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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Saturnalia
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sub Pop
Release Date: 04 March 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Alternative
Summary
The Afghan Whigs' Greg Dulli and Screaming Trees' Mark Lanegan team up on their debut album as The Gutter Twins.
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...
Alternative Press
The lofty expectations are met in full with Saturnalia. [Apr 2008, p.160]
Delusions of Adequacy
Saturnalia is easily the best album I have heard this year and will undoubtedly be included in many a year end list.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
Saturnalia revels in sin while occasionally contemplating salvation. Mesmerizing comes to mind.
Read Full Review >Filter
Dulli and Lanegan, two of today's greatest underappreciated frontmen, are hypnotic; narcotic. [Winter 2008, p.96]
PopMatters
Repeated listens to this wonderful record reveals a wealth of musicality more prominent than perhaps anything either Dulli or Lanegan have been attached to yet.
Read Full Review >The Phoenix
It’s Dulli sounding like Dulli at his best. And Lanegan delivers some of his more devastating vocal performances.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Saturnalia is mysticism and hedonism, saints and sinners, dark and light, but this is no clear-cut Manichaean collaboration. Both Lanegan and Dulli represent this, both contain all the good and the bad they sing about, sometimes at different moments but very often together, and it's that joined duality, that very disturbingly human quality, telling us things about ourselves we'd rather not acknowledge, that makes the album so absolutely alluring.
Read Full Review >Billboard
Saturnalia, is teeming with the kind of raw and gritty music one might expect to hear kicked around in, well, the gutter. And considering the project is a collaboration between Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli, that's certainly not a bad thing.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
It’s in those moments [of appealing moment of vulnerability] as well as in the swarming chorus of 'God’s Children' that the duo hit their true heights, and those same qualities are the ones most likely to mark this album as an enduring piece of work from two icons of a class that has long since graduated.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Lanegan began speaking of this collaboration before a note had been recorded, and it plays out perfectly.
Read Full Review >Hartford Courant
Fans of Dulli and Lanegan should happily devour the Gutter Twins, but even better, newcomers are in for a smooth, memorable introduction to two of the darker characters in rock today.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
The result's a bit grungy, sure--but there's also an undercurrent of dark, sinister country and blues that suggests they're not just rehashing old times.
Read Full Review >Uncut
With Lanegan at his stentorian best and Dulli in full confessional mode, Saturnalia is a feast, certainly--but one where the dishes are served delightfully raw.
Read Full Review >Mojo
It's a gloom that suits them both. [Apr 2008, p.112]
Q Magazine
It's the best thing either has done in a decade. [Apr 2008, p.116]
cokemachineglow
Musically the most important aspect of this collaborative effort is that their voices work so nicely with and against each other.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Musically, Saturnalia, named after the Roman festival where slaves and masters switch roles, is a concentrated dose of their usual badassery, never straying too far from the territory Dulli explored on the last three Singers albums, and even includes many of the same collaborators.
Read Full Review >Almost Cool
It's not the sort of release that throws a lot of curveballs, but Saturnalia is nonetheless a solid album from two veteran musicians.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Saturnalia isn't breaking any new ground, and in large sections it sounds a lot more 1992 than 2008, but there's enough majesty and confidence behind it to make one hope Dulli and Lanegan will give it at least one more album. [Spring 2008, p.83]
New Musical Express
What gives Saturnalia its real kick is the way it emotionally engages.
Read Full Review >Spin
These guys sound like they're genuinely torn between looking up at the stars and trying to find an exit to the sewer. Neat trick, that.
Read Full Review >Sputnikmusic
This represents a new territory for both Dulli and Lanegan, and it's one that they (generally) excel in.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
This is a lovingly crafted record which has the same misty fug and aura as The Soulsavers and Lanegan indulged in recently.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Twins' mission statement seems to be more about mood than memorable songs.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
In their desire to avoid repetition, however, they’ve indeed strayed somewhere they’ve never been before: the middle of the road.
Read Full Review >Blender
Not surprisingly, their debut tends toward brooding, bluesy rock—a worthy soundtrack for those dark, whiskey-soaked nights of the soul and the regret-filled mornings after.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
They were probably aiming for hypnotic or dreamy, but except for the cinematic bookends 'The Stations' and 'Front Street,' the slow dances mostly crash-land in Snoresville
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Bullet Magazine gave it a9:
Intense, dark, brooding - but a sense for the melodic which makes this an essential listen.
NJstixx gave it a9:
As a huge Twilight Singers fan, I thought I'd be disappointed with this...Not so! Repeated listens bring a whole new meaning to the Gutter Twins....God's Childeren and Idle Hands will be appreciated right of the bat, but other tunes such as "Circle the Fringes" , and the rest will capitivate you after several listens. I hope these guys keep making music together.
Raindog's Rants gave it a9:
I've come to expect nothing from excellence from these two guys. The record is not dissimilar to the more aggressive Twilight Singers stuff steeped in biblical references and downtrodden perspectives.
Rob G. gave it a10:
f**king great. Mark & Greg thank you.
Bob S. gave it a9:
Good.
