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...

100

The Guardian

These are beautiful songs, as delicate as they are rocking and heavy.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Dot Music

It is a qualified success, at times brilliant, at others rather vague and off target.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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?

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All Music Guide

Secret Machines now sound uncannily like a fusion of U2 and INXS.

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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.

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Paste Magazine

Its ideas tend to outnumber its hooks. [Apr/May 2006, p.102]

Delusions of Adequacy

These songs are painfully uneventful.

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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.

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Ten Silver Drops

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