Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
Best of 2008
Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004
Best of 2003
Best of 2002
Best of 2001
Best of 2000
Best of the Decade
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
75
2562
54
30 Seconds to Mars
62
50 Cent
71
AC/DC
70
The Album Leaf
52
Kris Allen
68
Tori Amos
66
Animal Collective
84
Animal Collective
77
Annie
57
Apse
63
Asobi Seksu
59
Bad Lieutenant
83
Julianna Barwick
82
Beach House
72
Beak>
72
Bibio
65
Justin Bieber
76
Biffy Clyro
74
Blakroc
75
Mary J. Blige
78
Blockhead
52
Bon Jovi
54
Susan Boyle
57
The Bravery
39
Chris Brown
64
V.V. Brown
70
Basia Bulat
79
Chew Lips
74
Citay
65
Clipse
66
Cold War Kids
75
The Cribs
58
Dashboard Confessional
81
Dave Rawlings Machine
70
Delphic
78
The Doors
58
Echo & The Bunnymen
73
Edan
59
Editors
69
Eels
80
Felt
74
First Aid Kit
69
Flyleaf
83
Four Tet
82
Ben Frost
82
Fucked Up
83
Charlotte Gainsbourg
63
The Gilded Palace Of Sin
68
Githead
65
Joe Goddard
58
Good Shoes
72
Gucci Mane
75
Holopaw
82
Jesca Hoop
79
Hot Chip
72
The Hot Rats
88
Ray Wylie Hubbard
54
Hurricane Chris
66
Allison Iraheta
59
Jay Sean
82
Freedy Johnston
57
Nick Jonas And The Administration
73
Norah Jones
49
Juvenile
58
Ke$ha
62
R. Kelly
66
Alicia Keys
68
Kid Sister
81
King Midas Sound
63
Lady Antebellum
76
Lady GaGa
71
Adam Lambert
78
Lawrence Arabia
61
Leona Lewis
74
Lightspeed Champion
36
Lil Wayne
82
Lindstrom & Christabelle
77
Lissie
78
Los Campesinos!
70
Lostprophets
73
Magnetic Fields
72
Massive Attack
64
John Mayer
71
Paul McCartney
58
Katherine McPhee
86
Memory Tapes
72
Midlake
88
Motion City Soundtrack
63
Mr. Hudson
53
Mudvayne
75
Oh No Ono
70
OK Go
72
Ola Podrida
61
OneRepublic
80
Owen Pallett
80
Pantha du Prince
90
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
80
Phantogram
60
Pit Er Pat
63
Priestess
70
Radian
79
Corinne Bailey Rae
54
Rakim
79
Real Estate
77
Retribution Gospel Choir
76
Rihanna
64
Rjd2
65
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
77
Sade
77
Gil Scott-Heron
72
Shakira
82
Shining
61
Snoop Dogg
62
Snow Patrol
71
The Soft Pack
80
Spoon
64
Ringo Starr
59
Stereophonics
76
Angie Stone
79
Surfer Blood
74
Switchfoot
75
Them Crooked Vultures
74
Robin Thicke
50
Timbaland
79
tUnE-YaRDs
80
Vampire Weekend
79
Laura Veirs
79
Tom Waits
78
Wale
65
The Watson Twins
66
Kanye West
76
The Whitefield Brothers
64
Robbie Williams
80
Yeasayer
62
Young Money
75
Neil Young
61
Rob Zombie
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Valende
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 9 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sub Pop
Release Date: 25 January 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
'Valende' is the third album overall and American debut for the Italian psychedelic rock band Jennifer Gentle. (Note that there is nobody in the band actually named Jennifer, and we are unsure about exactly how gentle they are.)
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site 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...
Stylus Magazine
Valende is really a more significant album than a lot of people seem to be giving it credit for being, and one hopes that it will be remembered as such.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Syd Barrett meets Fellini. [28 Jan 2005, p.85]
Tiny Mix Tapes
We find ourselves encountering songs that give themselves the time and space to breathe, build, incorporate shimmering choirs of backing singers and more layered overdubs than you can shake a stick at into the mix.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Most of Valende's songs have that creepy nursery-rhyme thing that people who read too much Lewis Carroll would call "whimsy." [Mar 2005, p.132]
All Music Guide
As familiar as the psychedelic reference points may be, Jennifer Gentle are able to distill them into something contemporary, or at least make listeners feel like contemporaries of a psychedelic era, both past and present.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
It reveals a manic, uncommon glint in their inventive fires, the unmistakable fervid gleam which accompanies artists who know exactly what they're doing, even if the rest of us don't.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
It's hard to hear some of these songs coming from the same country, let alone the same band, as some of the others, and this lack of stylistic (or any sort of) cohesion may prove Jennifer Gentle's undoing.
Read Full Review >Mojo
A kaleidoscopic funfair of angloid psychedelia, baroque folk-pop and open-minded sonic exploration. [Mar 2005, p.96]
Splendid
Effortlessly charming and strangely compelling, despite moments of complete and utter unlistenability.
Read Full Review >Magnet
Whimsical, immaculately realized music. [#67, p.98]
Paste Magazine
An esoteric, wonderfully eccentric psychedelic record. [#14, p.123]
Lost At Sea
Its sagging middle aside, Valende may be one of the stronger psychedelic pop releases to come my way in the last couple of years.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
JG manages to both make fun and have fun, their music more goofy than cynical.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
You're left wondering what you just ingested, and how you can score more.
Read Full Review >Billboard
At times compelling in its eccentricities, this record emphasizes experimentation rather than tunefulness.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
The wide-eyed soundtrack to an afternoon-stoner daydream. [#8, p.106]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 9 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Aaron J. gave it a9:
Very strange voice! Very naive spychedelia!
charlotte r gave it a9:
hypnotic, mysterious and...er...gentle psychedelic pop from italy's finest. "i do dream you" sounds like a lost '60's gem, but the real highlight is "circles of sorrow": almost seven minutes of sheer beauty. brilliant!
JD Burton gave it a9:
best album i bought in a while. warm, subtle acid folk from two Italian guys who took too much lsd.
Laurence HC gave it a3:
Awfully unbearable! Two songs are acceptable... but the rest is hideous!
