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Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
by
Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea Image
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 8 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the sixth studio album for the indie rock band led by David Berman.

Top Track

Suffering Jukebox
planes on the downtown skyline is a sight to see for some it ought to make a few reputations in the cult of number one while these seconds turn these... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. musicOMH.com
    100
    Lookout Sea paradoxically Silver Jews' most complex and most accessible work to date. Better yet, it improves with each listen, as more and more nuances and links are revealed.
  2. Dusted Magazine
    80
    Lookout lacks the piercing insight of Berman’s best work––those Old Testament and American Gothic retellings laced with sarcasm and self-loathing. At the same time, there’s a casual quality to this set that trumps the belabored tangle of the last go-round.
  3. Spin
    80
    Musically, his sixth Silver Jews album is a low-key treat, country-inflected folk rock goosed by melodies that conjure both the Velvet Underground ("Open Field") and Johnny Cash ("Candy Jail").
  4. Drowned In Sound
    80
    Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea is the logical next chapter in this manuscript which has had many of us hooked since the opening lines.
  5. cokemachineglow
    77
    Lookout doesn’t have the feel of a major step forward for the Silver Jews: sonically, it falls pretty comfortably between "Bright Flight" and "Tanglewood" and doesn’t have the sort of big events that marked those two records.
  6. Delusions of Adequacy
    70
    Taken as a whole, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea stills far short of the Silver Jews’ seminal statements--namely 1998’s "American Water" and 1994’s "Starlite Walker"--but its mix of mischief and melancholy provides more than enough to keep David Berman in the game he continues to reassuringly and unpredictably play on his own terms.
  7. Blender
    40
    At his best, Berman used to refract sage-with-guitar tropes into dryly perverse insights; but this time he's just smothering them in weird phrases. [July 2008, p.76]
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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. JudgeSmails
    Oct 16, 2019
    10
    So underappreciated. Suffering Jukebox is the one song that I think of first when I think of David Berman. Such a perfect metaphor for him.So underappreciated. Suffering Jukebox is the one song that I think of first when I think of David Berman. Such a perfect metaphor for him. This album has a great diversity of songs and some leaps forward in his songwriting skills. The lyrics, as always are superb and haunting, but he's in total command of his structures here.… Expand
  2. NicholasC
    Jun 18, 2008
    9
    One of the best Silver Jews albums easily. Outstanding lyrics all around, hardly a skippable track to be found. Big improvement on Tanglewood One of the best Silver Jews albums easily. Outstanding lyrics all around, hardly a skippable track to be found. Big improvement on Tanglewood Numbers. Carrie's singing is better than ever and doesn't feel forced on any of the tracks. Highly recommended.… Expand