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While Quicken the Heart isn't bad, its slide into the nondescript is certainly disappointing.
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Quicken The Heart represents Maximo Park settling into a rut, albeit an intermittently attractive one.
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MojoThere are perky alt-pop nuggests aplenty here, so it's a shame the momentum can't be maintained. [Jun 2009, p.96]
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They will remain a formidable live proposition, but Maximo Park's third album has to go down as a disappointment--especially given the band's previous high standards.
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There’s an unshakeable feeling that they’re going through the motions a bit too frequently and that this represents a step backwards for a once fresh and exciting band. Unfortunately, it seems the curse of the third album may have struck again.
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Quicken The Heart, however, goes nowhere new and hardly bests its predecessor.
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The painstaking introspection here seems to stem from a need to use their success and exposure to deliver some definitive, U2-sized message when really they're so much more relatable when they're awkwardly sorting out their psychological messes on the fly.
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Maximo Park haven’t failed with this third LP, not at all--it’s just that they haven’t done much of anything.
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Q MagazineEssentially, the Hollywood sunshine hasn't changed them. This is probably best, as Smith's eccentricities still elevate Maximo Park above the guitar-pop herd. [Jun 2009, p.128]
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For an album that so readily cruises along on autopilot, the absence of a satisfying lyrical presence keeps it resolutely sandwiched in the middle of the pile.
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Maximo Park’s third LP, Quicken The Heart, is equally reassuring--sometimes to the point of tedium.
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Quicken the Heart sticks rigidly to their formula of nervy rhythms and angular guitars.
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It feels as if Smith is drawing from long-gone, innocent, pre-fame events in his life, but as they recede, his stance becomes more wistful and increasingly confused. The music, unfortunately, follows suit.
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UncutThere's nothing here as good as 'Nosebleed,' the standout from 2007's "Our Earthly Pleasures"--but there are still some good points here. [Jun 2009, p.92]
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Under The RadarFlashes of brilliance remain, but consistency has not yet been achieved. [Summer 2009, p.68]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 14
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Mixed: 3 out of 14
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Negative: 1 out of 14
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Mar 21, 2021
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JeffBJun 6, 2009Very disappointing.
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georgenMay 26, 2009