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Apr 19, 2017It is a reminder that, beyond the thrill-seeking singles, the mainstream audience still favour meaningful, emotional songs, delivered with passion. Rag ’n’ Bone Man’s debut is full of them.
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Feb 9, 2017Human is an impressive, life-affirming record chock-full of hooks and classy, grown-up production. Praise be.
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Feb 9, 2017When it comes to big, belting choruses backed with equally sizeable orchestration, Graham doesn’t muck about.
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MojoFeb 2, 2017A crop of high quality songs and instrumentals played with dazzling finger-picking. [Mar 2017, p.90]
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Nov 29, 2017Rag'n'Bone Man needs to think more thoroughly about what exact story he wants to tell. Until then, Human is a heartwarming, mature pop album. Maybe it's been a wise decision to tone down the artist's hip-hop and rap background for now. But just the same, it could also have played a credible role.
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Feb 13, 2017Like any prospective chartbuster, it frontloads its biggest bangers and lets anything more interesting linger in the later stages of the record, when the more passive listeners have tuned out. But those forays are occasional at best, and as an artistic statement this debut album is somewhat limited.
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Feb 13, 2017It’s a good job that Rag’n’Bone Man has the kind of righteous roar that could breathe life into the phone book, because this album spools together a set of reliable tropes with little in the way of topspin.
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Feb 9, 2017There’s too much bland, Identikit retro soul, the tasteful production becomes stifling, and the lyrics tip from heartfelt and personal into cliched and overwrought. Thankfully, there are still times when he cuts loose.
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Q MagazineFeb 2, 2017Too many of the album's more poignant moments suffer from a slick but formulaic production. ... Graham is at his best when he delivers it straight. [Mar 2017, p.114]
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Feb 2, 2017Singles "Human" and "Skin" are due their high praise, but there seems little soul to the rest of proceedings.
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Feb 13, 2017The problem with Human (the album) is that it feels like it’s been over tooled for success, that the commercial facets of his talents have been blown up at the expense of what might have actually made him interesting.
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UncutFeb 2, 2017Delve further into Human, though, and you find sterile R&B and schlocky, overwrought lyrics. [Mar 2017, p.37]
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Feb 8, 2017Things go rapidly downhill, soured by the earnest, self-important tone of songs like “Grace” and “Ego”; while “Love You Any Less” is just achingly dull, a slice of blandly sepia soulfulness that stains the songs around it.
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Feb 6, 2017Sure, Graham’s voice is powerful; not Levi Stubbs powerful, perhaps, but muscular and versatile nonetheless. It’s a shame, though, that even its most melismatic hints of adventure feel carefully rehearsed; slickly produced beyond any sense of risk or catharsis.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 19 out of 38
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Mixed: 9 out of 38
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Negative: 10 out of 38
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Mar 4, 2017
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Feb 10, 2017
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Feb 10, 2019