- Critic Score
- Most active
- Publication
- Most clicked
-
It's still identifiably Low, but richer and more diverse than before.
-
What seemed like a radical departure two years ago now sounds like a waystation on the journey to this more disjointed, more fragmented, more demanding, and ultimately more rewarding work.
-
90This is no mere regression into a tried and tested formula for the Duluth trio. Each of these tracks is more than their trademark guitar, bass, drum soundscapes with delicate vocals hovering above the mix.
-
It is still more accessible than previous Low records, as The Great Destroyer was, but doesn't ever compromise the pure sincerity that the trio have conveyed throughout their career.
-
90Magnificent.
-
Here the material has the swagger and toughness of loud, sloppy rock.
-
85However early in the voting period we may be, Drums and Guns will undoubtedly go down as one of 2007's strongest albums.
-
82The downer record of the year. [#24, p.92]
-
81I doubt Low fans who've held on this long will rebel against these new textures, more the way they're employed-- the band has added an almost disconcerting levity, and subtracted the gentleness.
-
80This is probably the hardest Low album I've heard to appreciate, but it's certainly worth it.
-
Drums & Guns is likely to split opinion to a greater extent than any other piece of Low's extensive catalogue, but avid fans should not be put off as behind the challenging production and at the centre of all their controlled experimentation lies one of the band's strongest releases to date.
-
80A record that sounds like absolutely no one else on the planet. [May 2007, p.102]
-
80They may have defined a genre, but Low can clearly still move forward. [May 2007, p.99]
-
It's a lean, potent work, and even if it's not one of Low's most superficially pleasant collections of songs, it's certainly among their most necessary ones.
-
80A purely musical delight. [May 2007, p.126]
-
80Music this sparse, this abandoned and this beautiful... you can never have too much of it.
-
80At times, it can be a difficult piece of work and its dark themes may require a few spins to grow on the listener. Irrespective, Drums and Guns is a fine piece of work, Low's best since Things We Lost in the Fire.
-
An unflinchingly grim set.
-
It's dark, lovely and slow to blossom, but leaves an impression once it does.
-
80Drums and Guns... represent[s] another pinnacle for the band after a long climb, building on the experiments of their recent output but with reawakened confidence and vigor.
-
The trio have discovered a few new sonic tricks, but it's the celestial duel-vocals of Parker and Sparhawk which continue to ensure that Low always reach such beautiful highs.
-
Though the subject matter (war, murder, apocalypse) is undeniably heavy, the band has never sounded like they've had this much fun before in their career. [#17, p.92]
-
70Dependable? Yes. Beautiful? Definitely, yes. [Apr 2007, p.107]
-
One of the better nuanced and layered compositions we're likely to see before 2007 ends. [May 2007, p.152]
-
Some of the most expressive tracks of Low's career. [Apr 2007, p.57]
-
The record is gloomy but never disturbing-a bummer that doesn't leave you bummed.
-
The sound is still layered and textured, and those gut-achingly gorgeous seamless harmonies between Sparhawk and wife Mimi Parker are still there.
-
68At the end of it all, Guns And Drums feels more like an inconsistent experiment than a full fledged step forward.
-
Another wildly uneven affair.
-
60Long, luscious songs and cinematic melancholy are their usual preserve; their eighth album see these traded in for short, sharp shocks, metallic percussion, bullet-brusque sound effects, and frequent references to war, hate and death.
-
The subject matter takes them closer to Nick Cave than ever before, yet, whereas he displays a knowing black humour, Low's earnestness sometimes makes them unwittingly hilarious.
-
50The production is as overwrought as the antiwar themes. [Apr 2007, p.88]
-
It's not quite the doom-laden disaster that provisional plays suggest but neither is it an easy-to-recommend addition to the Low catalogue.
prev
next
Page:
- 1
User score distribution:
-
Positive: 8 out of 9
-
Mixed: 1 out of 9
-
Negative: 0 out of 9
-
BobM.4
-
Kyle8No weaknesses in this album, pretty solid.
-
RickH8