Cinder - Dirty Three
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 21
  2. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. With a solid emotional through-line and a few sonic surprises, Cinder is a musical novella, whose narrative compels you to its last luxurious line.
  2. This time around, you can sulk and tap your toes. [14 Oct 2005, p.155]
  3. Dirty Three have become increasingly proficient at speaking a private musical language in public. [22 Oct 2005, p.41]
  4. 80
    An album of gauzily reflective--but engrossingly atmospheric--pieces. [Nov 2005, p.108]
  5. This is the Dirty Three as you have never heard them before.
  6. Cinder proffers the majestic sweep of a nature documentary. [Nov 2005, p.208]
  7. Chan Marshall adds an autumnal tint to Great Waves, but it's far from the high point. The frantic, abrasive Flutter, or heart-melting closer In Fall don't need vocals: their wild poetry is beyond words.
  8. Cinder feels less like discrete tracks and more like a river of song bearing you effortlessly from one sublime moment to the next. [Dec 2005, p.115]
  9. It would be a lie to say some of Cinder doesn't seem ramshackle. You can tell the difference between a song carefully arranged and one in which the band's three members appear to be improvising in the studio.
  10. It has a beautiful simplicity that belies its sophistication.
  11. Cinder isn't an album that wallops you over the head at any points, but wins you over with steady and solid songs.
  12. This is a step forward, and the new studio approach is a constructive development.
  13. A good record for a late night spin when you're feeling all moody and introspective. [#11, p.114]
  14. 70
    The album's meandering latter stages drag a little, but overall Cinder provides a grand musical landscape. [Nov 2005, p.114]
  15. Contains more than its fair share of exquisite melancholy and careering abandon. [Nov 2005, p.123]
  16. It's Dirty Three as they've always been, testing their limits, but still producing some of the prettiest and most artful music around.
  17. This album more than any other swiftly dispels the notion that the trio are condemned to register wary introspection through brooding atmospheres.
  18. It still has the signature guitar-drums-violin approach, but there are subtle variations that make this a different record.
  19. If much of it is merely pretty, this is easily the most diverse and wide-ranging Dirty Three record yet, absolutely the right thing for them to be doing at this time.
  20. The album feels underwhelming.
  21. Cinder keeps things reserved, letting the sad-eyed melodies teeter around the room at a drunkard's pace.
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 6 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. E
    8
    D3 already made Ocean Songs and Horse Stories. If you want to hear them again, go listen to them! Why retread the same ground? Cinder is excellent in its own way. Full Review »
  2. karls
    10
    Album of the year from the best rock'n'roll band on the planet.
  3. [Anonymous]
    8
    I miss the mysticism of their earlier work, and the downright rock of thei even earlier work. Cat Power’s voice turns them into a backing band, which is beneath them. But the Dirty Three is great regardless. This is the pop record. Full Review »