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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Excuses for Travelers
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 15 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: 4AD
Release Date: 05 September 2000
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Alternative, Indie
Summary
Also By This Artist: Puzzles Like You Spoon And Rafter
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...
Sonicnet
Mojave 3's lead singer, primary songwriter and aforementioned poet, Neil Halstead, writes simple, graceful love songs populated by lonely characters who are usually hopelessly hopeful and usually, albeit fleetingly, in love.... Excuses for Travellers is beautiful music for romance's never-ending cycles of beginnings and ends.
Read Full Review >Magnet
For the most part, Excuses plays like a companion piece to 1998's Out Of Tune--chock full of the lethargic pedal steel and Topanga Canyon-rock cornerstones that make [Neil] Halstead's songs so powerful. However... Excuses leaves room for more delicate moments and patient ballads... [#47, p.108]
Launch.com
Stronger than 1999's terminally delicate Out Of Tune, Excuses takes a bolder and more assertive approach to Halstead's tunes, giving him a sound akin to like-minded Aussie singer-songwriter Paul Kelly.
Read Full Review >Spin
A record that's at once stark and lush... Mojave 3 makes sadsack rock of the first order, flying over the lives of the hopeless in such a way as to make their failures cinematic, their pains panoramic.
Read Full Review >CDNow
The country-tinged melodies and beautifully simple arrangements combine with the downcast romanticism of singer Neil Halstead's lyrics in a way that is simultaneously inspired and confident.
Read Full Review >HOB.com
The tight focus on craft and detail within the simple compositions and deep emotions Mojave 3 display on their third album, Excuses for Travelers, is something to take note.... Halstead's writing compares closely to Wilco, and Hank Williams on occasion...
Read Full Review >Billboard
A melancholy gem of gorgeous, whispery folk and delicate countrified rock.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
The difference this time is small but significant, in the overall high quality threshold - from the silken slo-mo waltz of 'In Love With A View' to the listless Dylan-lite stumble of 'She Broke You So Softly', there's not a bum note here. Which is not necessarily a recommendation. Because if you stand too close to these tunes they can seem suspiciously perfect, like a newly painted Wild West movie set.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Decidedly mellow and acoustic in nature, 'Excuses' continues [Neil] Halstead's love affair with country, folk, and pop.... masterfully written, recorded, and played. [#147, p.103]
Q Magazine
The songs here convey life's troubles - failing relationships, feelings of rootlessness - with an unfeasibly languid, almost opiated calm.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
One of Excuses for Travelers' greatest weaknesses is that the album is too uniformly boring to be affecting in the least.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
donnie darko gave it a 10:
one of the best albums ever.
