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This is vulgar music, completely unsentimental or nostalgic but with a deep, wild, and tenacious heart; it's spooky, un-caged, and frighteningly descriptive of our time and place.
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At this point, homage is almost expected of the Keys, but in doing so, the band is starting to dilute the "Heavy Soul" and Thickfreakness of their earlier material, as well.
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It may take a while to sink in, but "Magic Potion" enhances its effects with every listen.
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BlenderOnly the relatively sprightly "Just Got to Be" and the haunted-house voodoo of "Strange Desire" cut through the mire. [Oct 2006, p.130]
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Magic Potion never really manages to distinguish itself as an album; there are a number of excellent songs, but even with quite a few listens I never get the idea of the thing working as a collective whole.
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Great in parts though it is, Magic Potion isn’t quite the album to attract a raft of newcomers to The Black Keys’ archaic rock.
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The group sounds as wonderfully debauched, degenerate and dejected as ever.
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Entertainment WeeklyLooser, but no less excellent, than their last collection. [15 Sep 2006, p.72]
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MagnetMore than ever, Magic Potion hears the duo transitioning from blues to blues-based. [#73, p.87]
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MojoAnyone possessing their previous output will find little in the way of reinvention. [Oct 2006, p.96]
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As the album progresses, it becomes harder and harder to distinguish between one song and the next.
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New Musical Express (NME)They wisely avoid toying with any Darkness-style irony, but the Keys' insistence on authenticity does leave the album a little flat and humourless. [2 Sep 2006, p.21]
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Paste MagazineThis is the band's best yet. [Sep 2006, p.73]
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Magic Potion is a record where overwhelming competence meets measured restraint, but for me, sacrilege trumps sincerity, and I'd rather hear tuneful blasphemy than a tasteful snoozer of an album.
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Throughout the record, the Black Keys don’t rock the boat much with their style, just continuing to hone it and make it all come together.
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Nothing new.
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Q MagazineThe Black Keys may have as much in common with the conventional '70s blues-rock of Canned Heat and Free as they do with the more left-field THe White Stripes. [Oct 2006, p.118]
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Rolling StoneThe sound may be retro, but pure blues rock of this caliber is really timeless. [21 Sep 2006, p.84]
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SpinIf the Black Keys sped up a little, their stodginess might feel more songful. [Oct 2006, p.94]
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Always a wee bit more clever than anyone gave them credit for, the Keys are now a pretty good Zeppelin knockoff for the indie crowd, and little more.
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There's nothing surprising about what the Keys do here, but it's seldom less than satisfying, either.
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UncutThe duo can't help sounding like they're holding back a little. [Oct 2006, p.99]
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UrbThey take their place among the scruffiest, ugliest and most crowd-pleasing bad guys the West has ever spat out. [Sep 2006, p.131]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 69 out of 84
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Mixed: 11 out of 84
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Negative: 4 out of 84
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Dec 25, 2021
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Jul 5, 2013
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Jan 4, 2012