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Damaged is a transcendent record - poetic, mysterious, witty, wise and at times so musically grand that it changes the colour of a room and the weight of the air.
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You could spend an age listing and describing the musical wealth of Damaged... Better just to listen to it, soak it all in, than fail with words.
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Lambchop have long been one of America’s greatest bands, and Damaged is their greatest achievement.
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MojoAn album of colossal strength and maturity. [Sep 2006, p.104]
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A profound melancholy suffuses the elegant and often sublime Damaged.
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'Damaged' is a hugely welcome addition to Lambchop's now frighteningly impressive back catalogue, and an album with few limitations.
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FilterWonderful. [#21, p.94]
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Like the 2002 album Is A Woman, Damaged scales back for an opaque set of heartbroken songs inspired by, in Wagner's words, "deeply personal experience."
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Though the tracks are lengthy, they’re not indulgent but patient, moving at the pace of Frank Sinatra’s September of My Years (1965) rather than the National’s Alligator (2005).
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MagnetDamaged excels in what Lambchop does best, which is to gather up a dozen-plus musicians and get them to play as little as possible. [#73, p.98]
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Are they a country band playing alt.rock or an alt.rock band playing country? These questions are pointless. They are simply and sublimely Lambchop, and we are lucky to have them.
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Damaged... rises to the same dizzying heights achieved by their last few long-players.
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UncutA brave, beautiful record. [Sep 2006, p.76]
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Lazy Saturday mornings are meant to be had with this album.
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Q MagazineThe arrangements here are written specifically with a touring quartet in mind, adding ever greater layers of haunting melancholy and soaring grace. [Sep 2006, p.109]
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This ranks with the best work of one of America's most original musical visionaries.
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Damaged is quintessential Wagner: a ponderous, carved-wood gut-punch of a record that finds hope in the mundane details of everyday life, even as the big worldly picture comes crashing down with alarming force.
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UrbThe Nashville crew's sound has slowly aged from alt-country to Stax-styled soul and now brooding ballads. [Jul/Aug 2006, p.122]
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"Damaged" is as nuanced, temperate and contemplative as its predecessor.
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Under The RadarAnother solid if somewhat interchangeable album. [Summer 2006, p.82]
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The album rewards multiple listens with its sonic depth and subtle structural beauty. It has followed Lamchop tradition and evolved from its predecessor, but it lacks the unruly attitude that makes the band distinct.
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Damaged is lovely but dull in spots, lacking the fuck-all adventurousness of previous albums.
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Damaged isn’t the most tuneful record Wagner and company have made.
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New Musical Express (NME)Even more subdued than usual. [12 Aug 2006, p.32]
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SpinKurt Wagner's conversational croak is, charitably put, an acquired taste. [Sep 2006, p.106]
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It never really builds steam until the end, when it is almost too late.
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Even though the songwriting's tight, the uniformly delicate touch of adult contemporary arrangements will leave you struggling to stay awake till the album's end.
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BlenderIt sounds half-heard no matter how many times you hear it. [Sep 2006, p.142]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 11
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Mixed: 2 out of 11
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Negative: 0 out of 11
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AdilO.Sep 4, 2006Soothing and mysterious. The kind of music you'd want to spin after a hard day's work.
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CablesSep 2, 2006like many critics pointed out, it's lyrically briliant yet it's ac arrangements make it alarmingly dull at times.
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madslAug 28, 2006