From The Valley To The Stars
by El Perro del Mar
Metascore
67

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 18
  3. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. cokemachineglow
    41
    The result is a series of boring romances and half-assed torch songs that drag their feet in a way that’s exhausting to listen to.
  2. Delusions of Adequacy
    60
    These songs sound more like parts of songs that have been extracted from something bigger and more fully realized.
  3. Drowned In Sound
    60
    With a little more pace and drama to offset this off-whitest of visions, El Perro Del Mar could be an interesting prospect indeed.
  5. Dusted Magazine
    40
    From the Valley to the Stars doesn’t have that directness [of her first album]; it gives the persistent feeling that it is nothing but parts.
  6. Mojo
    60
    The rolling melodies, stately pace and closed-miked, out of phase vocals result in an off-kilter whole, tempered by contributions from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. [July 2008, p.111]
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  7. No Ripcord
    60
    From The Valley To The Stars is simply a collection of mostly good and occasionally great songs that just doesn’t quite work as a whole.
  8. Spin
    60
    Though the 16-track set achieves no sonic heights, Assbring's stirring lyrics and faint yet convincing delivery convey heartbreak gracefully. [May 2008, p.98]
  9. The Guardian
    60
    It is very beautiful, ethereally so, its chanted, chiming vocals wafting over multilayered instrumental tracks as delicate and intricately constructed as lace.... Despite that, the 16 songs together lack variety, one drifting into another, the overall mood too solemn and somnolent.
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  10. Village Voice
    40
    Serene but emotionally flat, Valley feels like too much church on a cold Sunday afternoon.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 9
  3. Negative: 3 out of 9
  1. PabloH.
    Sep 5, 2008
    3
    No recommendable.
  2. RodrigoA.
    Sep 5, 2008
    1
    So boring, so aching, so fake, so stupid... it´s not a nothing. I heard all album and feel a lot of untrue feelings.
  3. AlérianF.
    Sep 5, 2008
    2
    For being so sad this woman gets a beastly sound, the melodies are not so bad and the lyrics pure trash from a rich kid who suffer too much, For being so sad this woman gets a beastly sound, the melodies are not so bad and the lyrics pure trash from a rich kid who suffer too much, where are the angels?… Full Review »
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