Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

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

sort by namesort by score

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.

Beneath the Velvet Sun

EMAILPRINTby Shawn Mullins

Shawn Mullins reviews
63
9.3 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 5 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 6 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >

Album Info

Label: Columbia

Release Date: 24 October 2000

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Rock

Summary

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...

70

CDNow

An eclectic and enjoyable mixture of pop, light rock, light country, and tinny, horn-happy soul, Velvet is almost compulsively cheery.

Read Full Review >
68

Wall of Sound

When Mullins hits his mark (as he often does on Beneath the Velvet Sun), the results constitute Southern-flavored pop at its finest. Just don't expect your world to be rocked by lyrical insights or musical innovation.

Read Full Review >
60

Checkout.com

Sun's production is disappointingly safe, walking down a very predictable, somewhat dated road, instead of machete-chopping a path of its own.... [Its] most dazzling moments are its most straightforward -- the ones where Mullins strips away his affectations and flashes naked emotion.

60

All Music Guide

Beneath the Velvet Sun is the uneven work of a talented artist who doesn't seem to trust the idiosyncratic approach that brought him to national attention enough to really let himself go. You can hardly blame him for trying to play it safe, given his one-hit wonder status, but the album's very bow to commercialism may keep it from being the hit it might have been.

Read Full Review >
50

Entertainment Weekly

It's Richard Marx filtered through Beck. [10/27/2000, p.121]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.3 (out of 10) based on 6 User Votes

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

Diana S gave it a10:
I think this is Shawn's best cd yet, and I love them all! A while back I lost my cd case and my entire library of cd's. Shawn's cd's were the first ones I sought to replace. Keep up the good work Shawn.

Jarmila K gave it a10:
My goodness, this album is very very very good just like all the others he has made. He really is the best according to me. I can't stop listening to this cd. I'm addicted to it!

Jan J gave it a 9:
Wonderful. Great for singing to. Soulful. Emotional. Is in touch with emotions of human beings.

Vivian V. gave it a 10:
I haven't stopped listening to this album since I got it 3 months ago- I know every note in every song, and I never tire of it. It's an incredible production. I rank Shawn Mullins right up there with Little Feat and Jimi Jamison of Survivor- sheer brilliance.This album has prompted me to purchase 'Soul's Core', which is equally incredible.

Theo C. gave it a 7:
This is clever and light with what feels like an authentic Southern flavour to this BritCrit. The lightness is simultaneously a strength and a weakness: often fun but challenging only in the wit of the lyrics.

Jason M. gave it a 10:
One of the best albums I've owned. A leap of faith from one good song on the radio. A touch of the South and truw enjoyment of making music. Not a bad guy.

Popular on CBS sites: College Signing Day | Olympics | Lost | iPhone | Cell Phones | Video Game Reviews | Free Music

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy (UPDATED) | Terms of Use