Keeper
by John Doe
  • Record Label: Yep Roc
  • Release Date: Aug 29, 2011
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. Mojo
    Jan 31, 2012
    60
    Support from Howe Gelb, Patty Griffin and more, but things never really take off. [Feb 2012, p.99]
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  2. Q Magazine
    Nov 8, 2011
    60
    While the country-slanted Keeper doesn't stray far musically from what's gone before, the mood is more upbeat. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]
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  3. Rolling Stone
    Oct 18, 2011
    70
    Doe follows his excellent 2009 collaboration with The Sadies, Country Club, with a scruffier set of rockers.
  5. Uncut
    Sep 14, 2011
    80
    Just about every songs clicks. [Oct 2011, p.84]
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  6. American Songwriter
    Sep 12, 2011
    60
    Songs with poetic yet plainspoken lyrics about found love and lost souls twist in unusual directions and often take a while to absorb. But repeated spins are rewarded with sharply realized words atop melodies that, like most of the gems in his catalog of eight solo albums (along with work in the previously mentioned bands), entice you back for more.
  7. Blurt Magazine
    Sep 9, 2011
    80
    Optimism hasn't always been a hallmark of Doe's endeavors, but it ought to be said that this less-dour Doe is easy to enjoy.
  8. NOW Magazine
    Sep 8, 2011
    60
    Despite the evident talent of his backup band – vocalists Patti Griffin and Jill Sobule, guitarist Smokey Hormel, bassist Don Was and Giant Sand's Howe Gelb on piano – it takes a while to get into, in part because the arrangements are often so busy that they verge on chaotic.
  9. PopMatters
    Sep 2, 2011
    50
    The next time I want to hear Doe's jagged edged anger and soul deep longing, I'll be digging out my old copy of See How We Are or Meet John Doe. Those albums are genuine keepers. This one's a placeholder 'til the real thing comes along.
  10. AllMusic
    Sep 1, 2011
    80
    John Doe simply doesn't make bad records, but not all of them are as heartfelt and comfortable as Keeper, and the title is apt--this captures a great singer and songwriter on a hot streak, and you'd have to go back to his 1990 solo debut to hear a John Doe album that's as eclectic, accomplished, and satisfying as this.
  11. Los Angeles Times
    Sep 1, 2011
    88
    With Keeper, Doe beautifully balances a rocker's heart and a poet's soul.
  12. Paste Magazine
    Sep 1, 2011
    70
    Keeper gets repetitive at times, but Doe's passion never sounds rote.

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