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PopMatters

It's her darkest and most complex record to date, an examination of the centripetal destruction that consumes lives at the point of no return.

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Uncut

Songs unfold as complex relationships, with attendant euphoria, doubt and internal demons. [May 2005, p.112]

Delusions of Adequacy

While nothing on The Forgotten Arm is brand new for her, it's a natural evolution from what her fans have gotten used to, the minor-key laments and regrets of Bachelor No. 2 and Lost in Space.

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Paste Magazine

While the emotional payoff of the album proves more satisfying than anything she’s done so far, the individual tracks don’t stand alone as well.

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Village Voice

The songs on The Forgotten Arm are too engaging to dismiss their familiarity.

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Entertainment Weekly

Forgotten Arm still sounds like Aimee Mann. And that's not a bad thing. [29 Apr 2005, p.147]

Pitchfork

Here's yet another exemplary Aimee Mann album to add to the pile.

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cokemachineglow

The best songs on The Forgotten Arm reveal the extremes of love and despair under their smiling masks, but the sorrows of the album are tempered by what can only be Mann’s own joy.

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Junkmedia

And though she may be running in place lyrically, her melodies have never been keener and her vocals grow richer and more confident with each release.

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ShakingThrough.net

Once the contrivance of The Forgotten Arm’s vaguely sketched plot device crumbles, there are still solid tracks to be found.

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Prefix Magazine

Enough bending guitar licks to satisfy the yuppiest of thirtysomething businessmen and enough mellow ballads to satisfy your Dixie Chicks-loving mom.

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Trouser Press

Some of the songs are immediately engrossing... Others mostly carry the story forward while allowing Mann to indulge her career-long taste for vintage keyboard orchestration, coolly elegant pop arrangements and displays of tart wordplay.

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All Music Guide

While the music here isn't as good as that on Bachelor, the strict structure does help give The Forgotten Arm direction, helping shape it into one of her more consistent albums.

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E! Online

Unfortunately, this straightforward approach also reveals how straight-up dull Mann's country-tinged songs can be.

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Q Magazine

Sketched out over a dozen songs, the idea doesn't quite hang together. [May 2005, p.114]

Rolling Stone

This time around her songs are more pleasurable for seeming less deeply felt. [5 May 2005, p.72]

Mojo

An unfussy affair. [Jun 2005, p.108]

Blender

If she doesn't follow commercial formulas, she's following creative ones, and selling herself short in the process. [Jun 2005, p.111]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Mann's signature wordplay sounds clichéd and exhausted, and her melodies lack the energy and pop sparkle that distinguished her pre-Lost In Space work.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes

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

Tim H gave it an8:
This album is still growing on me. Very very nice effort by Aimmee. Congrats

Sam D gave it a7:
On this site, i continue to hear the same thing; Lost in Space was dull. One, people who say that didn't listen to the lyrics whatsoever; It's Not, Today's the Day, and Real Bad News are some of the best, and most tragically beautiful, lyrics i have ever heard. So when I popped The Forgotten Arm, I was shocked to hear that some of the songs slipped a bit in the lyrical department. They were all still beautiful, but it seemed that Aimee wasn't behind all of them 100%. Goodbye Caroline and Beautiful captured my heart from the first go 'round, but the others will take a few more test drives before they become memorable.

Austin A gave it a9:
In this story of agonizing love, Aimee Mann seems to lose focus on some songs yet the great ones make the album timeless.

Chad S gave it a9:
Ploughing through "Lost in Music" for the first time brought back memories of my disappointment towards Prince's "Graffiti Bridge"; the shock that creative fatigue happens to the great ones, too. It was the first time an Aimee Mann album made me yawn(even 'til tuesday's "Welcome Home") has more high points). With some trepidation, I pressed "play" on my cheap-ass cd player, and that trepidation was waylaid. Aimee Mann is back. There's no "Mr. Harris"(I think this is her finest moment), "Frankenstein", or "Ghost World", but Mann is once again melding intelligent lyrics to hummable melodies like no other female singer-songwriter in the past fifteen years. And this includes the third 'til tuesday album, which has "Rip in Heaven", where Mann deftly encapsulates romantic disappointment with unerring naked verve in its rousing chorus, and "Limits to Love", a character sketch every bit as stunning as "Mr. Harris". As for "The Forgotten Arm", my favorite songs are "Goodbye Caroline", "Video", and "I Can't Help you Anymore". She's coming to Hawaii and I hope she plays "Sign of Love"(from "Back to the Beach"), even though it's a cover. Somebody needs to give that neglected gem some props.

John B gave it a9:
Terrific. Benefits enormously from the new stripped-down sound (no fussy overdubs... a much leaner production) which gives it a real directness. A real relief to get away from complaint and confessional and move towards writing about third parties. Great stuff.

Pope John Paul gave it a9:
No, there are no major musical innovations here (honestly, there haven't been any since Bachelor No. 2 for Aimee), but this is still arguably the most consistent album she has released yet, and it's great to hear her sounding revitalized after the near-terminally dull Lost In Space. There is no way that wasn't a run-on sentence.

levvy gave it an8:
A great follow up to Lost in Space (admittedly, possibly even better than said album). Faves include King of the Jailhouse, Going Through the Motions, I Can't Get My Head Around It and Video

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The Forgotten Arm

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