Mirrored
by Battles
  • Record Label: Warp
  • Release Date: May 22, 2007
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 184 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 149 out of 184
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 184
  3. Negative: 19 out of 184

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  1. onyx4
    Jul 12, 2007
    4
    regular, at moments good, the first time you heart it, but it gets old really fast. I can't stand this band now
  2. BorisH
    May 31, 2007
    5
    Anyone that saw any reviews above that included the words 'rock' or 'pop' in it should disregard them immediately. Whatever this is it's certainly not my type of music. I forced myself to listen through the hole thing once; attempting to do it again would be veritable torture.
  3. DM
    Jun 5, 2007
    4
    Original and eccentric sounding beats. Usually I like something like this. But I just can't into this album. I get nothing from this album.
  4. JaddyP
    Jun 7, 2007
    6
    An album of mix emotions and ideas. At time it really hits the mark with an eccentric approach to making beat based rock. Other times it is so far from being accessible that they shot themselves in the foot by pushing a good thing too far.. but I am not the be all and end all of music taste.. Give it a try!!
  5. BillV
    May 29, 2007
    6
    A very interesting sounding and conceptual album, but I have no idea where to go from there! The lyrics seem too comical in tone, have little depth and tire quickly. This is album you listen to once and move on to something with some soul which can be acheived with math-rock. Bands like the Shipping News and Slint do it much better
  6. JosephM
    May 30, 2007
    4
    Totally average and derivative. I cannot understand why everybody is fawning all over this album. And don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the genre, it's just that this does nothing to push the genre forward. It is a very well produced, very boring album.
  7. gernick
    Jun 21, 2007
    5
    certainly not the worst thing i've heard this year but my god, what self indulgence. where are the songs? they picked a good name, hail from new york, do something un-mainstream so they must be good. NO, they aren't.
  8. AlanK.
    Jul 18, 2007
    6
    I have to agree with another poster that this is one of the most overrated albums of the year. Maybe listeners are so desperate for something unusual they give accolades to anything that is (even if it isn't that good). Battles have a unique chemistry and aesthetic, and their ability to explore seems almost infinite. But their tremendous potential is only partially realized on I have to agree with another poster that this is one of the most overrated albums of the year. Maybe listeners are so desperate for something unusual they give accolades to anything that is (even if it isn't that good). Battles have a unique chemistry and aesthetic, and their ability to explore seems almost infinite. But their tremendous potential is only partially realized on Mirrored. They must learn to infuse more humanity and more direct emotional zeal into their intriguing structures before they can realize the truly great album Mirrored isn't.… Expand
  9. david20023
    Aug 2, 2007
    5
    Still having trouble distinguishing this from those twiddly prog rock bands we thought punk had slayed. Memories seem to be short, or I am insufferably old.
  10. JRatcliff
    Sep 27, 2007
    5
    Deeply ambivalent. At moments it seems to digress into the worst kind of atonal jazz riffs imaginable. This album makes a hell of a lot of noise, but not a lot of sense. Sure it's "new","fresh", and any other kind of overused advertising adjective you want to paste to this bandwagon, but is it "good"? I really don't know, I'm not that used to working this hard for pop music.
  11. Leo
    Jul 15, 2007
    4
    I liked Don Caballero, but this has to be the front-runner for the most overrated album of the year (the Fiery Furnaces haven't released anything yet...). It isn't terrible, but it's not far off.
  12. stuw
    Jul 19, 2007
    5
    It's not a bad album as such, but it's not exactly a good one either. It certainly doesn't deserve such high praise as it has been getting. Not for the masses.
  13. RichardM
    Jul 21, 2007
    6
    I don't get it. It strikes me as being cold and somewhat pretentious. Different for the sake of being different. I will keep on listening to it hoping it will grow on me, but I suspect it is a case of the Emperor has no clothes

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Best Album of 2007
23
#23 Most Discussed Album of 2007
43
#43 Most Shared Album of 2007

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
  1. Alternative Press
    90
    At times, the effect is akin to hearing Tortoise and Animal Collective covering the Steve Reich and Devo catalogs in tandem; but such reference points barely do justice to an album that just halfway through 2007, is already topping the year's best-of list in multiple genres. [Jun 2007, p.151]
  2. Observer Music Monthly
    70
    Battles combine the power of hard rock with an experimental aesthetic.
    Read full review
  3. Urb
    90
    Every song on the 52-minute masterpiece builds and bridges until everything self-destructs and the only thing left to do is dance. [May 2007, p.92]
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