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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Magic Numbers
EMAILPRINTby The Magic Numbers
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 74 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Capitol / Heavenly
Release Date: 04 October 2005
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Pop
Summary
This debut disc showcases the 50s and 60s pop stylings and three-part harmonies of the pair of brother-sister duos (Romeo & Michelle Stodart and Sean & Angela Gannon) that make up The Magic Numbers.
Also By This Artist: Those The Brokes
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...
musicOMH.com
Nothing quite prepares you for the sheer beauty of The Magic Numbers' music.
Read Full Review >Mojo
The Magic Numbers have made one of the records--perhaps the record--that 2005 is destined to be remembered for. [Jul 2005, p.110]
Drowned In Sound
A record that will endure beyond this year, this decade and the rest.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
The comparisons to the Mamas and the Papas are ultimately weak; there's a lot of blues mixed in with the folky pop, and traces of '80s British band Prefab Sprout, who also spun their troubles into melodic gold full of boy/girl harmonizing.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
There are pretty, moody moments... but what unites them all is a cheery, zippy exuberance that is rare these days. [21 Oct 2005, p.75]
E! Online
There's a bit an identity crisis going on here, but fans of this stuff ought to fall under the Numbers' spell pretty darn fast.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Gives up its delights slowly and not without a wry smirk along the way. [11 Jun 2005, p.66]
PopMatters
I am tempted to describe The Magic Numbers as the new Coldplay because they have in spades what originally made Coldplay so wonderful; that is, a complete lack of affectation and waves of translucent, warm vulnerability, along with hushed vocal lines that sink into your brain like hot ball bearings.
Read Full Review >Blender
Resistance is useless. [Oct 2005, p.139]
Uncut
Unlike the solar-powered efforts of The Thrills or The Polyphonic Spree, they understand, like The Beach Boys before them, that the best way to soundtrack a broken heart is to drench it in sunny three-part harmonies. [Jul 2005, p.102]
Q Magazine
If you can forgive them their fondness for epic arrangements, theirs is a debut to transport you to a gentler place. [Jul 2005, p.122]
Pitchfork
The songwriting falls a couple of times too many into timid generalities about love and loss; the melodies, though lovely, are sometimes interchangeable.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
It's entirely contrary to conventional CD construction and all the more appealing for being so. [2 Oct 2005]
ShakingThrough.net
While the lyrics tend toward the generic and vapid... the primary appeal of Magic Numbers is the lovely harmonizing.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Cheeseball preciousness weighs down slower numbers such as "This Love," but when they're firing on all cylinders, the Magic Numbers treat their record collections like Romeo treats the idea of true love: as a source of wide-eyed wonder and a reason to get out of bed.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
The album becomes increasingly hard to hold onto. The band gets lost in the feel of hippie-era California and forgets that the musicians they admire were skilled craftsmen as well as aesthetic adventurers.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
If you like the singles, you won’t be disappointed by The Magic Numbers, but you won’t be astounded either.
Read Full Review >Filter
A charming if adolescent collection of bubblegum harmonies and none-too-complicated pop. [#17, p.101]
Slant Magazine
High, lovely harmonies notwithstanding, a good 15 minutes chopped could've meant the difference between merely being noticed and creating a minor masterpiece of nostalgia-infused pop.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Given their youth, it does indeed promise much, but please, hold off on that honours listing for a while yet.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Pleasant enough.... but many [songs] fall short, and the constant harping about love... begins to wear thin. [#11, p.111]
All Music Guide
It all glides by easily enough on its surface, but dig a little deeper and The Magic Numbers reveals itself to be not just a crashing bore, but an irritating one.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.5 (out of 10) based on 74 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
tim gave it a5:
Their average. I get this band confused with all the other B&S ripoffs of that era.
Angello C gave it a10:
showing us that music styles never expire, maybe it sounds like 60's but its perfect to take us away, specially today, when everybody with stress need it
Christina M gave it a10:
This album has something for everyone and every mood.
john c gave it a10:
What an album brilliant harmonies those guitars check them out live you wont regret it
Brett N gave it a7:
Easy to listen to but is that something to get so excited about some nice songs just not enough of them. Mornings Eleven, Forever Lost, This Love, Love's A Game
Simon G gave it a10:
Blows me away every time. I was sucked in by the Forever Lost single; was not disappointed by the album. Listen to it everyday. Love's a Game is the best one.
Geronimo H gave it a10:
This is the best album released in 2005, its highly original, cannot be compared to anything else. Its Highly original and refreshing, especially to release this kind of sound where everybody goes arctic monkey or coldplay shit....sweet sweet voice, great melodies, emotional, funny, and the best thing is the songs sound cheerfull where the lyrics are pretty depressing....now thats humour...gotta listen and listen again...
