Metascore
86

Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Spin
    91
    The best record they've made. [Apr 2003, p.107]
  2. Is less a bold statement of principle as it is a blossoming into maturity.
  3. A monster of an achievement.
  4. The songs, interludes, pacing and sequencing are all as they should be, helping to make Quicksand/Cradlesnakes Califone's best record.
  5. Quicksand/Cradlesnake establishes Califone as an ambitious band with the songwriting chops to back up its penchant for studio strangeness.
  6. Quicksand / Cradlesnakes is a fine display of what they're capable of, and should please anyone in the mood for roots music that's a bit unrooted for a change.
  7. Alternative Press
    80
    It's roots music that hums and rattles, hearing the dissonant sound of America singing and finding beauty in the collision of opposites. [Apr 2003, p.73]
  8. Califone's most confident and realized album.
  9. It's a strange balancing act that Rutili and crew capably pull off, straddling the chasm between the straightforward and the self-consciously left of center.
  10. Uncut
    80
    This is one glorious murk. [May 2003, p.91]
  11. Magnet
    80
    A more ambitious and confident document of Califone's ability to catapult old sounds into a new millennium. [#58, p.84]
  12. Mojo
    70
    The highest of hi-technicalia and lo-fi acoustic instruments alternately clash, embrace, or pull apart, but ultimately, like Siamese twins, can't be parted. [Jun 2003, p.110]

Awards & Rankings

User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 2 out of 15
  1. garrettm
    Dec 25, 2006
    10
    fuck. yes.
  2. Classified
    Sep 22, 2005
    10
    Once when I was a sailor, I saw something in the water, something...unusual, mystical...it put me in a trance of sorts. I told the other Once when I was a sailor, I saw something in the water, something...unusual, mystical...it put me in a trance of sorts. I told the other sailors aboard, "Oy, over here, there's some sort of unusual somethings in the water down here!" They came a running, a skipping, singing, all the things sailors love doing. So we end up getting this thing out of the water, its a stranged shape treasure box with a lock. I find a sledgehammer near by and smash the lock. Slowly I bend down...the sailors anxiously waiting to see what is to be found in this contraption. I open it, gold light comes pouring out, and in this box...Califone's album Quicksand/Cradlesnakes perfectly presereved. I take it out, give it a lookover, amazed at its beauty, and hand it to the captain. He takes his pipe out of his mouth and says the first thing he's said since 7 years back, "Califone...my god, I thought...I thought..." And then he got down on his knees and put his hands up to his face and sobbed for what seemed like an eternity, an eternity of beauty. 20 minutes later we all go into the room where the only cd player is. I take the cd out of the case, place it in the stereo, and put my finger up to the play button...I look back to all the sailors, they are saying to me, "Come on, push play, hurry." So I push it, and what hits my ears is an instant orgasm. We have the cd on replay and listen to it for hours and hours all sitting down just staring blankly. It is now one year later and I still play this album and it is still as wonderful as it was on the ship one year ago. So please, if you have to steal this thing...do it, if you go to jail for stealing, it was definantly worth it. Enjoy my friends, enjoy... --- Sweet Cheeba Mantaray AKA Blue Tiger Full Review »
  3. sarahr
    Jan 27, 2004
    10
    it envelops you. its hard to rank it, because its more than perfect.