• Record Label: Leaf
  • Release Date: Nov 13, 2007
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Like the title suggests, this album is grand in many ways, but the sheen also wears off somewhat quickly at the same time.
  2. Seriously: this is one of 2007’s finest LPs, no question.
  3. Mojo
    80
    Every so often an album comes along that's so original it's difficult to accurately liken it to anything else--even Efterklang's last album, "Tripper," is left behind by Parades. [Nov 2007, p.106]
  4. Efterklang have managed to locate the sweet spot where the organic meets the electronic, and have carefully stuffed each track full to bursting point with a gorgeous mix that at times seems to require a new musical format, just to deal with the sheer bandwidth of sonic invention on display here.
  5. It harnesses large spaces, allowing songs like 'Caravan' to blossom into something more orchestral than you'd expect; fitting for a band whose name translates as 'reverberation.'
  6. Parades, both restrained and wildly dramatic, gently touching and warmly enveloping, is not a record that sits comfortably with convenient labels.
  7. Uncut
    80
    More organic than their 2004 debut, Parades is just as richly rewarding. [Nov 2007,p.98]
  8. The Wire
    80
    Parades succeeds in avoiding the most perilous pitfalls of simulated whimsy and fey affected vocals to achieve something gloriously endearing. [Nov 2007, p.53]
  9. Parades is an album of slow-growing rewards from a band with whom relationships are formed, not instantly identified.
  10. Parades' recipe--soft verse, big chant, heavenly "aaaaaaaaa", elliptical, Nordic orchestrations, stir--is clever to avoid repetition but extremely taxing.
  11. The album complements each situation differently, and new elements become apparent with each listen.
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. RockyB
    Nov 25, 2007
    7
    Is it just me, or is the band name 'Efterklang' somewhat similar to 'Ester Drang'?