- Critic score
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Black Letter Days is a truly special work, and should be treated as such. Don't let the best record of the year go overlooked.
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Dedicated fans will be pleased with the results.
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As you might expect, the sheer number of tracks means there's a sizeable dollop of filler.
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BLD is arguably Black's most straightforward rock album; his sound is becoming more and more "classic rock" with each passing record.
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Alternative PressDespite being almost numbingly consistent at times, it's his most self-indulgent Catholics album, and it could easily become a favorite of Black's long-time fans. [Oct 2002, p.77]
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The problem is the production.
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Black Letter Days evokes an early-Seventies Stones bootleg -- a little bit country, a little bit rock & roll - minus the danger.
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Arguably, some prudent pruning might've made the album great instead of good, but even the album's uneven moments are still pretty enjoyable.
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Sure, there's some filler here and there but it's far from a Frank Black B-sides collection.
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UncutBasically, it wants to be the Stones but ends up a bit Tom Petty. [Sep 2002, p.103]
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Q MagazineThe wait for the first great Frank Black solo album continues. [Sep 2002, p.100]
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The tossed-off quality of his recent work may be liberating to Black, but it's not likely to be so satisfying to his audience.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 9
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Mixed: 0 out of 9
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Negative: 1 out of 9
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AJJul 10, 2006An underappreciated masterpiece. It slowly entangles you like ivy. Music to wander to.
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AndrewK.Sep 30, 2002Yet again another "grow on you" masterpiece!!
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mommypantsSep 11, 2002this is the stuff that made the pixies go--pure rock and roll song writing.