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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Ten Silver Drops

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 23 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 16 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Reprise
Release Date: 25 April 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
This is the sophomore set from the Texas-founded (and now New York-based) band known for its epic, proggy, psychedelic sound.
Also By This Artist: Now Here Is Nowhere Secret Machines
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...
The Guardian
These are beautiful songs, as delicate as they are rocking and heavy.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
The result is a spiritual sibling to such previous great, emotionally raw ruminations on shattered personal lives as Phil Collins' Face Value and Beck's Sea Change.
Read Full Review >Urb
An ass-kicking sophomore effort. [Mar 2006, p.111]
Alternative Press
[A] thrilling trip to the sold-out stadiums of inner space. [Jun 2006, p.190]
Q Magazine
[Secret Machines] have pruned back the vast sonic expanses of 2004's full-length debut album, focusing instead on brevity and melody. [Apr 2006, p.120]
PopMatters
Ten Silver Drops is a record made for being played at extreme volumes.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
A surprisingly strong and confident record. [#13, p.88]
Uncut
If there's any justice, the stadiums of tomorrow await them. [Apr 2006, p.105]
Prefix Magazine
Where Now Here Is Nowhere was equally about force and restraint but always in separate parts, Ten Silver Drops does well to blend the two.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
It is a qualified success, at times brilliant, at others rather vague and off target.
Read Full Review >Mojo
There are some beautiful moments. [Apr 2006, p.94]
Los Angeles Times
This is a continuation, not a breakthrough. [23 Apr 2006]
New Musical Express
Yes, the Secret Machines do prog, but vitally they do so much more.
Read Full Review >Amazon.com
Each [song] is epic (and not in the bad Creed "arms-spread-on-the-mountaintop" way): packing in more drama, billowing guitar solos and stealth pop hooks than the Strokes' entire back catalog.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
The Machines' laser-light-show-ready atmospherics don't entirely compensate for the lack of a single as catchy as their last album's "Nowhere Again."
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Lacking the dynamic cohesion that made its predecessor more than the sum of its tracklist, it feels like merely a collection of random tracks, which, despite their common themes, begin to sound haphazard in their arrangements and sequencing.
Read Full Review >Blender
The results can sometimes get bland; unlike its predecessor, which was moody and aimless, Drops is so polished that there are no ragged edges left to hang on to. [May 2006, p.109]
Observer Music Monthly
Although they are more focused on Ten Silver Drops, they also sound more reined-in and less idiosyncratic.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
The Secret Machines are still super tight, Josh Garza’s still got restrained guitar awe on his side, every song’s arrangement is still an ebb and re-ebb of soaking synth and organ drone, and the lyrics still battle with neo-adult ennui. Is it any wonder, then, that there comes a time when this can just get dull?
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Secret Machines now sound uncannily like a fusion of U2 and INXS.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
While it's admirable that The Secret Machines are trying to solidify their niche as the go-to guys for soundtracking laser light shows (or at least My Morning Jacket for indoor kids), Ten Silver Drops is a sideways moonwalk that won't get them any further away from the planetarium circuit.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Its ideas tend to outnumber its hooks. [Apr/May 2006, p.102]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Richard H gave it a6:
What a letdown. I loved Now Here is Nowhere and thought that the Secret Machines were poised for big things, but this album left me scratching my head. The best parts of the original album were the throbbing rhythms. Sadly, this new disk is mixed so that the drums are almost an afterthought. The only song that captured the sound that I dug in the past album was "Daddy's in the Doldrums" which was a pretty good listen, but none of the other songs jumped out at me. I'm going to give this CD some time to change my mind, but so far I'm disappointed at the step back that this band has apparently taken.
Leyla H gave it a1:
I heard these guys at the Austin City Limits Festival and they ROCKED! I went and bought this album and it SUCKED! Either they are only good live or maybe like Mark H said, they were playing thier old stuff at that show I saw. I was truly dissapointed with 10 drops. It was alot lot of "guy whineing" in my opinion.
Marc H gave it a4:
This album is terrible compared to their last. They went from hard hitting, spacey rock to BORING in one album. Such a disappointment.
Jack gave it a9:
Another great album, just as good as the first. Gets better with every listen
Jim D gave it an8:
Listen to this when drunk and down. Too many reviewers are clearly living happy lives, as they fail to see the point of this album. The "My Bloody Valentine" influences are pretty cool.
san gave it a10:
This is MUSIC
James R gave it a9:
One of the best albums of the year so far.
