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Consolers Of The Lonely

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 83 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warner Bros.
Release Date: 25 March 2008
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock
Summary
The Raconteurs surprised much of the music industry by announcing the release of its sophomore album a week before it was released.
Also By This Artist: Broken Boy Soldiers
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...
Boston Globe
Not content to merely shake up the music industry by releasing Consolers with only one week's advance notice, the Raconteurs have also had the nerve to drop a near-classic album.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
The result is neither refined nor especially modern, but it still evokes the thrill of playing hooky on a Friday afternoon.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
A notable progression from the foursome, and plenty of huge riffs to enjoy at the summer festivals.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
while one can easily imagine smoke machines spurting during many of the album's 13 other tracks, there is no irony in the mix. Just fun.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
The Raconteurs are singing, more often than not, about desperate characters. But that desperation only makes the crunch of the music more euphoric.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
White's second fling with The Raconteurs is quite the party, and perhaps one that may leave Meg a bit jealous.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The Raconteurs establish a firm, emotionally charged identity of their own when White finally takes a back seat to Brendan Benson.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
"Broken Boy Soldiers" lacked tunes like these, tunes with considerable weight, and these songs turn Consolers of the Lonely into a lop-sided, bottom-loaded album that's better and richer than their debut.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
Consolers of the Lonely, despite its surprise entrance, is predictably pleasing, a fine collection of shit-kicking rock n' roll just varied and experimental enough to sound original and unbored.
Read Full Review >Blender
The introductory kiddie voice and opening guitar scrape establish this second album as White's show; mariachi-style brass fanfare, Appalachian-hoedown fiddling and plenty of Roman-candle solos soon follow. [June 2008, p.76]
Uncut
Twice as long as the band's debut, it's also more than doubly assured. [June 2008, p.99]
Observer Music Monthly
Consolers of the Lonely is heftier than its predecessor, both in its Led Zep-go-garage wig-outs and in its cosmic balladeering.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
There are blunders ("Attention," "You Don't Understand Me"), but Lonely consoles with the strongest and most diverse album from any of these raconteurs in years.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Whether it was intended or not, White's personality sometimes overwhelms, and makes Consolers sound like a little sibling to Icky Thump--a little less unique, certainly, but another loose, comfortable affirmation of what they do well.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
With plenty of talent, the Raconteurs have a unique sound; they only need to spend more time trimming it down.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Overall, Consolers feels less like a project and more like a jam session. But it's fun to watch White make things up as he goes along.
Read Full Review >Hot Press
Jack White’s bit on the side return with an accomplished and musically diverse second album.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Sometimes The Raconteurs' competence and professionalism get in the way of their fieriness, particularly in moments that sound like a White Stripes album given a coat of '70s AOR polish.
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
With Consolers of the Lonely, the Raconteurs are still content to play record-collection plunderers, but instead of ripping what they can from the '60s, they spend much of the album as twenty-first-century stand-ins for Grand Funk Railroad, Blue Oyster Cult and Three Dog Night, playing big, limp, calculated rock 'n’ roll.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Consolers is a labored album, the product of much studio tinkering and a desperate need for the band to prove themselves as a “serious” outfit.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Great fun to record, no doubt, and probably great live, but an annoying conceit on record.
Read Full Review >Spin
But too often, the Raconteurs' love of twisty, monolithic rock gives way to bombast that teeters between homage and parody.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Most of the album is in second person, and it’s another way that Consolers of the Lonely isolates the audience. The lonely are far from consoled; they’re made to feel uninvited to a fantastic party. [Summer 2008]
Drowned In Sound
Consolers of the Lonely is often grotesquely overblown despite moments of genuine excitement.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
What keeps Consolers of the Lonely from being an outright shit affair is, predictably, the assembled chops of its musicians, a group never so much fussy as amicable, wide-eyed about the righteous licks and insensitive tempo shifts they solder together so tightly.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
It’s a much more musically diverse album than the Raconteurs have done before, but there are many more misses than hits among these 14 tracks.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 83 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Wes M. gave it a9:
While I liked BBS quite a bit, this second album is much better and holds up well to repeated listens.
Michteff S. gave it a10:
So much better than Broken Boy Soldiers, it's not even funny. Carolina Drama, Many Shades of Black, The Switch and the Spur are my favorite songs, but the whole album is great.
Jacob S. gave it an8:
I feel like it was a rush-job and Jack was feeling kind of edgy and got his "angst" out through this album, whereas broken boy soldiers felt a little more passionate. Don't get me wrong, its a totally bitchin, rock your balls off album, but some songs sound a little JET (you know, COLD HARD BITCH). thats why it gets a 7 in my book.
Shane M. gave it a9:
Top 5 of the year so far. Any reviewer that doesn't see it is only still hung up on comparing everything Jack White does to Elephant.
Brooke A gave it a9:
This album is amazing.... let's just get that straight. And if you liked Broken Boy Soldiers better, then you never really understood that the Raconteurs were going in THIS direction all along. My dears, listen to White Stripes (And by that I mean, all albums, not just Icky and Elephant) and the Greenhornes. How crazy is it that a certain well known ROCK magazine gave BBS a 4.0 and COTL a 3.5????? Ah well.... actually I prefer when GREAT music is not understood by the public.... bec then I don't hear it blaring out from soccer mom's cars and all you who wouldn't understand amazing music unless someone tells you it is amazing.
Tom H. gave it an8:
Almost as good as Elephant, but hands-down better than Broken Boy Soldiers.
Geoff L. gave it a10:
Great album through and through. No song is the same but all are catchy and creative. Jack White's diversity is continually impressive.
