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Dec 7, 2011The band sounds ready for battle, but too much time is spent slogging through the swamps of defeat, many of which are adorned with forgettable choruses and melodies that arrive at dead ends, only to bash themselves against the wall hoping for some kind of merciful respite.
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Apr 11, 2011Despite good intentions, the wincing lyrics border on pandering and even exploitative, revealing little in the way of insight or palpable compassion
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UncutApr 12, 2011What follows is the most overblown album in recent memory, every song instantly hitting the "big Music" button without giving the listener a chance to become acquainted. [May 2011, p.87]
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Apr 14, 2011On Euphoric Heartbreak, they either pair those quirks with clumsy writing or, more often, pretend the quirks don't exist. The resulting album smears together into one gigantic well-produced stadium anthem, shining like the night sky while remaining just as inert.
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MojoMay 16, 2011Glasvegas retain their open-throated passion, anthemicism and the very distinctive Caledonian character of James Allan's voice, but these qualities are now sometimes a little lost in widescreen--like tears in rain, like synths in multi-track. [May 2011, p.105]
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Q MagazineMay 16, 2011There's no doubt Glasvegas are on the side of the angels; they just need to remember that the Devil is in the detail. [May 2011, p.108]
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Apr 7, 2011It traverses a spacious, synth-dusted soundworld many future-dreampop miles from their girl-group and grit beginnings; the ambition will be a sonic shock to those who wanted the band to stay the 'working-class heroes' they wryly joke about being. It shouldn't, really.
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Apr 12, 2011If you like rock gratuitously big and laced with soggy self-pity, frontman James Allan, and his enabler, superproducer Flood, are here to help.
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Apr 7, 2011Euphoric Heartbreak is a more accomplished, interesting piece of work; a brutal but exhilarating listen. Yet without the hype that surrounded its predecessor, and with a distinct change of tact, it might struggle to find its natural home.
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Under The RadarMay 27, 2011They have overshot the mark, however, as the overshadowing of the product by the ambition clearly indicates. [May 20111, p.84]
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Apr 7, 2011Glasvegas are not to be dismissed, but we're still waiting for an undeniable triumph from them.
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Apr 7, 2011EUPHORIC HEARTBREAK should at very least cement Glasvegas' status as one of our most intriguing mainstream indie/rock groups and given a chance by those of a more cynical standpoint they might just find themselves enjoying the titular sensations the record promises and, for the most part, successfully delivers.
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Apr 29, 2011Whether he's drunk on optimism or writhing in psychic pain, his relentless quest for enlightenment is gripping and inspiring.
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Jun 10, 2011Album closer "Change", a quiet piano-led piece which experiments with spoken word is a poignant and welcome diversion which, if Glasvegas had looked to explore it more fully, could have furnished a much stronger and more wide-ranging sophomore effort. As it stands, this one slumps. Low.
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Apr 7, 2011As lyrically profound as ever, yet with a tinge of detached romantiscm. Pioneers they remain.
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Alternative PressApr 8, 2011If Euphoric has a weak spot, it's that Glasvegas' desperation can become overwrought. [May 2011, p.93]
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May 27, 2011Allan has a powerful voice, but it goes to waste under drowning synths and self-indulgent production by U2's Flood, who seems determined to drain the pop element out the band and turn them into a narcissistic mess.
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May 6, 2011Euphoric///Heartbreak is not an easy listen--as I've already alluded to, it's a convincing notion that this four-piece remain incapable of that--and while it is more theatrically anthemic than the first album, it is feels equally credible and sincere.
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Apr 7, 2011There's something about the combination of their shoegazey, distorted drones and James Allan's cracked, sulky Scots brogue that leaves these tales of emotional turmoil oddly ineffectual: even at its most fancifully Spectorian, it sounds strangely insubstantial. And as with bad acting, it's not persuasive enough to make one care.
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Apr 7, 2011U2 producer Flood marshals the band's bulldozing energy into an altogether slicker sort of bombast, and admittedly there are moments (Dream Dream Dreaming and the seemingly endless build-up of Lots Sometimes) where the songs sound in danger of losing their way in the middle of it all.
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Apr 8, 2011Neither a triumph nor a calamity, EUPHORIC HEARTBREAK delivers just enough to make you believe Glasvegas may still have that perfect album in them some day.
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Apr 7, 2011I worry about where they can go next with such a restrictive musical template, but here they have managed subtle refinement without sacrificing the essence of their primitive appeal.
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Apr 27, 2011I've expressed a fair amount of negativity toward Euphoric Heartbreak, but Glasvegas are an endearing, though a bit try-hard, band, and Euphoric Heartbreak is an endearing, though a bit try-hard, album.
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Apr 7, 2011A strange end to a strange album, whose mood, to invoke one of their earlier songs, is not so much "Fuck You, It's Over" as "fuck yeah, it's over!"
User score distribution:
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Positive: 9 out of 10
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Mixed: 0 out of 10
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Negative: 1 out of 10
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Apr 26, 2011
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Apr 10, 2011