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- By date
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Entertainment WeeklyBlack's take on Southern soul: spare, graceful, in the pocket, with Black himself sounding reborn and relaxed. [22 Jul 2005, p.78]
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He's discovered a mellow maturity in Southern soul - and without losing his punk rock perversity or poetry.
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It will surely be remembered as perhaps the greatest Frank Black LP (to date, at least) and perhaps even as the record that made it cool to like country again.
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One of his finest hours.
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FilterThis is relaxed, realized, and startlingly gorgeous. [#16, p.92]
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If there's a quibble, 'Honeycomb' does lack variation of pace. Though it doesn't matter when the tunes are as consistently as good as 'Sing for Joy'.
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UncutA quietly remarkable record. [Aug 2005, p.92]
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Elegantly-strummed slices of lo-fi Americana.
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Honeycomb is a coherent and listenable collection of songs.
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MojoHoneycomb is really closer to the Dylan of New Morning than Blonde On Blonde; an angry young man finally transformed by a new voice and outlook. [Aug 2005, p.95]
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As usual the songs are superbly crafted, and very well-executed.
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SpinAlternately goofy, sweet, and weird. [Aug 2005, p.97]
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Honeycomb is steeped in tradition, yet manages to buck it at the same time; while not all Pixies and Frank Black fans will appreciate its mellow maturity, it's an intimate treat for those who follow its lead.
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BlenderCompared with the Pixies, this is conservative and gentlemanly. [Aug 2005, p.109]
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Rolling StoneThe playing is bright, relaxed and spontaneous. [28 Jul 2005, p.82]
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Given the strength of the album’s beginning, the latter half lags quite a bit, but the occasional highlight arises.
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[Honeycomb has] some of Black’s most mature songwriting to date and a chilled-out sound that plays like the cure to a hangover after a night of Pixies-soundtracked debauchery.
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Q MagazineHis mutation into Hank Williams may be unlikely, but it also proves to be rather charming. [Aug 2005, p.126]
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Honeycomb isn't a great album -- it's too tentative and self-restrained for that -- but it's quite a good one.
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It suffers both in comparison to Black’s other solo material and on its own decidedly alt-country terms.
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Has its inspired moments but ultimately comes off like something of a vanity project.
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Fall[s] somewhere between briskly entertaining and simply inconsequential.
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Under The RadarThe tension of is-this-a-joke-or-serious is perhaps the largest aspect of the album's subtle, growing charm. [#10, p.105]
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Honeycomb proves too rigid and self-serious to make good on Black’s strengths.
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It is a noble effort, modeled on Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde, but the results are underwhelming.
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If Honeycomb exercises Dylanisms, they're the indulgent kind: stifled melodic repetitions, gaggles of verses, rushed takes that make brilliant musicians appear barely competent.
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The set is just a curio, banking everything on Black's low register, which has the texture but not the stamina to pull off so many slow, velvet lullabies about sour romance.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 26 out of 29
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Mixed: 0 out of 29
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Negative: 3 out of 29
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Jan 5, 2012
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PaulADec 4, 2007
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MatthewSMar 4, 2007Stands out like a shiny dime against the old money of a familiar genre. Positive and uplifting.