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It’s comparable to blending all the best bits of Led Zep and hippie rockers Grateful Dead, with a spoonful of Motown classics to help the medicine go down.
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It’s not going to change the musical horizon, as there’s absolutely nothing new here. But the oldies – the hilarious Chicken Payback, the beautiful 50s ballad I Love You, or the exuberantly wonderful One Glass of Water – are strong enough to make this both a worthy successor and a promise for the future.
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Free the Bees is all worth hearing, a lot more than once, and it could be the Album of the Year -- the only question is if that year is 2004 or 1968.
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Free the Bees shows a group of skilled musicians who are comfortable in their style and songwriting, and it plays like it was unearthed in a warehouse basement, where it was hidden for the last forty years.
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The Bees are quirky enough to avoid being anybody's museum curator.
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A monumental step forward in the progression of the group's sound.
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It really is quite difficult to believe that the band behind Free the Bees is the same one responsible for Sunshine Hit Me; while one record isn't necessarily stronger than the other and both are equally eclectic, they seem to be jumpstarted by wildly dissimilar muses.
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Under The RadarEven though the stylistic diversity of the first album isn't present, it's hard not to get caught up in the dreamy spell that The Bees weave. [#7]
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New Musical Express (NME)Some of 'Free The Bees' could have been recorded 40 years ago and some of it could have been beamed down from an orbiting space station 3,000 years further along the pipe than us. [26 Jun 2004, p.54]
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UncutAs satisfying as it is stylish. [Jul 2004, p.95]
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BlenderOnly a central, three-track lull--where grooves are preferred over songs--sours this eclectic, irresistible stew. [Jul 2005, p.114]
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UrbAmong the most engaging albums of the year. [Jul/Aug 2005, p.108]
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Q MagazineGlows with retro colour. [Jul 2004, p.110]
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Paste MagazineTheir sheer retro enthusiasm compensates for the music's derivativeness--for some of the tracks at least. [Aug/Sep 2005, p.111]
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Entertainment WeeklyOne of Britain's best-kept secrets. [8 Jul 2005, p.71]
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The band's greatest success is their ability to craft unassuming, enjoyable revival rock numbers with clever lyrics, recalling their musical forebears without ever descending to cliché.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 21
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Mixed: 1 out of 21
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Negative: 2 out of 21
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BerthaJul 16, 2007
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GabeHMay 9, 2006
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JamesDec 3, 2005