- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Under The RadarThis time around, a more restrained approach means a less exhausting listening experience. [#5, p.99]
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UncutA darker and dramatically more cohesive collection than its predecessor. [Sep 2003, p.108]
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Q MagazineAll of the elements that make the band great--the Shadowsy guitar solos, James Skelly's Eric Burdon-meets-Jimmy Corkhill croon, the breadth of imagination--are well lubricated, but the songwriting has rocketed. [Aug 2003, p.106]
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Suggests even more urgently that that landmark album that's so patently within their grasp is tantalisingly close. This, however, is not it. Not quite. It is still, nevertheless, a quite dazzling album.
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Though it's fair to question their sense of tradition, they succeed where other blues-aping artists, like Gomez and Arnold, have failed, because they're not wholly indebted to the customs of the blues. They've merely co-opted its grisly spirit and transformed it into something unique.
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The Coral have refined their influences, dropping some of the more incongruous blasts and revelations for a more concise, controlled dervish of Northern guitar colour and shade, West Coast psychedelic fever and Spaghetti Western landscapes and atmospherics.
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Magic and Medicine reveals a tightness of strong structure and definition of purpose (still all things '60s, but more folkie than psychedelic) lacking on the group's debut.
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Entertainment WeeklyThough lacking the [debut'] exhilarating peaks, Magic is more consistent. [13 Feb 2004, p.71]
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Rolling StoneA subtler pleasure. [30 Oct 2003, p.92]
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MojoThis isn't a great departure from The Coral but mainman James Skelly's increasingly witty words and ear for a killer jig put this in a loveable place of its own. [Aug 2003, p.95]
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BlenderMore mature, more focused, and a little less fun. [Mar 2004, p.115]
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Magic & Medicine is hardly a record that will catapult The Coral to the next level; but at the same time, it's also far from being an embarrassment.
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Magic And Medicine's draggy Bob Dylan homage "Talkin' Gypsy Market Blues" shows the limitation of using old rock as window dressing, while the bulk of the disc presents a better-integrated fusion of varied hypnotic pop sounds.
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The expansive palette of the debut has been shorn of its tumult and restlessness.
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On Magic & Medicine, the band's frenetic freakout leanings have been stripped away in favor of a more humble approach, placing subtlety and songwriting above the sounds being produced. It all sounds far less interesting.
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Magic & Medicine would be a modest success if it weren't for a handful of songs that nearly ruin things.
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Alternative PressMedicine is certainly a cohesive and mature outing, but it isn't nearly as fun as the band's previous shenanigans. [May 2004, p.102]
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Pretty though much of Magic and Medicine is, it's an ultimately frustrating piece of work.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 13 out of 14
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Mixed: 0 out of 14
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Negative: 1 out of 14
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NorthFreedomFighterApr 6, 2005Beautifully crafted and innovative, a definite must have for anyone with any interest in Brit Rock and psychedelica.
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RobertAApr 3, 2004This album is lively but a little less fun then their debut.
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NseEMar 28, 2004