• Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Release Date: Apr 16, 2013
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 29 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 29
  2. Negative: 2 out of 29
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this album

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
  1. Apr 16, 2013
    5
    If you mixed all the lame songs Dylan made in the 80's with smooth jazz, you'd get this cheesy music. Take that comment with a grain of salt, as I've been a huge fan of Beam's since "The Creek Drank the Cradle," and the direction the band has taken in the last two albums is very different from those earlier, lo-fi, melancholic albums. I'm not against artists reinventing their sound, forIf you mixed all the lame songs Dylan made in the 80's with smooth jazz, you'd get this cheesy music. Take that comment with a grain of salt, as I've been a huge fan of Beam's since "The Creek Drank the Cradle," and the direction the band has taken in the last two albums is very different from those earlier, lo-fi, melancholic albums. I'm not against artists reinventing their sound, for instance I think Chan Marshall did a fantastic job of it last year, but I can't get behind this. The production is top notch, but it really is cheesy. Expand
  2. Apr 17, 2013
    6
    Definitely the most upbeat work that Sam Beam has done. I would have scored it higher but I think it came so far out of left field that I was taken off-guard. It's almost as if "Iron & Wine" created an offshoot band just to create an overtly poppy version of "Shepherd's Dog". I don't really understand the "Jazz" references that the music critics are saying, it seems like that is just a BSDefinitely the most upbeat work that Sam Beam has done. I would have scored it higher but I think it came so far out of left field that I was taken off-guard. It's almost as if "Iron & Wine" created an offshoot band just to create an overtly poppy version of "Shepherd's Dog". I don't really understand the "Jazz" references that the music critics are saying, it seems like that is just a BS excuse to say "This isn't what we expected from Beam" or this is really different from his other work. Regardless, a good album, but don't expect the lo-fi Iron & Wine of days past. Expand
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 35
  2. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Jun 4, 2013
    80
    Ghost On Ghost completes Iron & Wine’s transformation from simple soul-searching singer-songwriter into fully-fledged bandleader. Beam firmly remains a master at both.
  2. May 16, 2013
    78
    His fifth LP ties it all together with ethereal jazz-soul in summer colors, bolstered by the nimble swing provided by members of Bob Dylan's band and New Orleans horns orchestrated again by Tin Hat Trio's Rob Burger.
  3. May 8, 2013
    58
    It may be palatable and generally inoffensive on a whole, but Ghost on Ghost really goes down best when viewed as a supplement to other better, more transcendent material already out there.