Emerald City - John Vanderslice
Emerald City Image
Metascore
80 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.7 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 22 Ratings

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  • Summary: The producer of Spoon's Gimme Fiction, explore 9/11 and politics again.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Slant Magazine
    100
    Both on a song-for-song basis and as singular cohesive work, Emerald City demonstrates Vanderslice's masterful control of craft at every structural level and his unrivaled ability to make the political personal.
  2. All Music Guide
    80
    The production is still huge and full, although audiophiles may be disturbed by the overdriven acoustic guitars on certain songs that give an unnerving sensation of blown speaker cones. It's a forgivable stylistic decision, and doesn't detract much from the overall solidarity of the disc.
  3. Under The Radar
    80
    Emerald City finds Vanderslice further along his yellow brick road to occupying a truely unique place in indie rock. [Summer 2007, p.77]
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  4. Q Magazine
    60
    His sixth album has a political slant, but the message is subtler than his controversial 2000 ditty, 'Bill Gates Must Die.'
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See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. KevinC.
    10
    Pitchfork got it way wrong this time. David Raposa sounds like high school reviewer who just discovered you can look up lyrics on Google. Even if he's right about the lyrical content, it's beside the point. Furthermore, if Vanderslice IS still stuck on 9/11, why is that a fault? If Raposa was not as affected, then just admit that up-front and get a less biased reviewer. All that to say, give this disc a shot. Play it through a few times. Emerald City is easily one of the best albums of the year.… Expand
  2. AllanC.
    10
    Great sound and loved it from top to bottom.
  3. b'lis
    8
    If I had to pick between this & Pixel Revolt, I'd take the latter...this is not quite up to his best, but it's very, very good. F*ck, can this guy write a song!… Expand
  4. colind.
    0
    This guy is such a fraud. Why does he keep trying to make us care? The world is full of great new music from singer songwriters like Newsom, Oldham, Sufjan, Devendra, Bird ie. music that matters. And then, you have the minor leagues. JV's the like the local dude you can see every week at the coffee shop...sad. We don't need another record, we get it, you're angry with the government, who isn't? Such a bore.… Expand

See all 9 User Reviews

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