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Kingdom Of Rust is a triumph, and the best album the band have ever produced.
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Listeners feeling nostalgic for early ’00s will likely find a lot to like about Kingdom Of Rust, with its skipping rhythms, chiming guitars, wobbly sheets of synthesizer, and the throaty, eyes-screwed-shut yelp of frontman Jimi Goodwin. And even those who think Doves peaked with 2002’s sprawling The Last Broadcast should appreciate the new album’s sonic depth.
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Whatever way you look at Kingdom Of Rust it’s a magnificent rock record, one which will delight the faithful and also surely see them pick up new devotees.
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A certain confidence is all over Kingdom of Rust. Not the brash, cocksure swagger of a debut album, but the quiet conviction that comes with experience. It sounds like another victory for maturity.
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This is still a bright record, however, one that finds catharsis in the gloomier songs and strength in the tracks that resemble Lost Souls' measured anthems.
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By expanding their repertoire, taking a few risks, and nailing those harmonies, they’ve made what feels like the first great British album of 2009.
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Alternative PressTitle withstanding, there's no rust on these guys. [May 2009, p.121]
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MojoThis is mostly an album about England, about hearts beating wild and strong through wind whipped, rain-lashed, solace-in-introspection northern living. [May 2009, p.97]
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Doves succeed in giving fans their fix of new music that sounds fresh without altering the formula so much as to alienate any of their devotees.
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Q MagazineKingdom Of Rust is Doves' defining work, an album of bold adventure. [May 2009, p.108]
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Under The RadarThey assemble perfect pop structures even as their materials oxidized, carefully building that Kingdom of Rust. [Spring 2009, p.65]
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Even if the album loses its way with its final two tracks, you are left so exhausted by this stage that it almost comes with a sense of relief. By reinventing what they do best, Doves have fearlessly strutted back onto everyone's radar.
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On Doves’ fourth LP, Kingdom of Rust, the music is more granite than limestone, continuing 2005 album "Some Cities’" move toward cacophonous beauty.
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Doves' fourth album is another sterling example of why the Doves should be household names and why they probably won't ever be: their unwavering flair for producing mountainous, Wembley-worthy pop anthems that are nonetheless invested with a palpable degree of grace and humility.
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Previous albums never quite lived up to the band's facility for knockout singles, but this one holds the attention.
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Good, not great, comeback from epic Mancs.
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It's familiar, sure, but Kingdom of Rust has a welcome warmth.
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It gradually reveals itself as a lithe and texturally consummate work.
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While it feels a little sheepish to rag on a band for being a little too competent at what they do, the best you can really say about this, their fourth LP, is that it’s simply a good product that’s easily recognizable as a Doves album.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 38 out of 43
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Mixed: 2 out of 43
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Negative: 3 out of 43
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Nov 24, 2011
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NickJun 26, 2009Doves have not wasted their time making Kingdom Of Rust, and I haven't wasted my time listening to it.
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KaiserZMay 29, 2009