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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
()
Universal acclaim
Based on 20 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 45 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: MCA / Fat Cat
Release Date: 29 October 2002
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The very, very distinctive Icelandic band generated an enormous amount of positive press (and deservingly so) for their previous effort, 'Ágætis Byrjun,' which led to a major-label deal and this album, which, like each of its eight tracks, does not have a real title.
Also By This Artist: Ágætis Byrjun Hvarf/Heim Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust Takk... Von
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...
Alternative Press
Some of the most evocative music of this century. [Dec 2002, p.97]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
It actually transcends its predecessor in its unsettling, under-the-skin beauty.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
The Icelandic quartet again create an ethereal stir with sparse, atmospheric melodies and a falsetto wail, often recalling the sonic swirl of Stateside slow-core acts like Low. [1 Nov 2002, p.70]
Uncut
The music here is intimate yet remote. [Dec 2002, p.140]
Almost Cool
It's one of those releases that takes awhile to seep in completely, and while there are a great deal of amazing songs, it doesn't move me quite as much as their last disc.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
The album coheres; it's a full body of work intended to be heard holistically, not simply as a collection of songs. But it takes some work. You must be an active listener to appreciate it fully.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
This impressive follow-up sounds remarkably similar -- it's just packaged more pretentiously.
Read Full Review >Spin
On (), the band steer their ghost ship into darker waters, erecting a vast, austere cathedral of sound, then sticking around to score a funeral mass inside. [Dec 2002, p.140]
Blender
Charming and enrapturing, adrift in its own unique, invented world. [#11, p.142]
Mojo
The album rocks, its symphonic depth and stratosphere-surfing melodies more affecting with each subsequent listen. [Jan 2003, p.98]
Dusted Magazine
When the mood allows, and there's time to let it all sink in, an album like ( ) is indispensable nearly from beginning to end.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
A masterpiece of bombed orchestral elegance, at once expansive and intense. [Dec 2002, p.112]
All Music Guide
The fact that the emotional extremes are few and far between makes the album difficult to wade through -- its impact would've been tripled with about half an hour lopped off, but where to begin?
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
A decent follow-up from a band who has already proven themselves capable of much, much more.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
More inventive song writing and a less antagonistic stance could have helped Sigur Ros create something as equally stirring as their previous album.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
When it works its magic, as on the opening suite of tracks, you will happily sit mesmerised for seven or eight minutes of glimmering sonic twilight and translucently tingling ambi-organic pearly-dewdrops droppery. But when the spell is broken, as on two or three later tunes, when more traditional instrumentation turns up late and dishevelled for a half-hearted cosmic-rock supernova, the effect is rather like gatecrashing some purgatorial soundcheck by a Pink Floyd covers band in, say, 1968. Or possibly Spiritualized.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
So maybe there's nothing here more interesting or deep or significant than what it is on the surface: a very beautiful record that means nothing more than what it is...
Read Full Review >Splendid
An overblown, overhyped dreamy swirl of sound that can't commit itself to being anything.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 45 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Panos K gave it a7:
It's a good album, but not as good as their previous one. It's still intriguing at times but the no-name-thing often becomes hard to bear.
TKO FOX gave it a10:
Mmmm... good. i like it when good bands make great music.
Tim H gave it a10:
As others have already expressed, words cannot serve as measure in talking about this album. The album literally gets better with every listen, like a fine wine, whose complexity still surprises ones palette after many tastes. From the ethereal beauty of Untitled #1 to Raging finale of Untitled #8 this album will invoke the deepest of feelings of out its listener. One the greatest albums ever made.
Dado s gave it a10:
This is an album where happiness and sadness, melody and noise, darkness and light collide. two brackets tell you everything. i suggest you name the tracks as you feel. that way the album becomes even more intimate.
Dado S gave it a10:
A different world where darkness and light, silence and noise, happiness and sadness collide. two brackets tell you everything.
Alex A gave it a10:
Those of you owning this album, keep it safe, 'cause there's none and there will most probably be no other like it and sooner or later you will realize this. It's music straight from and to the heart and soul. It's beautifull, moving, captivating and makes me cry every time I listen to it. I really cannot understand those arguing SR sound either pretendius or boring. IMO, their sound is intimate, clean and trustfully honest. There's is not a single moment in the whole album I will cut out. Also, there's nothing that will interpose between you and the music; no lyrics, no track names and no words you can understand, just you and the music. There are very few albums out there that can accomplish what this album does brilliantly, to touch you so deeply. Actually, you're buying something you can't buy and you won't forget. So, for me, this is just perfect.
J B gave it a10:
Universal album any one can listen to it and love it. One of the greatest things I have ever heard.
