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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Amazing Grace
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sanctuary / Spaceman
Release Date: 09 September 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Alternative, Rock
Summary
A quick follow-up by Spiritualized standards, 'Amazing Grace' finds Jason Pierce with a new record label (his own Spaceman Records imprint) and a more immediate, less orchestral sound than on 2001's 'Let It Come Down.'
Also By This Artist: Let It Come Down Songs in A&E
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...
Spin
Amazing Grace is at peak moments an amazingly graceful representation of MC5/Stooges skid marks on a psychedelic superhighway. [Oct 2003, p.112]
Uncut
Another Spiritualized album. Another great Spiritualized album. [Oct 2003, p.120]
Splendid
Indolent, perturbed and volatile, Amazing Grace finds Pierce checking his wide-screen Spectorian visions at the studio door; he has opted, instead, for a coarse mix of electrified Southern gospel and somnabulent balladeering that has produced the most urgent Spiritualized album since Electric Mainline.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Review 1: He may well be repeating himself... but Spiritualized are still a force. Review 2: With Amazing Grace, Pierce has achieved a perfect balance between his traditional blues-rock leanings and his appetite for studio excess. [Score is an average of both reviews: 79 and 90]
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
[Pierce is] not averse to thrash; songs like "Never Going Back" find him crawling around in broken glass like Iggy, a supplicant for love. [12 Sep 2003, p.153]
Urb
Amazing Grace holds its place in the ever-evolving sound of one of the most momentous bands of the past decade. [Oct 2003, p.86]
Alternative Press
Pierce's organic approach on Grace makes the album feel exquisitely intimate, personable and warm. [Oct 2003, p.138]
Nude As The News
While the songs aren't that different from "classic" Spiritualized, the method in which they were recorded presents a whole new set of sonic possibilities.
Read Full Review >Outburn
The sound is taut and tough, with a much more spontaneous sound than previous efforts. [#23, p. 101]
Playlouder
More difficult when played initially, you will find yourself becoming immersed in it, a generous reward for your initial endeavours.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Amazing Grace is loud, dirty, sloppy, and crude. But it rocks hard. [#5, p.103]
Mojo
For every song that reacts against the last album, another chimes perfectly with its mood of epic redemption. [Sep 2003, p.101]
PopMatters
It is a Spiritualized album in every sense of the word: bombastic, beautiful, energized, dynamic, and for some damn reason, just a little emotionless.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Even in its most inspired moments, Amazing Grace lacks the fiery intensity of any of Pierce's previous outings.
Read Full Review >Amazon.com
It may still sound beautiful, but too often Amazing Grace comes off as mere formula.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Amazing Grace is far from a bad album, but it's not an especially compelling one, either.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
At its best, Amazing Grace® finds Pierce and his many supporting players piecing their disparate moods and sounds into moments of catharsis only Spiritualized could create. But too often, those ingredients are doled out separately, as the album jerks through jarringly integrated fragments that should have run together seamlessly.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Much of 'Amazing Grace' is the tired evidence of a man rehashing the same ideas - rather than sounds and movements - like a robotic, assembly line Andy Warhol.
Read Full Review >Launch.com
The elements of free-jazz, mopey techno, and hypnotic riff rock find familiar combinations as Pierce's peace, love, and drugs philosophy takes on a perfunctory turn.
Read Full Review >Neumu.net
Pierce seems to have lost the magic that he once seemed in total command of.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
An orgy of harmonica, squalling guitar, plodding ballads and ill-fitting minimalist trousers. What on earth is going on? [Oct 2003, p.113]
Rolling Stone
The Bible talk and the vintage-guitar distortion sound so rote it's hard to imagine Pierce is baring his soul rather than just plumbing the depths of his record collection.
Read Full Review >Blender
The mood is too inconsistent to connect. [Oct 2003, p.127]
The Wire
This is drivel inflated to whole new levels of bombast. [#235, p.72]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Willie L gave it an8:
Whats wrong with you people? WHATS WRONG?! This is another wonderful album from Pierce. Sure, its no Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space, but what is? Take to mind that illness disrupted this recording and the songs like Hold On, Oh Baby and Lord Let It Rain on me really have effect. A great album. If not their best. Plus a Spiritualized parody for you - "Lord, Im On Heroin". I thought it was funny...
wayne gave it a10:
i think it's one amazing,warm,meaningful film
Jon gave it a 7:
At first i didn't like the album as well, but over some time it's grown on me, still far from perfect, but it's got a handful of tracks to make it worth going back to
Paul T. gave it a 0:
dreadfully bad, boring and forgetable, this should of been just some free bonus disc of b-sides attached to one of their better discs, they shoulda shelved it, i'm sorry but this was a major disappointment.
Todd B. gave it a 0:
Dreadfully bad, it's only 43 minutes but it felt like forever.
Jon H gave it a 4:
I hate Rolling Stone Magazine, but i have to agree with them here, this album was a major let down, i found it to be dull, there's only a couple of good songs, that's it.
paul M gave it a 10:
Amazing
