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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

The Body, The Blood, The Machine
by The Thermals


8.5

based on 17 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 18 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Brendan Canty (Fugazi) produced this third album for the Oregon band, down to the duo of Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster after the departure of original drummer Jordan Hudson.

LABEL:	Sub Pop
RELEASE DATE:	22 August 2006
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...

100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

It's 36 minutes of loose garage rock with massively catchy melodies sugarcoating the biting sarcasm.

MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

As narrative and prophecy, a less coherent response to Christofascism than you might want, but one alt needs, held together and moved ahead by its forthright hooks and beats.

Prefix Magazine

The Body, The Blood, The Machine is the holy grail of anti-political/anti-religion records to come out in the last seven years.

The Phoenix

The simplicity of the punk-driven songwriting and the bare, urgent honesty of vocalist/guitarist Hutch Harris’ delivery drive home the album’s political points with startling effectiveness.

cokemachineglow

It’s downright exciting for a band like the Thermals to emerge with something so simple and unflustered, so bereft of unnecessary baggage, a shining light of a record that delivers on its early promise.

Pitchfork

The Body's story is just vague and gruesome enough to be weirdly terrifying, totally Orwellian, and grander, louder, and more electrifying than anything the Thermals have spit out before.

Spin

There's still something small and handmade about the Thermals' music. [Sep 2006, p.112]

New Musical Express

Awesome.

PopMatters

Without sacrificing aural excitement, they have polished their approach with a refined understanding of dynamics and a broadening of style.

Almost Cool

As a whole, The Body The Blood The Machine is a bit more inconsistent than Fuckin' A, but at the same time has some of the best songs in the group's discography and some of the better arrangements [as] well.

Stylus Magazine

An immediate and combative disc that blurries up a litany of angers over surprisingly versatile layers of pop-punk guitar thrusting, The Body, The Blood, The Machine is a focused tantrum, irresolute in its actual stances, but pissed and rambunctious enough to overcome its vagaries.

ShakingThrough.net

They've slowed down the tempo a little and cleaned up the sound a lot.

All Music Guide

With The Body, The Blood, The Machine the Thermals haven't made another thrilling noisy gem like More Parts Per Million, they've made an inspired and inspiring, semi-grown up indie rock record with more thought than thrills.

Tiny Mix Tapes

The only drawback is Hutch Harris' vocals.

Dusted Magazine

The Body, the Blood, the Machine reveals a band that's a bit older, a step slower, and startlingly sardonic.

Paste Magazine

The urgency and bile are palpable. [Oct 2006, p.84]

Drowned In Sound

A little too homogenous to warrant many a repeat listen.

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

George D gave it a9:
Very good, straightforward tunes, catchy riffs, good singing.

J.Paul P gave it a10:
Listen to it, love it. This is the kind of album that makes everything else sound bad. It's easy to get obsessed with it and spin it over and over again. Don't miss the live show either, they will destroy you!

Ted H gave it a10:
Definitly one of the best punk albums in recent time. Most current punk sucks or isnt really punk anymore (Green Day) , it also shows Harris's range, compare this to the Modest Mouse that he was a part of. Its catchy without being too poppy and very good lyrics

K Charles gave it a9:
Brilliantly channels the anger, anxiety, and fear that the rise of the religious right and policies of the Bush administration have generated in many of us. A bit more subtle and whole lot more trenchant than Living with War, it's the protest album that Neil Young may have written if he was 30 years younger. Oh yeah, and it ROCKS!

Johan S gave it a10:
Thermals has made the best album so far this decade, even better than Elliott Smith, Beth Orton, TV on the Radio, Sleater-Kinney and Bright Eyes... Songs like these save lives

Ignatius J. Reilly gave it a9:
Much better and angrier than their previous efforts.

Jacob W. gave it a10:
One of the better post punk releases in the past decade.

The Body, The Blood, The Machine by The Thermals

The Body, The Blood, The Machine
by The Thermals