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Neumu.net

They still retain a unique identity even as they plunder and explore more generic alt-rock themes, and their particular skill is in making this transformation seem logical and welcome.

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Entertainment Weekly

Indie rock's maturing avatars of tense lethargy paint life as an epic fade. [21 Jan 2005, p.88]

Spin

Years of gradually opening up their minimalism have imbued Low with the wisdom to make every new layer count. [Feb 2005, p.91]

Drowned In Sound

Simply another shimmering LP from a truly original band.

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Splendid

The Great Destroyer is a marvel of layered beauty -- the sort of album that makes you call in sick to work so you can spend a day with headphones clamped to your head, charting its every elegant nuance.

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Paste Magazine

Songs like “California” and “Walk Into the Sea,” by far the sunniest, poppiest material Low has ever produced, shatter the mopey mold the band has so carefully cultivated, and to thrilling results.

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Delusions of Adequacy

A career-defining work.

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Dot Music

A work so consistently stirring, stately, and pop-aware it makes most recent guitar-based art-rock albums look tawdry.

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PopMatters

What makes The Great Destroyer surprising is how seamlessly they balance all these moods and sounds. Not to mention courageously. This is an album, not a collection of Low songs.

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No Ripcord

Stunningly good.

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Lost At Sea

The Great Destroyer is a masterpiece of emotional tumult.

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Stylus Magazine

Even the lesser tracks here endear themselves upon multiple listens, and the best stuff is uniquely exciting given their context of departure from a well-loved sound.

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Filter

The true surprise, then, is not the feedback and guitar solos... it's the more pop-oriented structure and melodies. [#14, p.104]

Drawer B

Low sounds fearless in its experimentation. Such personal intimacy juxtaposed with extremely haughty pretension could easily turn off listeners, but it’s all woven together so well that it’s hard to dismiss even the wrong turns.

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All Music Guide

Fridmann's detailed sound is a far cry from either Kramer or Albini's minimalist tendencies, but his work here shows that Low can sound as good in elaborate settings as they do in simple ones.

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Village Voice

Destroyer simmers with life in all of its noisy, tuneful excess.

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Blender

The boldest album of their career. [Mar 2005, p.141]

Mojo

Though not an unqualified triumph... The Great Destroyer is the latest high from a band that routinely rewards the virtue of patience. [Feb 2005, p.94]

The Guardian

When The Great Destroyer rocks, it rocks with passion, rigour and an unmistakable but enormously dignified rage.

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New Musical Express

Anger has always been at the root of Low's modus operandi; the difference, ultimately, is that where once it lurked behind marble pillars, it now stomps and snorts like a pig on a griddle. [29 Jan 2005, p.59]

Junkmedia

The album is harsher, darker, and just plain louder than Low have ever been in their 10-year career.

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ShakingThrough.net

Low goes overboard at points, and detrimentally so... [but] the dissonance and harmonies mostly gel.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

In making like a post-rock Crazy Horse, Low has found new ways to eke dynamic moments out of lingering notes.

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Under The Radar

A gamble that paid off in spades for a band that... is still sounding fresher, tighter and more relevant with each record. [#8, p.107]

cokemachineglow

The thing that lifts The Great Destroyer just above an album like Trust is that it is more spirited: there’s a hint of revival here.

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Almost Cool

With the new directions in sound, there are a couple places where the group stumbles just a bit.

Rolling Stone

The result is impressively visceral darkness. [10 Feb 2005, p.81]

Uncut

Generally, the album has a frantic, acidic, raggedly glorious feel. [Feb 2005, p.85]

Dusted Magazine

“Everybody’s Song” features the melodic discipline, barely contained anguish and cryptic lyrical finger-wagging that marked the last few Posies records. “Just Stand Back” (“I’m gonna turn on you so fast”) is a hateful little bon-bon that could stand tall on a Sugar record. And yet, The Great Destroyer remains too rickety and pristine to be anyone’s baby but Low’s.

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Q Magazine

While a generic indie rock sound is flirted with, an amicable relationship deelops between that and their trademark hush. [Mar 2005, p.100]

Alternative Press

A whole that's less than the sum of its parts, a bittersweet pill that's best taken in small doses. [Feb 2005, p.88]

Playlouder

Whether this is an album that actually suits them is another matter, but it actually makes them feel entirely relevant and, for as prolific a decade-old band, that’s high praise indeed.

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Pitchfork

If this album is indeed the beginning of a long, arduous journey of rediscovery and rebirth and other fun ponderous stuff, here's hoping the rest of the trip is more enjoyable than this initial misstep.

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Tiny Mix Tapes

Half a good album, half disastrously wrong.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 33 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mo L gave it a10:
One of my favorite albums, and by far the best album of the year.

Darrel F gave it a10:
This album continues to surprise and amaze me. It get's better with each listen.

matt z gave it a10:
A criminally overlooked album.

Dis Mantler gave it an8:
A painless transition to a new sound with many great and one phenomenal ("Pissing") song.

Wayne B gave it an8:
There have been indications on the past couple of releases (i.e., Dinosaur Act and Canada) that Low might be headed towards an up-tempo rock n' roll record like Destroyer and it is pleasing to hear they have accomplished their vision with integrity and attention to detail. It is understandable if longtime Low lovers scratch their heads in disbelief with this one, however, I'm certain Destroyer will at least take the honor of "2005 finest Sub Pop release" if that's any consolation to bewildered fans. Get well soon Alan!

[Anonymous] gave it a6:
Not sure why this CD is getting some much love. Overall, it's ok but pretty boring.

du gave it a10:
Buzzing, ferocious, and Low's most beautiful record. "Broadway (So Many People)" is the best track this year, and the rest is only slightly behind.

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The Great Destroyer

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