One Day I'm Going To Soar - Dexys
  • Band Name: Dexys
  • Record Label: BMG
  • Release Date: Jun 4, 2012
Metascore
82 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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  1. All Music Guide
    Aug 21, 2012
    60
    One Day I'm Going to Soar hardly justifies the almost-three-decade wait, but it's as marvelously idiosyncratic as any longtime fan could hope to expect.
  2. Pitchfork
    Jun 13, 2012
    67
    The fans who'll get the most from it emotionally will be those who are already invested in its singer and his honesty.
  3. Q Magazine
    Oct 12, 2012
    80
    Soar finds a happy ground between Dexys' debut and their much-loved but seldom-sold third. [Jul 2012, p.98]
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  4. Uncut
    Jun 1, 2012
    90
    It might just be the best record of this year, and the best of Rowland's career. [Jul 2012, p.66]
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  5. Mojo
    Jun 25, 2012
    100
    Intense, painfully frank, hysterically funny,and in the end, exultant... OSIGTS isn't always an easy listen, but it does offer a fearless experience that invests pop with more theatricality than the form can usually tolerate. [Jul 2012, p.80]
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  6. New Musical Express (NME)
    Jun 6, 2012
    70
    It all suggests a promising future for the reinvigorated band.
  7. Drowned In Sound
    Jun 1, 2012
    40
    The sensitive sections are fine but tritely Musak at times. The power-soul sections feel a bit, sorry but, Jools Holland-y. There's nothing concrete that you can pinpoint that makes it feel false or weak per se.
  8. musicOMH.com
    Jun 1, 2012
    80
    One Day I'm Going To Soar still feels like a triumph, in spite of its transparent flaws.
  9. The Guardian
    Jun 1, 2012
    80
    To call it a concept album underestimates its high-camp, red-velvet theatricality.
  10. BBC Music
    Jun 1, 2012
    90
    There is so much personality, poetry, vulnerability and resilience here that most other records sound like dry runs by comparison.
  11. Consequence of Sound
    Jun 26, 2012
    70
    An accomplished piece of work, which, like life, has its blemishes and its triumphs.
  12. The Independent (UK)
    Jun 4, 2012
    80
    The confessional, autobiographical elements that are its strongest aspect also serve as its Achilles' heel: the whole enterprise depends on how fascinated the listener is with Rowland's psyche.
  13. The Independent on Sunday (UK)
    Jun 5, 2012
    100
    ODIGTS is the soul album of the century. It might yet turn out to be the album of the year
  14. The Observer (UK)
    Jun 5, 2012
    60
    Only Rowland's female foil, Madeleine Hyland, overacts.
  15. The Telegraph (UK)
    Jun 8, 2012
    80
    Twenty-six years after their last album, 58-year-old Rowland and his roughly reassembled crew have made a record that manages to combine fresh new stories with the heart and nervous energy of classic Dexys.
  16. The Fly (UK)
    Jun 1, 2012
    80
    One Day finds Rowland weary, woozy and nakedly accepting of loneliness and age; a true soul man.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.0 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. pressburgerpowe
    10
    This album was a worry once the news was out that Kevin would be duetting with a woman on his new album. How could one formerly so intense and perfectionist hand over vocal duties to some woman. But none of the reviews have mentioned what a magnificent job Maddy Hyland does on the two tracks she appears on. Certain reviewers have got it completely wrong saying that she is overacting. Of course, it's a particularly English trait to fear displays of open emotion in public. The thing is, she is spot on in her reactions, amazingly and inspiringly so. Kevin Rowland said he looked for 5-6 years for the right woman, and I can say, wholeheartedly, that he found her. Unlike so many vocalist out there, Kevin brings out the meaning of the words, and Madeleine Hyland matches him. I reviewed the album and said that a full half of the album is as great as the brilliant tracks on Don't Stand Me Down, and the other half of the album is almost at that level, but a couple of the other songs (She Got A Wiggle and It's OK John Joe) have come on so strong that they are up there with the best here. Th slightly weaker tracks are the first, and the last before the inspired monologue It's Ok John Joe: Free. One Day I'm Going to Soar is not just a very good comeback, it's a brilliant album. The 5 tracks, Incapable of Love, You, I'm Always Going to Love You, Me, and Nowhere Is Home are the product of an undimmed genius, but every song on the album does him justice. This is in part due to the the detail of the instrumentation and production, which features many wonderful choices that create perfect moments. These are just a tiny part of the whole but add the depth that rewards many, many listens. Kevin manages the trick of making an album that is deeply soulful without falling into the usual trap of the music becoming wishy-washy and unfocussed. The album has a delightful soul tinge, but Kevin Rowland retains his laser-like intensity. Two new songs in a quarter of a century and then this. How on earth did he retain every last bit of the intensity that fuelled the genius of the first half of the 80s. He did it though unlike. This is unlike so many other artists who are, nevertheless, lauded clearly for simply being a name from the past. Music journalists either fool themselves or brazenly attempt (and often succeed) to fool the public into believing that greatness is still present (when there may not have been any in the first place). With Don't Stand Me Down, Rowland made one of those rare albums which stretches the boundaries of music; there, was greatness, in part signified by the lack of comprehension at the time by all those supposedly in-the-know who had, grudgingly, to come around later. True greatness was there then and, triumphantly, it flourishes still.… Full Review »
  2. olibbb
    10
    Remembering the first time listening to Dexy's last effort Don't Stand Me Down is comparable to some of the greatest musical turning points of the 20th Century for me. And so, although originally hesitant about the new album, I am delighted to say that the new album attributed to just "Dexys" is a triumph. From the crys of "Attack! Attack!" in the opening track "Now", it is clear that this is, in terms of quality, business as usual. However One Day I'm Going To Soar is a very different beast to all of the other albums. The interplay between two vocalists from Don't Stand Me Down is carried over with a new vocalist in Kevin Rowland's muse Madeleine Hyland. However, this album takes on a far more theatrical stance than that album. Lyrically, the album explores themes of loneliness and hope for the future (as the title suggests). However, in songs like the beautiful "She Got A Wiggle", "Lost" and "Nowhere Is Home", I would argue that Kevin Rowland is soaring high already. As high as on Don't Stand Me Down? Only time will tell... "Anything is possible." as the man himself might say.… Full Review »
  3. AlexxTrusc
    7
    The Dexys band has returned after years of hiatus with their latest album, which has rights to pretend to be the best in caree. Tracks are largely a combination of various styles, but mostly compositions are dominated by one theme, for example: the instrumental "Lost", classic-rock "You" or a ballad that borders with a bit of sung poetry in "It's OK John Joe". An additional characteristic feature of the album is a bit waggish vocal's style.… Full Review »
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