Clear Heart Full Eyes
by Craig Finn
  • Record Label: Vagrant
  • Release Date: Jan 24, 2012
Metascore
69

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
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  1. NOW Magazine
    Mar 1, 2012
    40
    The unfamiliarity between Finn and his backing group is palpable.
  2. Spin
    Jan 30, 2012
    50
    The earnest but tepid Clear Heart Full Eyes, which as a solo album makes an excellent argument for sticking with your apostles.
  3. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jan 24, 2012
    60
    Finn certainly takes a paddle – if not quite a dive – into fresh sonic waters.
  5. Consequence
    Jan 24, 2012
    50
    On Clear Heart Full Eyes, Finn brings the stories (he always brings the stories), but as a whole, the album sounds atypically half-hearted.
  6. Pitchfork
    Jan 24, 2012
    60
    Clear Heart is just good enough to keep us listening.
  7. Drowned In Sound
    Jan 23, 2012
    60
    Despite its flaws this first solo offering is a human record; brave and honest, both in content and purpose.
  8. The Observer (UK)
    Jan 23, 2012
    60
    Finn's gift survives even the more uneven experiments.
  9. PopMatters
    Jan 23, 2012
    60
    There are some growing pains on Clear Heart Full Eyes, but mostly this is a compelling and rewarding turn for Finn.
  10. The Independent (UK)
    Jan 20, 2012
    60
    Finn has a nice line in sardonic, declamatory assessments – "Certain things get hard to do when you're living in a rented room"; "I'm alive, except for the inside" – but there's little comparable imagination to the arrangements, which lean towards ironic country-rock and dispirited blues-rock.
  11. Q Magazine
    Feb 21, 2012
    60
    Swapping The Hold Steady's white-knuckled intensity for skeletal drums and echoing guitar gives Finn's voice more room to manoeuvre. A welcome change of pace. [Mar 2012, p. 100]
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  12. Mojo
    Jan 31, 2012
    60
    It's good to hear him outfront, vivid, quirky, and unconfined. [Feb 2012, p.95]
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  13. Under The Radar
    Jan 19, 2012
    60
    Finn puts aside his usual shouty tales of druggy teenaged vagabonds to subtly engage with the quieter topics of God and love. [#39, p.68]
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  14. Alternative Press
    Jan 9, 2012
    40
    What's left are halfhearted Hold steady wannabes and dull stabs at poignancy.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. alishaa
    Mar 23, 2013
    6
    Nice information, valuable and excellent design, as share good stuff with good ideas and concepts, lots of great information and inspiration,Nice information, valuable and excellent design, as share good stuff with good ideas and concepts, lots of great information and inspiration, both of which I need, thanks to offer such a helpful information here.

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  2. j30
    Mar 20, 2012
    6
    Clear Heart Full Eyes by Craig Finn is far from a miss, but it's not exactly an album you can fully invest in. Maybe the music feels a littleClear Heart Full Eyes by Craig Finn is far from a miss, but it's not exactly an album you can fully invest in. Maybe the music feels a little too laid back for my liking. However you kind of get the feeling CHFE is a precursor to great Hold Steady album in the making (in which they're in the studio as we speak).… Full Review »
  3. alice3372
    Mar 5, 2012
    10
    According to liner notes in Petty's Playback box set, he and Jeff Lynne were playing some elaborate stuff on the keyboard that all startedAccording to liner notes in Petty's Playback box set, he and Jeff Lynne were playing some elaborate stuff on the keyboard that all started with 3 simple chords. Lynne suggested that Tom stop all the hard stuff and just sing some words to those three chords, and he came up with "She's a good girl... loves her mama..." just to make Jeff smile, and they kept going from there.
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