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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.
