Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. Q Magazine
    80
    Stronger than SFA's last outing Love Kraft, this will appeal to those who appreciate the gentler aspects of Rhys's day job. [Feb 2007, p.106]
  2. 80
    Candylion is a more layered, fully-realised album than 2005's Yr Atal Genhedlaeth. [Feb 2007, p.79]
  3. Mojo
    80
    On paper, it looks so wide-ranging as to be in danger of coming out gloopy and overdone; as it turns out, Rhys glues everything together with a crisp sense of confidence. [Feb 2007, p.98]
  4. Indisputably one of the best projects Gruff Rhys has ever been involved with.
  5. Qualities like intelligence, eclecticism and imagination sometimes seem to be in short supply in the music industry - Candylion encapsulates all these qualities and more and deserves a far wider audience than the cult status it will undoubtedly settle into.
  6. Rhys has made both his wildest and most accessible record to date.
  7. Where his solo debut, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, was a relatively subdued, Welsh-only affair, its successor takes unseriousness as seriously as any official Furries effort.
  8. Gruff Rhys is one of our most imaginative and original musicians.
  9. Candylion isn't a major musical statement, but its idiosyncratic, nostalgic appeal is hard to resist.
  10. Under The Radar
    80
    Rather than going over board with effects, Rhys has boiled down his band’s signature weirdness into a light and airy ’ 60's psychedelic folk pop album that never misses a beat. [#17, p.92]
  11. Filter
    74
    A good mix of weird pop and airy singing and good beats. [#24, p.92]
  12. Don't expect the gumption of Super Furries, instead bask in the mellow psychedelic ramblings of Gruff unplugged.
  13. In contrast to... 'Yr Atal Genhedlaeth', which was a bunch of promising, but half-finished song sketches, 'Candylion' is a much more coherent and loveable affair, and up there with some of SFA's better moments.
  14. Spin
    70
    An excellent collection of space folk and ramshackle Tropicalia that matches the wild-eyed absurdism... of his band's better output. [Apr 2007, p.94]
  15. The terrible truth is that -- and maybe this is a matter of an album’s length, replayability, interesting tenure, obedience, whatever -- Gruff Rhys will always be as politely awesome as Gruff Rhys has always been, and that’s just not enough anymore.
  16. Candylion's dozen tracks are charming, lovely, quiet little bits of hope and glory and melancholy that arrive from somewhere you've never been but always wished to inhabit.
  17. Ultimately, Candylion is more annoying than entertaining.

Awards & Rankings

User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. StephenU
    Jul 25, 2007
    8
    A great album that holds up very well. If this were the product of a new artist with no SFA ties I would be very excited about his future. A great album that holds up very well. If this were the product of a new artist with no SFA ties I would be very excited about his future. SFA's recent milquetoast offerings pale in comparison to this and the single from the upcoming SFA lp, "Show Your Hand" is NOT a harbinger of a return to form by the Furries. Perhaps Gruff needs to go solo permanently. Full Review »
  2. andesL
    Mar 20, 2007
    8
    Very charming and consistent. Better than the last Furries album. Nothing here will blow your head (not even the 12 minute monster at the Very charming and consistent. Better than the last Furries album. Nothing here will blow your head (not even the 12 minute monster at the end) but there is some fine songwriting. Full Review »
  3. DavidL
    Mar 18, 2007
    8
    "The Court of King Arthur" is the best song SFA never recorded.