--with a feeling of enchantment.
Read Full Review >Uncut
The skeletal bluesy shuffles are easy to follow, but the likes of 'Avalanch In B' suggest a band lyrically happy to keep the unpleasantness in their woodshed under wraps. [Oct 2008, p.81]
Blender
Throughout the album, haunted-saloon piano and reverb-choked guitar conjure a murky, wobbly misaligned version of old R&B.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
Loyalty to Loyalty, an improvement on 2006's filler-heavy debut, is a sincere, if preachy, advertisement for integrity over image.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
More often than not, Loyalty to Loyalty takes a disappointing stumble on it.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
The loyalty to the exact sound--minus the real hooks--that got Cold War Kids noticed keeps things mostly stagnant.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
But ultimately, Loyalty to Loyalty leaves a weird aftertaste, and it's not just because the penultimate 'Relief' tries to prop itself up on Willett's falsetto harangues and stuttering slap-bass, before 'Cryptomnesia' ends the record collapsing into a rumpled heap.
Read Full Review >Spin
Relying on sturdy-legged piano chords ('I've Seen Enough'), boogie rock ('Mexican Dogs'), and caffeinated backbeats to boost Willett's narratives, Loyalty to Loyalty is rarely subtle.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
Cold War Kids have exploded rather than refined their style here, which too often turns what were formerly strengths into liabilities and turns what were formerly liabilities into, well, even greater liabilities.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
The Californian four-piece's follow-up is less inspired, however, lacking any memorable tunes or winning hoks to distract from Nathan Willett's grating falsetto, and much of the album is heavy going. [Oct 2008, p.141]
The Guardian
Nathan Willett remains a technically proficient singer, with hints of Jeff Buckley, but much like his band's music, his voice is too drearily clean-cut to deliver a true emotional punch.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
jeff j gave it a9:
At first this album struck me as not as catchy and hook-heavy as their previous album but, I like that. A few listens allows the album to soak into you. Granted, there are a couple low points but, overall, this is an original album among the common cookie cutter albums that are abound. Also, Chris H. can I borrow your dictionary? Does it contain the words "verbose" or "pretentious?"
Mark P gave it a9:
Not as appealing as Robbers and Cowards at first but after a few listens, Loyalty to Loyalty defines Cold War Kids as the great Soul Rockers that they are.
Jake M. gave it an8:
Took me a while to to get into it; but after quite a few listens I hear the simple beauty and fun of these songs. No great songs, many good ones, and maybe only one bad one (Welcome to the Occupation)
Jason B. gave it a10:
Their first album had several good songs. But this one has an overall structural and artistic integrity that the first one lacked. It's heavier on the drums and bass and generally has a more melancholly feel. This is a really compelling, really excellent album. These guys are artists in the truest sense.
Spencer C. gave it a10:
solid follow up. sure, it's a bit hard to listen to at first but it grows on you if you were a fan of robbers and cowards, check it out.
Chris H. gave it a2:
I normally don't make hyperbolic statements such as this, but the reviewers above aren't going far enough to warn the listener how egregious this album is and how much distance you should put between yourself and it. Loyalty to Loyalty barely passes as music. It is completely unfocused, amateur, underdone, half-baked schlock! The singing is amelodic and the songwriting is completely lacking any discernible structure. I honestly cannot believe that this abysmal, shameful, unforgivable, reprehensible pile of sounds was actually recorded, mixed, mastered, and released. In total sincerity: this insulting piece of detritus must be buried under the earth and never be spoken of again if we believe at all in humanity. Absolutely wretched!
Matthew A. gave it an8:
It took me about a week to get past the production, but once I adjusted, this album has been in my earphones nonstop. It is a different in sound from last album; less sparce, cleaner, less obvious hooks even. But the songwriting is solid, and while I wouldn't classify it as a pop album, the songs have been in my head when I wake every morning. Love it.
