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Jan 29, 2018Ty Segall has made a massive album that not only celebrates that freedom he’s carved out for himself, it also effectively summarizes the journey so far. And it’s pretty darn listenable to boot. It may very well be his greatest accomplishment yet.
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Jan 26, 2018Along with the help of his session-artist buddies, Ty Segall has rebirthed himself on an album of both biblical proportions and grand artistry. Segall’s voice has never sounded so necessary.
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UncutJan 24, 2018Ty's most unrestrained albums stands among his best. ... Like sitting by a loaded jukebox that turns out gems all night. [Mar 2018, p.16]
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May 7, 2018Warbly vocalisms, impenetrably fuzz-encrusted guitar work, and boppin' elf grooves delightfully set the man apart from like-minded neo-hippies--alongside reverb avoidance and the occasional horns.
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Jan 29, 2018Ty Segall has never made a truly bad record, and that remains true with Freedom’s Goblin, which explores and innovates enough to qualify as incremental (but confident) progress for one of rock’s most consistent voices.
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Jan 26, 2018Freedom’s Goblin is ultimately a celebration of Segall’s aesthetic and emotional freedom--a definitive capstone to the first decade of a scuzzy, heartfelt songwriter nonpareil.
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May 29, 2018Segall has been slowly but surely expanding out in various directions, exploring the possibilities of sounds and approaches to his songs and songwriting craft. Freedom’s Goblin makes the dividends of his exploration that have paid off all too evident.
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MagnetApr 17, 2018Freedom's Goblin has hooks and strong songwriting, and the quality is more consistent than Segall's norm. [No. 150, p.55]
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Feb 28, 2018Freedom’s Goblin is remarkably coherent. Ty Segall may never have to make another album, so definitively does this one capture his art and possibilities, but you know he will.
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Feb 21, 2018On paper an album of this size and scope should--at the very least--be occasionally frustrating and bloated. Freedom's Goblin, however, is skillfully elevated by Segall's constant sense of joy and inscrutable knack for penning genuine earworms.
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Feb 6, 2018A bonkers and great record.
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Q MagazineJan 30, 2018It's lawless crashing of styles--genres mangled include FM radio rock, queasy disco and a waltz--might appear off-putting, but are, instead invigorating. [Mar 2018, p.115]
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Jan 30, 2018The weird edges of Freedom’s Goblin are where your attention should be drawn to. Like the freeform jazz interlude ‘Talkin 3’ and ‘Prison’, which sounds like the frantic last squeals of a dying bee. It’s captivating stuff, honestly.
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Jan 29, 2018At 75 minutes and 19 tracks, it is comfortably his longest record to date, but also his most listenable.
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Jan 25, 2018Much of the time, Freedom's Goblin plays like Ty Segall's version of the history of rock & roll as seen from his perspective, and it's as idiosyncratic and exciting as you would expect. It's also some of the very best music Segall has given us to date, essential for fans and strongly recommended to curious newcomers.
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Jan 24, 2018Freedom’s Goblin gives Segall room to play with a dizzying array of styles and genres, yet his excellent taste and melodic sensibility ensure that the whole wild endeavor stays firmly on the rails.
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MojoJan 24, 2018If he wasn't there already, Freedom's Goblin puts Segall in the very top flight of late-'teens rock contenders. [Mar 2018, p.90]
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Jan 24, 2018Freedom's Goblin cuts open Segall's brain and lets it all ooze out. Serve yourself up a spoonful of all that melodic goo, and enjoy.
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Jan 24, 2018You could boil Freedom’s Goblin down to “rock,” but the 19 songs offer 19 flavours of the genre--a testament to how many delicious recipes you can still make out of vocals, guitar, bass and drums (and, in this case, a dollop of horns).
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Jan 24, 2018It's a bold move to put out so much music in one go, but Freedom's Goblin is sure-footed enough to warrant to such a splurge.
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Jan 26, 2018There are tracks on here that will undoubtedly go down in the pantheon of great Ty Segall songs and be taken out on stage to thrill and delight. The rest can be quickly and easily enjoyed, then entirely forgotten about--which doesn’t really matter, since we’re probably only a year or so away from yet another Ty Segall album.
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Feb 1, 2018Goblin is simultaneously a patchwork project and a genealogy of Segall’s influences, operating on a confidence that’s as emphatic as it is earned.
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Jan 26, 2018With 10 tracks spread across a mere 36 minutes, Segall’s self-titled 2017 album functioned as an instant career overview. As the longer, less-focused sequel, Freedom’s Goblin comes off as almost too much of a good but increasingly overfamiliar thing.
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Feb 1, 2018Segall is all over the place across these 19 tracks which are too much to absorb in one sitting, if ever. Most of his carefree pastiches, bonhomie homages and sloppy costume-party shenanigans merely induce a craving for the long-awaited studio comeback of the mighty Ween.
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Jan 26, 2018While Freedom’s Goblin doesn’t exactly blow the doors off of his usual sound, it’s a solid addition to the canon that rattles between all corners of this self-made niche.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 29 out of 31
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Mixed: 0 out of 31
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Negative: 2 out of 31
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Mar 12, 2018