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Though some Elf Power fans may be satisfied with the few songs that are reminiscent of the band's previous records ("The World Is Waiting," "23rd Dream") and the abstract, occasionally prog-like references to masters and kings, others may be disappointed, or at least confused, by the focus on experimenting with dark, Middle Eastern-inspired drones mixed with Western pop/folk sensibilities.
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Alternative PressAn intriguing album. [Jun 2006, p.178]
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It is all too easily consigned to background music if you stop paying attention.
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Too bad the songs aren't as adventurous as the music. This lack of songwriterly imagination severely limits the band's range.
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A lush, hazy cloud of 12-string acoustic guitars, banjos, violins, and cellos raining down Rieger’s refreshing melodies, marred only by a bit of uncomfortable familiarity at times.
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Rieger surrounds images from nature and recalled dreams with compact, layered folk-pop songs that mingle joy and fear in equal measure.
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UncutAnother melodic, meticulous, faintly redundant restoration job. [Jul 2006, p.90]
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Q MagazineThe band's ability to rock out at the drop of a hat proves a pleasant surprise among the dopey reverie. [Jun 2006, p.115]
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It's hard to figure out what exactly the concept is behind this concept album.
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Under The RadarElf Power clearly have a grasp of their production... but the songs, however crisp and clear, don't grab you as they have in that past. [Summer 2006, p.88]
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Paste MagazineBack to the Web finds the band at its best when Elf Power shakes off its drowsiness and recaptures glimpses of its former weirdness. [Aug 2006, p.95]
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Elf Power have discarded many of the classic song styles that make their debut so strong, allowing a love of arena/anthem rock to mutate into a lolling interest in marches on later albums, kind of a return to old-world aesthetics that blends a potentially solid band into the grey tapestry of indie rock like so much frizzing wool.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 3 out of 4
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Mixed: 1 out of 4
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Negative: 0 out of 4
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BrendanJun 8, 2006
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brianmMay 20, 2006