Ceremonials
by Florence + the Machine
  • Record Label: Island
  • Release Date: Nov 1, 2011
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
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  1. Q Magazine
    Dec 13, 2011
    100
    Ceremonials is quite some achievement: an accomplished pop record infused with intelligence and imagination... It offers the final, conclusive evidence that she's a pop star to believe in. [Dec. 2011 p. 118]
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  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Oct 28, 2011
    100
    She crafts Ceremonials, a confident, unflinching tour de force.
  3. The A.V. Club
    Nov 1, 2011
    91
    Ceremonials is Welch barreling off a cliff on wings made of dear-diary sentiment, art-school theatrics, and pure-cut sincerity, and somehow, against all odds, she manages to soar.
  5. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Nov 29, 2011
    90
    As one of the last big album releases to close out 2011, it's highly fitting that Ceremonials should be considered perhaps the most beautiful and absorbing of them all.
  6. Sputnikmusic
    Nov 4, 2011
    90
    Ceremonials is truly one of the few recent pop LPs that works both as a collection of individual songs and as a true album, with the right balance and flow to keep the record captivating from start to finish.
  7. AllMusic
    Oct 31, 2011
    90
    [A] rare sophomore outing that not only manages to avoid the slump, but bests its predecessor in the process.
  8. Clash Music
    Oct 27, 2011
    90
    The only real criticism of Ceremonials is that this album is completely, relentlessly, Florence. Her fans will lap it up, while those who aren't keen on her will probably remain unconvinced.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Nov 1, 2011
    88
    She's found a way to honor her Bjorkian appetites for lavish orchestral spectacle while finding the depth and subtlety of her voice.
  10. Under The Radar
    Nov 11, 2011
    80
    An ambitious LP like is, backlit by harmonies and dramatic chord changes, is the perfect vehicle to showcase her voice; a less talented vocalist would crumble under its heaviness.
  11. Boston Globe
    Nov 1, 2011
    80
    Welch offers a sumptuous, energizing experience that runs the gamut from ecstasy to fury and favorably evokes forebears like Annie Lennox and Sinead O'Connor and current peers like Adele.
  12. PopMatters
    Nov 1, 2011
    80
    As polished and artistically challenging as that first effort was, this latest outing gets the most out of Welch's strengths as a songwriter by shooting for a higher degree of difficulty and achieving a greater level of proficiency.
  13. Rolling Stone
    Nov 1, 2011
    80
    Florence and the Machine's second album is as dark, robust and romantic as ever, but a revving 18-wheeler is no longer the apt metaphor for Welch's voice.
  14. New Musical Express (NME)
    Oct 31, 2011
    80
    By taking what worked about Lungs and amplifying those qualities to a natural, satisfying conclusion, Florence has made a near-great pop record that should afford her the creative freedom to do whatever the hell she wants next time around. She may be away with the faeries, but she knows exactly what she's doing.
  15. Slant Magazine
    Oct 31, 2011
    80
    The first four tracks of Ceremonials are essentially flawless....Ceremonials can't help but get weaker as it continues, a fact which owes less to the quality of the songwriting than to the album's length (it's over an hour long) and a far less dynamic second act.
  16. musicOMH.com
    Oct 28, 2011
    80
    It's bigger, brighter and braver than what went before, and should elevate Florence even higher, with her Machine shoulder to shoulder.
  17. The Telegraph (UK)
    Oct 28, 2011
    80
    She really does sweep the listener away, spinning wild webs of sound and carrying us off to her own aural dreamland.
  18. Spin
    Oct 27, 2011
    80
    Welch may never do anything as dangerous and uncouth as "Kiss" ever again. But even the threat of menace works wonders on terrific follow-up Ceremonials.
  19. cokemachineglow
    Nov 29, 2011
    77
    Ceremonials is a sumptuously produced album of mystic pop anthems.
  20. Paste Magazine
    Nov 2, 2011
    73
    Ceremonials abandons so many of the musical avenues she mapped out on Lungs and focuses instead on a monolithic sound that is certainly affecting but is becoming increasingly conventional in 2011.
  21. Consequence
    Nov 4, 2011
    70
    Florence and the Machine's second album is certainly a move in the right direction.
  22. Austin Chronicle
    Oct 9, 2012
    67
    Ceremonials is gorgeous head-to-toe, making grand statements with heavy syntax, but paradoxically, it's light as air.
  23. Beats Per Minute
    Nov 3, 2011
    63
    Overall, Ceremonials leaves everyone's opinions of Florence + the Machine in stasis; if you loved or hated her before, you'll still feel the same way, if you were unsure, you'll still be unsure.

Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Most Discussed Album of 2011
12
#12 Most Shared Album of 2011

User Reviews

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User Score
8.9

Universal acclaim- based on 585 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 541 out of 585
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 585
  3. Negative: 31 out of 585
  1. Dreamcatcher189
    Nov 1, 2011
    10
    I can honestly say that is album is the best album released in 2011. There is no contest. The sound is like nothing you have heard before, theI can honestly say that is album is the best album released in 2011. There is no contest. The sound is like nothing you have heard before, the vocals are breathtaking and the production is perfection. As much as I liked "Lungs" it does not compare to "Ceremonials". It is an experience, It cannot be explained! you have to live it to understand.… Full Review »
  2. drukqs
    Nov 1, 2011
    9
    In an era of pop music full of insipid one hit wonders and autotuned abortions it's really refreshing to hear an album like Ceremonials. ForIn an era of pop music full of insipid one hit wonders and autotuned abortions it's really refreshing to hear an album like Ceremonials. For anyone who's heard Lungs, it shouldn't be a surprise that this delivers in areas where other pop albums simply can't. Ceremonials, like Lungs before it, provides an interesting juxtaposition of glossy synths, natural instrumentation and organic drum patterns topped off by Florence's brilliant vocal delivery. However, the mood of Ceremonials is what sets it apart from its predecessor. Whilst Lungs was springlike and frequently jubilant, Ceremonials is more like its slightly more subdued autumnal counterpart. That's not to suggest that Ceremonials is at all joyless, far from it, but there are moments of frosty atmospherics in between Florence's blustery vocals.… Full Review »
  3. marktron
    Nov 15, 2011
    4
    Instead of a nuanced, eclectic collection of songs similar to Lungs, Florence has decided that every second of Ceremonials must sound exactlyInstead of a nuanced, eclectic collection of songs similar to Lungs, Florence has decided that every second of Ceremonials must sound exactly like biggest moments of Dog Days are Over and Cosmic Love. What happens is that all of the songs start to blur together in their big drum, harp, and choir sameness. Highlights include Only If For A Night, Breaking Down and What the Water Gave Me. The rest of the songs are essentially re-writes of those tracks except the failed Adele-esque adult contemporary of Lover To Lover or the embarrassing kid's Halloween movie level of spookiness of Seven Devil's.… Full Review »
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