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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Blue Cathedral
Universal acclaim
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 28 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sub Pop
Release Date: 27 July 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The psychedelic indie-rockers from Santa Cruz, Calif. make their Sub Pop debut with this third disc. Guitarist Ben Chasny has been added to the lineup, supplementing the original quartet led by vocalist/guitarist Ethan Miller.
Also By This Artist: Avatar
Also On The Web: COF @ Sub Pop
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...
Tiny Mix Tapes
A masterwork that music fans will be listening to for some time in the future.
Read Full Review >Splendid
This is great stuff, and a significant advance over both of Comets on Fire's previous albums.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
An album that is both abundant in depth and variety, as well as in terrifying walls of noise and gaping chasms of silence.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
Blue Cathedral's shifting textures and long, sub-orbital freak-outs signify no lull in purpose for the Comets on Fire. It does signify a step towards a maturation of sound for a band now with three releases under its belt - specifically, a perfect place to be.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Sometimes bludgeoning, always regal, Blue Cathedral is a calcified, hippified holy place.
Read Full Review >Spin
One of the best psych-rock records of our young century. [Sep 2004, p.117]
Village Voice
The trick to their aural freak-out is not too different from those in the past; it hides in the arcane black box manned by Noel Harmonson. The echoplex, with its Möbius strip of tape loop, warps the guitars and yowls like parallel sheets of Mylar and sheets of acid, focusing the entire band into ray-gun pulses that match the pounding of Utrillo Belcher.
Read Full Review >Billboard
Wild, unfettered and bone-shatteringly loud, "Blue Cathedral" will stir any fan of extreme guitar mania.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
The wild humor and slash-and-burn methodology of Comets on Fire have outlived any pretense to trend; Blue Cathedral makes a strong case for the permanent re-emergence of undiluted psychedelic rock.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
This album just may signal the beginning of an exciting new era in rock music.
Read Full Review >Mojo
This time [COF] have tempered their voluminous superfuzz with scenic bliss. [Oct 2004, p.101]
Stylus Magazine
Uninhibited and hushed in all the right places, it’s safe to say that Comets on Fire have hit their stride.
Read Full Review >Junkmedia
Comets on Fire have also learned to harness their dynamic range, an important step for a band that pummels the listener with a seemingly unending freakout.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
While that band has yet to make a record comparable to the sludgy majesty of their live show... Blue Cathedral practically explodes from the speakers.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
Take some metal and stir in some prog, sludge, and psych rock and basically you've got yerself Comets On Fire.
Read Full Review >ShakingThrough.net
What the band lacks in originality (not to mention coherence and subtlety), it more than makes up for with committed chops and indefatigable energy.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
To hear this album is to feel like things are falling down on you, and although that can be wearing after a while, there's not much to complain about. [#7]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 28 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Alex gave it a9:
Dense sonic noise not for your average pop fan, Blue Cathedral is some truly psychedelic music backed up by fierce instrumentation. If Led Zeppelin or Cream had made it to see the Shoegazing era, they may have recorded an album like this.
Xian B gave it a10:
Comets On Fire is the greatest rock'n'roll band on earth! And Jaki is jus right, even if it's not him.
Jaki Liebezeit gave it a10:
It's seems like people either love or hate this album. But just for the record, i'm right.
Chris C gave it an8:
This is good instrumental music that I hated at first but has grown on me immensely. As judging by some of the other reviews, it's the kind of album that takes time and scares off casual listeners -- and that's never a bad thing.
Eduardo M gave it a 2:
No thanks guys! It's like whatsit the guy from Led Zeppelin is stubbing his toe into a megaphone in a completely different building from all these people who are all soloing at the same time. I won't rest until the world sees that this album is two out of ten material.
Asbjorn gave it a 10:
Great music! They mixed some of the best music from the 60s and 70s to an unbelievable daring and cool sound.
Nathan A gave it a 10:
awesome.
