User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 115 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 4 out of 115
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  1. Jan 3, 2023
    9
    I'm always torn between Holy Fire and Total Life Forever being my favourite album as TLF holds a special place in my heart being the first album I heard by them which made me love the band, but I can't deny that the production on Holy Fire and the songs are amazing. There's not a bad song that you can find on this album, even Everytime and Out of the Woods are good but I wouldn't rate themI'm always torn between Holy Fire and Total Life Forever being my favourite album as TLF holds a special place in my heart being the first album I heard by them which made me love the band, but I can't deny that the production on Holy Fire and the songs are amazing. There's not a bad song that you can find on this album, even Everytime and Out of the Woods are good but I wouldn't rate them anywhere in the 80's like the rest of the tracks. There's so many amazing songs like Prelude and Inhaler that have this voodoo creepy industrial rock vibe to it that Foals tried to achieve on this album and have experimented with in the past with tracks like The Forked Road. Inhaler and Providence bring the spiciness to the party with the upbeat tempo to get you moshing at their concert and make you lose yourself in the crowd whilst songs such as Stepson, Moon and even Bluebird bring a quiet and tender ending to the album with figures of speech taken from Greek mythology and ones that allow Yannis to show his emotions from his past. You'll find that a handful of songs are personal to Yannis more than ever so I can imagine this album is near and dear to him.
    Holy Fire brings you on a rollercoaster of emotions with every track being unique, from heaviness, to tenderness to absolutely losing it for 4 minutes then sitting back and relaxing as the album comes to a close. Holy Fire is definitely up there as one of the best Foals album they have released to this date, along with Total Life Forever.
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  2. Jun 24, 2022
    10
    For me, not the favourite foals album, but easily the best!
    Every song is perfectly nailed and realy Foals'ish, viby and deep. Few nights of reflections with this album on repeat spent for the good.
  3. Sep 15, 2019
    7
    Holy Fire is a good album, but it steps down from high quality Foals music that they make on Antidotes and Total Life Forever. It tries to have heavy hard rock influenced sound on the album but it fails sometimes. (7/10)
  4. Sep 28, 2015
    10
    I believe this is one of my favorite albums of all time ,its a real masterpiece and every song will make you think a lot. the lyrics are beautiful,meaningful and deep,and just the sound of the music makes me shiver because of how amazing and powerful it is,its the kind of music that touches your heart and makes you more relax and at peace about everything,personally i think its one of theI believe this is one of my favorite albums of all time ,its a real masterpiece and every song will make you think a lot. the lyrics are beautiful,meaningful and deep,and just the sound of the music makes me shiver because of how amazing and powerful it is,its the kind of music that touches your heart and makes you more relax and at peace about everything,personally i think its one of the best albums out there,so please do yourself a favor and buy it,you will not regret it Expand
  5. Mar 27, 2015
    8
    Melodic indie-rock with a haunting sound. Not a late night haunting of the terrifying kind. More shivers down the spine, tingling with delight. A beautiful effort providing sonnets and sounds that would cause gushing rivers to stop and listen. A fine album with excellent production, bringing the best out of the vocals. Recommended.
  6. Feb 17, 2014
    8
    hard to argue with the acclaim

    It's hard to argue with the acclaim and praise that has been heaped on this record. Holy Fire is an extremely well put together piece of work. The songwriting is solid and based on a style that lies somewhere between dark pop and indie but Foals definitely bring their own modern spin on these well trodden genres. The rhythm section of the band are on fire
    hard to argue with the acclaim

    It's hard to argue with the acclaim and praise that has been heaped on this record. Holy Fire is an extremely well put together piece of work. The songwriting is solid and based on a style that lies somewhere between dark pop and indie but Foals definitely bring their own modern spin on these well trodden genres. The rhythm section of the band are on fire while the guitar work often bring The Edge of U2's more restrained work to mind.

    For me, its in the vocal department that Foals come up a little short. The delivery can be dull at times and its hard to hear any emotion in the vocals which in turn makes it difficult to recognise any feeling in the songs. Overall, an enjoyable record and well worth having.
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  7. Apr 4, 2013
    9
    Foals have definitely changed their sound from their previous two albums. However, I think it has been a benefit for them. This album flows so well, with each song fading smoothly into the next, and it just feels right. This is one of the best albums of 2013 so far. The highlights are: "Inhaler", "My Number", and "Milk and Black Spiders".
  8. Feb 12, 2013
    10
    Highlights: "Milk Black Spiders", "Late Night", "Everytime" "Inhaler"
    An incredible album by an incredible band, Antidotes is amazing, it has amazing songs and sounds that get stuck in your head for a while and you can listen to most of the songs any time, but it was missing something, Soul. Total life Forever answered that with an incredible amount of soul and epicness (if that
    Highlights: "Milk Black Spiders", "Late Night", "Everytime" "Inhaler"
    An incredible album by an incredible band, Antidotes is amazing, it has amazing songs and sounds that get stuck in your head for a while and you can listen to most of the songs any time, but it was missing something, Soul. Total life Forever answered that with an incredible amount of soul and epicness (if that exists) in the album. But Holy Fire is a combination of both, an album with songs that get stuck in your head, but also have soul and they all mean something, they all are good, it had been a while since I had heard an album with 11 perfect songs.
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  9. Feb 12, 2013
    9
    I think Foals' best album to date. It just feels... complete. I'll admit I didn't found it as inspired as Antidotes (still my favourite album), but they finally managed to gave form and style to their kind of music. The result is a rough, hard sound with echoing melodies, and it's gorgeous.
    Sure someone will hate this. I think it's a matter of tastes, since technically speaking, Total
    I think Foals' best album to date. It just feels... complete. I'll admit I didn't found it as inspired as Antidotes (still my favourite album), but they finally managed to gave form and style to their kind of music. The result is a rough, hard sound with echoing melodies, and it's gorgeous.
    Sure someone will hate this. I think it's a matter of tastes, since technically speaking, Total Life Forever is probably better than this "tripping experience", and there are no really incisive hits (Inhaler is the only exception).
    Anyway, I highly recommend to listen to it if you liked their previous albums.
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Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 37
  2. Negative: 0 out of 37
  1. These songs demand attention like they demand volume; they require the space of repeat listens and the privilege of high fidelity audio presentation.
  2. Mar 7, 2013
    50
    Through their first two releases, Foals were able to showcase their evolving sound, but with Holy Fire, their evolution stops dead in its tracks.
  3. Mar 7, 2013
    66
    Holy Fire isn’t a straight home run for the Oxford-based quintet.