- Record Label: Secretly Canadian / Rough Trade
- Release Date: Feb 1, 2005
User Score
Universal acclaim- based on 271 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 229 out of 271
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Mixed: 12 out of 271
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Negative: 30 out of 271
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JasonVSep 24, 2005
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AaronEOct 17, 2005Beautiful and haunting, i've never heard a voice like this before. If you enjoy the warbling vibrato of Devendra Banhart, listen to Antony, the true master. HIs beautiful floating voice is complimented by the piano dancing languidly under his fingertips.
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louispDec 1, 2005
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RaulJuliaDec 26, 2005awesome. this cd has called out the homophobes. scatter you cockroaches.
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JasonFMar 8, 2005His voice and music has an aching and melancholic beauty. Best album so far this year. I know it is a differnt kind of music, but this makes Bright Eye's lastest album(s), though very good, seem sophmoric.
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DeanApr 11, 2005I'm not really into my tenors, but this album really is very very good. Can't say it'll start off a whole movement, but it certainly makes a nice change.
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markApr 29, 2005i had never heard of antony and the johnsons until yesterday on radio 1. he made me stop what i was doing and listen, that hasn't happened for a long time. what a voice
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GlenPApr 8, 2005emotive, uncertain, souless. he needs faith.
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PaulBJun 18, 2005Stunning; hard to imagine that anyone wouldn't be moved by this.
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LucySJun 23, 2005beautiful
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robinfOct 16, 2006A miracle !
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AdolfoGMar 21, 2006Original, profundamente bello Una instrumentacion delicada que ensambla magistralmente con unas voces increibles
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anthonybMar 22, 2006this album is amazing! there is no other artist like this. antony coveys all of his omtions through song, it is entrancing and beautiful....this album is a must have!
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seamusmMar 28, 2006Singular voice that arcs high like a nightingale in flight. A lovely record. Check it out.
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BronWMay 28, 2006Challenging, haunting and beautiful, it sends tingles down my spine every time. Ignore the killjoys, not all music is supposed to be easy. This is gorgeous stuff.
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LolaNov 2, 2005I woke up to my radio alarm with Antony singing on NPR. I burst into tears. It's so beautiful. And I'm a jaded old broad. Passed him around and everybody loves him. My friend played him to her mother on her deathbed and then she died, hearing Antony as her last sounds on earth. That seems right to me.
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RickySNov 4, 2005
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yoridOct 21, 2005ayone that doesnt like this album should just shut their mouths and head over to walmart where they can purchase ashleigh simpson's album and stay in their microscopic universe of music.have a great day.....lol
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ArethusaMar 22, 2005I absolutely adore this album. The lyrics and the music would sound saccharine and overly dramatic with anyone else except Antony, whose voice really is the leading instrument in this band. I've just discovered them with this album and I can't get enough. I think it's one of those polarising records that you'll either love or won't.
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PaulSApr 23, 2005Very Good but not Excellent as first album )
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BrendanNJun 11, 2006Challenging, emotional, beautiful, haunting, and just th slightest bit disturbing, I Am A Bird Now will make you shed a tear, quiver in fear, and ultimately cheer.
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SimonBDec 27, 2005The most remarkable album I've heard since (the very different) Grace, by Jeff Buckley...and time will prove this to be every bit as much a classic as that one is now seen to be. Haunting and hurt, but ultimately uplifting.
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MeyaC.Dec 31, 2005I've only heard a few songs on this album, but his voice is so haunting. It's beautiful, exquisite and entirely different. Everything else, like the lyrics and the arrangements just make this record so much better. Though I'm usually a more hard rock person, Antony and the Johnsons just converted me.
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Feb 20, 2013
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[Anonymous]Apr 1, 2005Upon hearing a couple of clips, I hated this at first. But after listening to the full album, Antony won me over. His voice takes some getting used to, but the glam influences and strong melodies make this sucker hold up. If you don't mind hyper-dramatic pop music, give it a shot.
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EdBSep 8, 2005
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andredOct 17, 2005Hoping beyond hope that this album wasn't WEIRD or BIZARRE or HERMAPHRODITIC or AN INSULT TO THE KAISER CHIEFS (because what, after all, could possibly be worse than that) I engaged an open mind and found an original, moving new sound. You can do it too maybe, unless your box of convention interferes with your ability to hear and feel.
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JohnoMar 7, 2005Impressive stuff. Great songs. Great set of mates too. Shame his voice is so annoying after a while.
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MichaelBDec 2, 2005
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jyotirmayadJul 22, 2005Beautiful writing; the voice takes getting used to; boring in some areas; beautiful melodies; I dislike about 2 or 3 of these songs, but I have to agree with the praises -- a unique artist at the top of his gay.
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SeyHaSAug 17, 2005An intimate and emotive meditation on the frailty of life, especially in the yearnings of childhood and the bleak prospect of death. This album has succeeded through both voice and music and is one of the rarest moments when it can transcend the sound and offer much more.
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DavidMAug 19, 2005
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JohnnyK.May 13, 2005
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Dec 2, 2021
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KlausFSep 6, 2005
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OrinocoADec 26, 2005Not always, but if the mood is right...
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IvanFFeb 11, 2006It must be a 7,because we all know what Mont Everest is, but trully beautiful, maybe he used to listen 1st Roxy Music album...
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CraigLApr 12, 2005
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mattaJun 21, 2005Really beautiful music and Antony really does have an incredible voice but after repeated listens I realize that the album is a little one-note and even a little repititious at times. Still, a fantastic and original sound.
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Apr 4, 2015
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Jan 9, 2015
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alandApr 16, 2005
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JorgeSMar 26, 2005Just a good voice... but after to listen to this work it reminded me how a great band was The Platters (but not a hype in those years).
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ElizabethPSep 27, 2005
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JohnM.Sep 21, 2007
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JamieKMar 22, 2005I don't think this album lives up to the hype- everyone seems to have been caught up in the swell of "if it's different, it's good".
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AndrewWDec 21, 2006I don't get it?! I have a wide-ranging taste in music. Roy Orbison to Thom Yorke to Johnny Cash to Nick Drake. Love Lou Reed. Love Rufus Wainwright. But I can't get into this album. It's not bad, but it doesn't really do anything. I've been trying to get this album for over a year now and I just give up.
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EricMAug 2, 2005This disc is as overrated as they come. Aaron S. got it right when he noted this disc and M.I.A. are the worst discs to get good reviews all year. Melancholy vocals aren't always a good thing, folks.
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belvederehDec 27, 2005If you can ignore the excruciatingly awful vocals, the songs are quite nice.
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seanbOct 28, 2005the 3 is for originality! That is all this album is! anyone who wants to work hard to enjoy music give this one a miss!
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JLDSep 15, 2005I don't get it... Only like the song with rufus ! Won the Mercury Price ? Come on...
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sissyFeb 21, 2005monotonous (emotionally and musically). really dull.
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D.F.NicholasMar 14, 2005Vastly over-rated. The vocals become anoying about halfway through the first song and by track 3 you want to strangle the usually reliable reviewers who convinced you to buy this lousy CD.
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ChazNOct 7, 2005Don't know what everyone is getting excited about?? This idiot is almost as folorn and self indulgent as damien rice!!!!! Can someone tell me what is so good about him??
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WillyPNov 18, 2005Tiny Tim is alive and well, and scraping his nails down a chalkboard! I refuse to believe this music isn't a prank of some kind.
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AaronS.Jul 10, 2005A laughably bad disc. Next to M.I.A., this is the most overrated album of the year! The guy sounds like Tiny Tim. I simply can't believe this is getting good word of mouth. Simply awful.
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ememAug 8, 2005This album is a really kitsch and junk. For the first 2 songs I thought it is a parody. Suprisingly it is not. Really funny, what people are listening...
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ScottYOct 31, 2005Original...perhaps. Disappointing...definitely. Whoa...nothing on this disc jumped out at me. I lasted for 3 songs, my wife made it through 1, and the two friends I lent it to didn't get much farther, either.
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JonnywOct 3, 2005The fact that this bunch of seemingly no-hopers managed not only to make it tothe top but also deprive the excellent kaiser chiefs of the mercury music prize is a fact that i, like many i am sure, will take a very long time to get to grips with. Utter, utter trash!!
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TomASep 11, 2005It's so whiney and painful to listen... i've never been a bully and in fact i was one of the kids that got picked on in school... but if i heard someone sing this crap, i would want to punch him in the face.
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KristannaPNov 15, 2005Is this what passes for music nowadays?! Antony's singing is whiny, his lyrics are short and stupid, his songs are either cut abruptly or drag on and on. If he wants the damn transexual operation then he should just get it instead of crying to listeners about it! This is nothing but TRASH! I WANT A REFUND!!!
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BlisterfishCafeSep 13, 2005
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ScottWMay 11, 2006It's not worth spending money for just one good song. Download "Fistful of Love" but don't waste your money on the rest of this crap!
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JasonSSep 13, 2005I don't get the love for his voice - sounds like he was kicked in the crotch and someone recorded the crying. Truly awful.
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StevenSep 3, 2005Hugely overrated album. I can't believe people actually listen to this snoozefest.
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LeonardoFSep 7, 2005Mommy, I want to be Nina Simone.
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MichaelRNov 15, 2005Don't submit your ears to unnecessary pain and torture.
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JonathanWOct 20, 2005
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MatthewWJun 1, 2005
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EBowJun 12, 2005For the life of me I don't understand how anyone can listen to this. This is some of the worst music I have ever heard.
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DeanS.Jun 14, 2005I Am A Turd Now
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LennyDMar 27, 2005Shockingly dull and highly overrated. Very reminiscent in style of Mick Hucknall: Simply red.
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Awards & Rankings
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Haunting and affecting.
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For what it lacks in consistency, I Am A Bird Now gains in being, even at its most tedious of moments, an interesting and thematically compelling listen.
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Entertainment WeeklyIt could have been mawkish, but the sentiments--and Antony's trembling falsetto--are so honest, you love it despite your jaded self. [4 Feb 2005, p.133]