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Feb 11, 201390Holy Fire brings new words to mind. Sharp. Emotive. Massive.
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Feb 8, 201390Holy Fire is the sound of a band utterly on form and completely on top of their game.
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Feb 6, 201390Not only is Holy Fire utterly sublime, it’s a record that’s been six years in the making.
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Feb 11, 201385Holy Fire is Foals’ masterpiece because it ties in the rhythmic nature of their debut, the soul of the second album, producing finally the rhythmic soul of its own.
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Feb 12, 201383Holy Fire slightly refines the agenda Foals established on Total Life Forever, and that’s certainly not a bad thing.
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Mar 20, 201380These songs demand attention like they demand volume; they require the space of repeat listens and the privilege of high fidelity audio presentation.
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Feb 22, 201380Holy Fire reveals a band adept at carving out arc and terrain in its music, and demonstrates a big step forward with a newfound coherence (from track to track as well as from instrument to instrument within songs).
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Feb 13, 201380Take their third album, Holy Fire: It shreds.
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Feb 11, 201380On Holy Fire, the third album from the English band, the post-punk revival is given a newfound sense of depth, creating songs that are rhythmic enough to draw listeners, but hypnotic enough to leave listeners lost in their wide-open spaces.
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Feb 11, 201380If this isn't Foals' pop classic or their art masterpiece, they're having a huge amount of fun squaring that circle.
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Feb 8, 201380On this voodoo-inspired record of unfettered ambition, Foals have achieved a rare magic. [Mar 2013, p.100]
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Feb 8, 201380From the glissandos and vertigo of 'Milk & Black Spiders' to the jounce and yawn of 'Providence', in every note and noteless space you can feel it: the physical unburdening, the personal reckoning, the fatigue and reprieve of letting go.
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Feb 8, 201380Philippakis’s words are open and raw. As for their sound, it’s as vital and as fresh as ever.
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Feb 7, 201380Like Total Life Forever, Holy Fire rather tails off in its second half.... Those complaints, though, are insignificant when set against the whole: an album by a British guitar band who want to win a huge audience without writing chantalongs for the drinkers' crowd, or lowest-emotional-common-denominator piano ballads.
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Feb 6, 201380Foals were already a mainstream presence; now, they’ve made an album properly reflecting that status.
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Feb 12, 201378As a whole, Holy Fire is a bold effort from Foals, but like on Total Life Forever, there are few clear standout tracks admist a lot forgettable mood-setting filler.
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Feb 12, 201376Like Total Life Forever, Holy Fire threatens greatness, and whatever disappointment comes from missing the mark is mitigated by its scope: A bomb needs to be operational more than it needs to be accurate.
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Feb 12, 201375Foals haven't lost their math-rock edge; they've infused it with fun.
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Feb 25, 201374Ultimately, though, the bulk of Holy Fire is another sterling addition to Foals’ repertoire, and the band knows it too.
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Feb 12, 201372It lacks a genuine peak like “Spanish Sahara” or “Balloons,” but it achieves greater consistency elementally, if not tonally.
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Mar 6, 201370The third Foals album doesn’t represent a huge leap forward from Total Life Forever’s formula so much as a refinement.
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Feb 14, 201370From an American’s perspective, Foals ranks above average in the UK indie universe, with generally better singing than on the Horrors’ releases, but lacking Wild Beasts’ aversion to filler and failing to match Friendly Fires’ ratio of straight-up sing-along moments.
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Feb 12, 201370The rest of Holy Fire is a counter-punch to “Inhaler,” a swerve that then hits all the more powerfully for setting us up with this false start.
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Feb 12, 201370They clearly understand their strengths and play to them, but they also generally know when too much is too much.
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Feb 11, 201370There’s plenty to commend it, but with such high expectations, it’s perhaps inevitable that this album could never live up to them.
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Feb 6, 201370Holy Fire doesn't quite unfurl its devil horns.... But the production heft from Flood and Alan Moulder, as well as the shameless but satisfying amount of delayed guitar, means it all has serious stadium credentials. [Mar 2013, p.72]
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Feb 6, 201370The pristine third album from UK rhythm junkies Foals is a study in contrasts. [Mar 2013, p.8]
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Mar 7, 201366Holy Fire isn’t a straight home run for the Oxford-based quintet.
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Feb 25, 201360Holy Fire is a collection of well-manicured tracks zoning out to a dazzling middle distance.
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Feb 19, 201360Foals remain the antithesis of a foursquare indie rock band. And yet nothing here is quite holy enough, or quite fiery enough, to live up to the album's billing.
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Feb 11, 201360It's a somewhat disappointing change of pace, but one that can nevertheless be appreciated by adjusting expectations; even if the band isn't pushing new boundaries, this new stance sort of fits them, coming across as a culmination of their previous material rather than a misstep.
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Feb 8, 201360It's a one-sided album: following the soulful “Late Night”, things plummet badly in the second half.
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Feb 6, 201360In all, a tad more mannered and staid than you'd expect from these former experimentalists. [Mar 2013, p.94]
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Feb 6, 201360Even when the groove lessens, doubters are liable to be persuaded by their innate knack for epic choruses.
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Mar 7, 201350Through their first two releases, Foals were able to showcase their evolving sound, but with Holy Fire, their evolution stops dead in its tracks.
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Feb 22, 201350It is Foals-by-the-numbers, though, and the band's apparent lack of energy renders it cold and forgettable.
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Feb 8, 201340Produced by arena rock specialists Flood and Alan Moulder, Holy Fire sounds pop sound insofar as it’s smoothed off, big and accessible.