Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
  • Record Label: Vagrant
  • Release Date: Jul 23, 2013
Metascore
61

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
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  1. Q Magazine
    Jan 27, 2014
    80
    Nominally folk gospel, they embrace an array of styles from rock to dance, via unashamedly esoteric. [Oct 2013, p.100]
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  2. PopMatters
    Oct 4, 2013
    60
    Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes may not be the most stellar example of what the title band can do, but is worth a listen to fans of the band and fans of new versions of old styles of music making.
  3. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    Aug 26, 2013
    70
    Brilliant, frustrating, thrilling and irritating. In other words, exactly what we’ve come to expect from an Edward Sharpe album.
  5. The Line of Best Fit
    Aug 26, 2013
    40
    There might well be a genuine intention on Ebert’s part to produce something of real artistic worth, but so long as he remains as verbally vapid and as musically undisciplined as he has been on this record, it’s hard to see his output having serious appeal to anybody who wants to be engaged on a level beyond mindless singalong.
  6. The Observer (UK)
    Aug 26, 2013
    40
    A bright, colour-saturated record indebted to the loopiest excesses of 60s psychedelia – but the chirpiness is wearing thin.
  7. The Independent (UK)
    Aug 23, 2013
    60
    The cult-like enthusiasm of The Magnetic Zeros is best experienced live, where their massed forces translate into a somewhat muddy morass.
  8. The Guardian
    Aug 22, 2013
    60
    His songs are, in places, bleaker than on his previous two albums.
  9. DIY Magazine
    Aug 21, 2013
    60
    Of course, as with any such unrelentingly blissful formula, if their sky-facing euphoria and sentimentality can’t be matched then the whole thing can be terribly nauseating.
  10. New Musical Express (NME)
    Aug 19, 2013
    50
    Mawkish and messy.
  11. Pitchfork
    Aug 9, 2013
    45
    It's not the music that sinks Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, it's those lyrics: well-intentioned, certainly, but as deep as the bowl on a one-hitter.
  12. Filter
    Jul 31, 2013
    60
    Their self-titled LP has the troupe’s familiar indie-“folk”-meets-psychedelia soundings, yet adds some new wrinkles.
  13. Paste Magazine
    Jul 23, 2013
    70
    Ringleader Alex Ebert produced the album and sonically, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros feels slick and compressed.
  14. Boston Globe
    Jul 23, 2013
    40
    Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros finds the band/collective in the less useful act of simply aping a style, in this case the electric praise music of feel-good Christian hippies.
  15. Consequence
    Jul 23, 2013
    70
    Even despite her [Jade Castrinos] standout moments and Ebert’s assurance that Edward Sharpe is now something much bigger than him and a rehab-inspired alter-ego, the whole thing is his show, through and through.
  16. Rolling Stone
    Jul 23, 2013
    60
    At their best, they conjure a California-commune Arcade Fire. But they can also verge on a hippie Hee Haw.
  17. Entertainment Weekly
    Jul 22, 2013
    75
    This self-titled outing generates its best vibes when Ebert throws his arms around deep-seated psychedelia like the skronking "Let's Get High" and the chiming head trip "If I Were Free." [26 Jul 2013, p.67]
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  18. Spin
    Jul 22, 2013
    40
    On record, though--and particularly this one, which presents churchy performances in mixes both realistic and surreal--these same Up With People tropes don't work as well, particularly with prolonged exposure, as inferior follow-ups to promising debuts by the Polyphonic Spree and I'm From Barcelona have proven.
  19. Under The Radar
    Jul 22, 2013
    55
    Ultimately, it's unfair and even glib to say this album doesn't hold water because it has no "Home" or "40 Day Dream," but all the same, one laments the loss of the magical, poppy Midas touch Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros once wielded with such ease.
  20. AllMusic
    Jul 22, 2013
    60
    Only a handful of the tracks here have a lot of staying power, and the rest, while always colorful and even enjoyable, are fast to fade.
  21. Pretty Much Amazing
    Jul 22, 2013
    75
    The freedom of expression and thematic irregularity that we hear while listening to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros is a fabulous release from the traditionally despised contract that constrained Ebert’s first and former band, Ima Robot.
  22. Slant Magazine
    Jul 22, 2013
    70
    The album's adventurous musical scope serves to further expand the mythos behind Ebert's ego-fueled, drug-addled, socio-religious musical experiment.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 25
  3. Negative: 3 out of 25
  1. TomasAG
    Jul 29, 2013
    10
    This band keeps getting better and better. Every song in this album is so powerful and amazing that you can't stop listening to it! A trueThis band keeps getting better and better. Every song in this album is so powerful and amazing that you can't stop listening to it! A true masterpiece.… Full Review »
  2. Slowave
    Jul 23, 2013
    8
    This band keeps doing what it does, and it does it better than anyone else is doing. Good music is good music, and while some critics can'tThis band keeps doing what it does, and it does it better than anyone else is doing. Good music is good music, and while some critics can't seem to separate the music from the story behind it (Ima Robot and the question of "how can these guys be for real?"), there really is no denying that this is simply "good music." Forget about hippies, folk revival, Lennon, and hipsters. Forget about Ebert and his past, and forget that this is 2013 and not 1970. Don't read Pitchfork and don't read Spin. If you are in the mood to accept this music for what it is (creatively melodic, adventurous, convincing and well executed), then the music will speak for itself. Even the tracks that at first glance seem to be "filler" grow into favorites after a few listens. A great album from a great band that is doing something unique. Nuff said.… Full Review »
  3. Brunoluis
    Sep 14, 2015
    10
    From the first time I heard this album could not stop more , I feel it is exactly about what artists should sing in the current worldFrom the first time I heard this album could not stop more , I feel it is exactly about what artists should sing in the current world situation , should sing about love, should sing about freedom and political consciousness , and this album is just that, they managed to make a work of art , worthy of being heard and followed by this generation

    Desde a primeira vez que ouvi esse álbum não consegui parar mais, sinto que é exatamente sobre isso que os artistas deveriam cantar na situação atual do mundo, deveriam cantar sobre amor, deveriam cantar sobre liberdade e consciência politica, e esse álbum representa exatamente isso, eles conseguiram fazer uma obra de arte, digna de ser ouvida e seguida por essa geração    … Full Review »
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