Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best Of 2009
Best Of 2008
Best Of 2007
Best Of 2006
Best Of 2005
Best Of 2004
Best Of 2003
Best Of 2002
Best Of 2001
Best Of 2000
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
70
AFI
65
Air
71
Alice In Chains
77
Amerie
70
Anjulie
85
The Antlers
75
Arctic Monkeys
68
As Tall As Lions
82
Atlas Sound
75
The Avett Brothers
67
Backstreet Boys
56
Bad Lieutenant
68
Devendra Banhart
72
Lou Barlow
88
Baroness
69
Basement Jaxx
81
David Bazan
72
Brendan Benson
72
The Big Pink
96
Big Star
46
Billy Talent
75
The Black Crowes
51
Black Mold
59
Amanda Blank
68
Blitzen Trapper
75
BLK JKS
77
A.A. Bondy
73
The Bottle Rockets
63
Box Elders
65
Boys Like Girls
76
Brand New
73
Tyondai Braxton
87
Brother Ali
70
Ian Brown
75
Michael Buble
78
Built To Spill
61
Colbie Caillat
79
Califone
68
Mariah Carey
84
Brandi Carlile
73
Julian Casablancas
83
Rosanne Cash
69
Castanets
65
The Cave Singers
84
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
79
Vic Chesnutt
75
Choir Of Young Believers
81
Circulatory System
68
The Clean
84
The Clientele
71
Cobra Starship
85
Converge
71
Eric Copeland
80
Cymbals Eat Guitars
71
Datarock
59
Dead By Sunrise
76
Dead Man's Bones
64
Desolation Wilderness
88
Destroyer
63
The Dodos
77
Drive-By Truckers
74
The Duke & The King
66
Bob Dylan
44
The Entrance Band
67
Esser
69
Fanfarlo
63
Felix Da Housecat
68
Fink
78
The Flaming Lips
66
Flight Of The Conchords
79
Florence And The Machine
67
John Fogerty
77
Fruit Bats
83
Fuck Buttons
71
Nelly Furtado
47
Gary Go
68
Ghostface Killah
79
Girls
59
Gloriana
69
Gossip
62
David Gray
66
David Guetta
79
Richard Hawley
74
Mayer Hawthorne
66
Headlights
79
HEALTH
77
Joe Henry
66
Hockey
69
Whitney Houston
68
Imogen Heap
59
Jack Ingram
79
Islands
73
Jessie James
74
Jamie T
83
Japandroids
65
Jay-Z
51
Jet
69
Daniel Johnston
76
Karen O And The Kids
72
Toby Keith
69
Kid Cudi
65
Kings Of Convenience
62
Sean Kingston
64
KISS
76
Kris Kristofferson
68
KRS-One & Buckshot
76
La Roux
84
Miranda Lambert
72
Ledisi
75
Sondre Lerche
56
Juliette Lewis
82
Lightning Bolt
76
Lightning Dust
73
Little Dragon
44
Pixie Lott
73
Lyle Lovett
66
Lovvers
75
Baaba Maal
77
Madness
84
Madonna
85
Manic Street Preachers
62
Maps
55
Massive Attack
57
Matisyahu
67
Reba McEntire
66
Tim McGraw
65
Brian McKnight
79
Mew
77
Malcolm Middleton
77
Mika
68
Amy Millan
76
Mission Of Burma
73
Modest Mouse
76
Molina And Johnson
80
Monsters Of Folk
62
Morrissey
85
Mount Eerie
78
The Mountain Goats
62
Múm
72
Muse
66
Willie Nelson
78
Nirvana
97
Nirvana
72
Nisennenmondai
80
No Age
71
Noah And The Whale
75
Noisettes
79
Nudge
68
Nurses
47
Dolores O'Riordan
74
Os Mutantes
73
Osso
81
Owen
76
Paramore
76
Pastels And Tenniscoats
51
Sean Paul
80
Pearl Jam
66
Jemina Pearl
72
Jack Penate
65
Phish
82
Pissed Jeans
61
Pitbull
79
A Place To Bury Strangers
63
Julian Plenti
66
Robert Pollard
79
Polvo
72
Porcupine Tree
80
Q-Tip
80
R.E.M.
89
Raekwon
69
Rain Machine
70
Ramona Falls
75
Dizzee Rascal
75
The Raveonettes
76
Jay Reatard
82
Reigning Sound
81
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
79
Russian Circles
69
Buffy Sainte-Marie
73
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions
61
Sally Shapiro
78
Shudder To Think
75
Sian Alice Group
70
Simian Mobile Disco
58
Simple Minds
72
Six Organs Of Admittance
69
Slaughterhouse
80
Slayer
61
The Slits
62
Mindy Smith
83
Solillaquists Of Sound
78
Soulsavers
77
Speech Debelle
58
Spiral Stairs
58
Squarepusher
55
Steel Panther
73
Sufjan Stevens
52
Rod Stewart
65
Joss Stone
75
George Strait
83
Barbra Streisand
76
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
74
Susanna And The Magical Orchestra
78
The Swell Season
76
David Sylvian
83
Taken By Trees
78
Tegan And Sara
68
The Temper Trap
72
Themselves
82
They Might Be Giants
67
Third Eye Blind
68
Throw Me The Statue
66
J Tillman
69
Times New Viking
57
Tokio Hotel
67
Trey Songz
71
The Twilight Sad
58
Carrie Underwood
56
The Used
68
Various Artists
70
Various Artists
74
Various Artists
77
The Very Best
71
Kurt Vile
67
Vivian Girls
71
Volcano Choir
76
Rufus Wainwright
59
Weezer
80
White Denim
76
Why?
83
Wild Beasts
80
Wildbirds & Peacedrums
59
Andrew W.K.
71
Patrick Wolf
67
Wolfmother
84
The xx
70
YACHT
75
Yim Yames
79
Yo La Tengo
83
Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band
51
Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
59
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
The Brave And The Bold
EMAILPRINTby Tortoise & Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Overcoat / Domino
Release Date: 24 January 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Summary
The first collaboration between singer-songwriter Will Oldham and Chicago instrumental post-rockers Tortoise features 10 covers, including takes on songs by Elton John and Bruce Springsteen.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Old Joy
MUSIC: Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Matt Sweeney: Superwolf Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Master And Everyone Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Summer In The Southeast Bonnie "Prince" Billy: The Letting Go Tortoise: It's All Around You Tortoise: Standards
Also On The Web: Official Tortoise Site Palace Records
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...
Drowned In Sound
At times they near the hybrid jazz of The Mars Volta or even the plentiful jam bands that can be found on the boulevards of certain Eastern European shores, but Tortoise's effortless ingenuity and Prince Billy's sensuous and aged voice raise it to a much higher plane.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Intriguing. [27 Jan 2006, p.85]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The Brave And The Bold is one odd duck of an album, with two unsympathetic musical personalities paying tribute to 10 other unsympathetic musical personalities by making a record that doesn't sound at all... expected.
Read Full Review >Mojo
More than a curiosity. [Jan 2006, p.131]
The Guardian
There are enough moments of complex, nuanced, lingering beauty here to keep drawing you back.
Read Full Review >Uncut
There's more here for Oldham fans than Tortoise fanciers. [Feb 2006, p.76]
PopMatters
The Brave and the Bold is a melding of the minds, a comic-book collision of musical forces whose mutant powers turn mere simulation into disturbing mimetic magic.
Read Full Review >Filter
It's high entertainment of a sedate rock order, even if nothing is particularly brave or bold here. [#19, p.97]
Dusted Magazine
The experiment does at times rush off the tracks into the bushes, where either the spastic tempos prove too much for Oldham's cool croon, or the meat-and-potatoes song structures reject Tortoise's occasional proclivity toward overseasoning.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
Like an indie-rock version of Dylan & The Dead--only surprisingly inspired instead of barely palatable. [Apr/May 2006, p.110]
Under The Radar
Surely, fans of both Oldham and Tortoise will find little to complain about... but there's also enough material here to coax a few more over the fence. [#12, p.93]
Prefix Magazine
This is a solid listen regardless of whether or not it's breaking any new ground.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
The Brave and the Bold is an awkward, lumbering affair, of passing interest to fans of the artists’ work and no one else.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
The more adventurous picks on The Brave And The Bold sink more often than they soar.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Sometimes mesmerizing, often depressing. [23 Feb 2006, p.68]
Q Magazine
A fun if disposable diversion. [Feb 2006, p.105]
New Musical Express
Twist[s] both the ultra-familiar and the obscure into awkward new shapes. [21 Jan 2006, p.35]
Billboard
More often than not, Oldham's signature vocalizing keeps Tortoise from falling back on old sonic tricks. [21 Jan 2006]
All Music Guide
Approach it as a slightly goofy one-off, and you won't be disappointed.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
In short: We all really wish this was better-- less tiring, less dour, less sluggish-- than it actually is.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
The vast majority of this release just doesn’t stick together coherently and suffers because of it.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
This record is never obvious; it has no agenda. It advances no cultural or historical theory. It is not meant to accompany psychic healing or political protest, and it has no real connection to anyone's alternative-anything movement. There are so many things it isn't, that it barely is. [16 Jan 2006]
Urb
The end result just isn't up to the standards of which either of these musical titans are capable. [Mar 2006, p.119]
Playlouder
With the ability of the participants, surely there could have been more interesting material to explore, and sadly 'The Brave And The Bold' ends up being anything but.
Read Full Review >BBC collective
For Bonnie Prince Billy it's an atypically sexless affair with only his version of Richard Thompson’s Calvary Cross worthy of his previous covers record, More Revery.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Tortoise sound remarkably un-Tortoise-like on nearly everything... [and] Oldham's stunning vocals are rarely allowed the space they deserve. [Mar 2006, p.126]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
F Valeron gave it a4:
Do not ignore Chris M. my friends. I'm a huge Oldham fan, but this record is nonsense. 'Tis a shame...
Estanislao B gave it a9:
Es un album excelente, en el que se ve la perfecta unión entre dos grupos, que se multiplican hasta el infinito. Y además la seleccion de canciones es muy buena. Well done
Leonardo F gave it an8:
i would give this 7.5. there are some pretty good covers (daniel, love is love, cravo e canela, thunder road) but there are also some lousy songs too.
mads l gave it a3:
the worst thing either of the involved has ever put their name to! I dont like anything about this collaboration. Whats the point of an album like this, anyway? Well, if you are Emmylou Harris you can churn out a masterpiece like Wrecking ball, but covers albums in general are surely risky business! And this one in particular underlines the rule..
Jamie S gave it an8:
ignore chris m, he's probably a springsteen fan with a grudge. it's a fine album, some very good interpretations, the springsteen cover is amongst the best covers i've ever heard. the richard thompson and elton john covers are also fantastic. recommended.
Chris M. gave it a2:
This is truly awful. Taking great songs and stripping them of whatever strenghts they once had. "Have a little faith/there's magic in the night" in Bonnie's voice is completely void of this faith, and "no hope/see that's what gives me guts" looses said guts. This man who once said he was sad because he "was born". What a load of bollocks.
