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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

Descended Like Vultures
by Rogue Wave


8.3

based on 24 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 21 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Unlike debut 'Out Of The Shadow,' album number two is a full-band affair, with Zach Rogue joined in the studio by his touring band.

LABEL:	Sub Pop
RELEASE DATE:	25 October 2005
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock

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...

Entertainment Weekly

Rogue's high, gentle vocals and halcyon harmonies mask lyrics that are occasionally dark and cynical--but never mushy. [28 Oct 2005, p.87]

Drowned In Sound

It’s full of the minute anxieties of life that keep you awake in the early hours, but set to some of the most life-affirming sounds you’ll have heard for a long time.

Billboard

One of the year's best. [29 Oct 2005]

Junkmedia

Unlike Rogue Wave's timid debut, Vultures blazes forward with the kind of assured bravado not usually seen this side of U2.

Amazon.com

A fabulous collection of delirious, dizzy alt-pop.

Austin Chronicle

Rogue Wave has reinvented itself with soft-edged, yet masculine, music that's far from fluffy.

Uncut

What elevates Rogue Wave above the pale massed ranks of the wispy and fey, though, are melodies with real muscle, and a muscial ambition that flirts with the experimental, but remains joyously within reach of the FM dial. [Dec 2005, p.112]

Under The Radar

A perfect mix of tender melodies and rock and roll. [#11, p.108]

Slant Magazine

If not as easy to embrace as its predecessor, the album compensates with a great deal more ambition in its scope.

Pitchfork

In the end, it's hard to decide if Descended Like Vultures is better or worse than Rogue Wave's debut.

Almost Cool

One could argue that it sounds like a different group on this release, and technically it is. Still, if you like the last album from Rogue Wave, I can't imagine you going wrong with this one.

Prefix Magazine

The sanitized production can be a bit of a stumbling block, and Rogue occasionally gets ahead of himself with his high-spire vocals, but Descended Like Vultures is by and large not the sophomore slump such and such and so and so were expecting.

All Music Guide

With Descended Like Vultures, Rogue Wave have become just another indie rock band, one that has delivered a strong album without a weak song on it, but a real band just the same.

Paste Magazine

For all its efforts to dazzle, Rogue Wave's music rarely engages the emotions the way it ought to. [Dec 2005, p.124]

Trouser Press

Some of the bridges still get hazy, and a few songs sound like each other, but for the most part, the guitars revel in their unleashed electricity and the rhythms are layered, propulsive and paradoxically so anchored they seem free.

Delusions of Adequacy

The band hasn’t yet proven capable of rendering a thoroughly remarkable album. This is nothing to be ashamed of, though.

Mojo

It's sweet and vivid, but also a bit messy. [Dec 2005, p.116]

PopMatters

Descended Like Vultures still has its moments of pleasing, ephemeral pop, but those moments, if nothing else, work as nice interludes between the more engaging numbers.

Rolling Stone

The cumulative effect feels a little dreary. [1 Dec 2005, p.128]

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Though it's generally enjoyable throughout, Descended Like Vultures feels more stunted than it should, as though Rogue were afraid to open up these songs too much.

cokemachineglow

The production swamps. Too many waves of superfluities covering weak melodies and spearheading disappointing "new directions," too often sounding like the work of a far less interesting band.

Alternative Press

Rogue Wave now resemble a more earnest Flaming Lips. [Dec 2005, p.204]

Splendid

While the Big Chorus and post-hardcore theatricality are hardly disparate stylistic traits, it's odd that Rogue Wave would embrace them after establishing themselves as a nuanced pop outfit.

Stylus Magazine

Descended Like Vultures snuggles down between Wolf Parade’s Apologies To The Queen Mary and Modest Mouse’s 2004 release, Good News For People Who Like Bad News as a competent, half-slapped together, half-methodic slice of evolved indie-rock.

The average user rating for this album is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael B. gave it a10:
I don't care what some of the critics say, this is some of the most thoughtful, intelligent, and even emotional music being written these days. This is the album for an autumn drive through the entire length of a flat state when you almost want to wave at any of the four cars you pass. Love. It.

Curtis W gave it a9:
Rogue Wave, the band everybody loves to hate - where everybody is either a) a jackass or b) less than 26 years old. I know! I'm going to poop in my pants and call it the Arcade Fire and then rub it in my hair! I get so sick of everyones RW qualifications. It's not easy to make songs like this. Grow up and recognize.

Mack B gave it a10:
Wow, this is one amazing album. This one almost slipped past me, unnoticed, until my bro tipped me on to it. Most of the low "professional" reviews are just lazy...and what's sad is that this is immediate stuff, so why take such a narrow-minded view? The melodies get stuck in your mind easily, yet most of the songs reward the listener on multiple listens, despite their instant catchiness. Oh well, just because some critics want to write them off doesn't diminish the album - it's just too bad these guys aren't quite getting the credit they deserve for writing such wonderful music.

Matt gave it a10:
A perfect combination of the Beatles, Elliott Smith, and their own experimentation. One of the best of the year.

Sean T gave it a3:
such a letdown from their debut. retained none of the warmth or good feeling instead we get overproduced half assed experimentation over non-memorable melodies. ugh

Derek B gave it a10:
Brilliant album which showcases Zach's diverse musical interests and influences. The songs have many layers and I have enjoyed it even more after many listens. I'm rather at a loss to explain some of the more lukewarm reviews -- superficial reviewers who just like vanilla don't get it.

Will gave it a9:
Definitely one of the best albums of the year, if you know what good music is.

Descended Like Vultures by Rogue Wave

Descended Like Vultures
by Rogue Wave