User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 131 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 22 out of 131

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  1. MaxK
    Oct 26, 2005
    0
    I didn't particularly enjoy "Blueberry Boat" but listening to this album made my ears bleed, scab over, and bleed some more. It was an extremely painful experience, that i don't wish upon even the most qualified hipster. Those with pink shirts and popped collars do not apply. 2005 had so many quality albums slide under the radar like The New Lows "FREE EP". It's sad to see I didn't particularly enjoy "Blueberry Boat" but listening to this album made my ears bleed, scab over, and bleed some more. It was an extremely painful experience, that i don't wish upon even the most qualified hipster. Those with pink shirts and popped collars do not apply. 2005 had so many quality albums slide under the radar like The New Lows "FREE EP". It's sad to see an album so terrible, garner so much attention. I am sure this time next year The Fiery Furnaces will be back with an album even more awkward & less focused. And you will probably buy that one too. Expand
  2. DavidS
    Oct 26, 2005
    0
    The Fiery furnaces! Suck! Awful nonsense! The critics are wrong! This album is even worse than they say!
  3. RadCompanyDotNetDeath
    Nov 3, 2005
    0
    My girlfriend went to their show at Town Hall right before this album came out and they tested some of this crap on the audience that night. It made her squirm in her seat. The Fiery Furnaces are just whack overall. They make nursery rhyme indie music for sheltered white kids in arrested development. I call them "The Seasame Streets". Would somebody please shove a pacifier in their mouths?
  4. Adam
    Oct 25, 2005
    0
    As music, it's horrible. As theater, it's dull. The Furnaces have finally lost it. A simply awful album. Don't let anyone fool you. These good reviews are just trying to hide the fact that this band has finally released a truly monumental piece of s*** for a record. Hopefully this is just a blip in an otherwise fascinating body of work. Unfortunately, it's gonna be a As music, it's horrible. As theater, it's dull. The Furnaces have finally lost it. A simply awful album. Don't let anyone fool you. These good reviews are just trying to hide the fact that this band has finally released a truly monumental piece of s*** for a record. Hopefully this is just a blip in an otherwise fascinating body of work. Unfortunately, it's gonna be a HUGE blip. Expand
  5. notkaleb
    Oct 25, 2005
    0
    Sh*t sandwich.
  6. darnald
    Oct 25, 2005
    0
    It sucks.
  7. matta
    Oct 26, 2005
    1
    Unlistenable. I gave them the benefit of the doubt with Blueberry Boat because although i wasn't crazy about it, I had to give them some points for their original and innovative sound. Not this time. Grandma making screeching sex noises would have more listenable than her vocals here. Yea sure it's an original idea but so is masturbating and then setting your penis on fire. Unlistenable. I gave them the benefit of the doubt with Blueberry Boat because although i wasn't crazy about it, I had to give them some points for their original and innovative sound. Not this time. Grandma making screeching sex noises would have more listenable than her vocals here. Yea sure it's an original idea but so is masturbating and then setting your penis on fire. Which actually would probably be more pleasant than having to listen to this album again, come to think of it. Now for all you fans out there, don't think I didn't give this album a chance. I've listened to it probably at least 7 or 8 times over the past few days, and it was torture. I'm huge into forward-thinking, creative, sometimes eclectic indie-rock, but the Fiery Furnaces are just plain dumb. One point for some decent piano lines and few clever lyrics. Collapse
  8. MarvinH
    Oct 26, 2005
    0
    This is awful, just awful.
  9. SamuelL
    Oct 24, 2005
    0
    Insanely bad. 0s were made for this sort of thing.
  10. DougC
    Oct 25, 2005
    0
    The Fiery Furnaces suck big time! Next comes an album full of farts! Avant garde, ladies and gentlemen!
  11. RogerT
    Oct 27, 2005
    3
    Enough of this artsy-fartsy stuff. Let's write some hits, kids.
  12. DavidG
    Oct 27, 2005
    2
    Almost unlistenable
  13. AaronS
    Oct 24, 2005
    0
    Not only is this the worst album of the year, but it's the worst of the decade!! Why? Because I like the Fiery Furnaces. Up to their latest, they have released one fascinating and adventurous album after another. Blueberry Boat was one of the best records of last year. But 'Rehearsing My Choir' is just too far out. The idea of revisiting their grandmother's life on Not only is this the worst album of the year, but it's the worst of the decade!! Why? Because I like the Fiery Furnaces. Up to their latest, they have released one fascinating and adventurous album after another. Blueberry Boat was one of the best records of last year. But 'Rehearsing My Choir' is just too far out. The idea of revisiting their grandmother's life on record is charming in print, but on record the result is murky. The music is unbelievably awful, grandma's asexual voice is hideous and Eleanor's vocals become equally annoying after a while. At first, all I could do was gasp and laugh at how ridiculous the concept was. By the middle of the album I was angry. I really like this group. But this record is a very personal project for the siblings. Too personal in that it's quite esoteric to the music listening public. This record is so bad I would consider it unreleasable. It was more suited to a performance piece for the stage or public radio, than an acutal record. I give the band points for continuing to push the envelope of modern music, but chalk this one up to a musical experiment gone horribly awry. It's simply awful and I would seriously question someone's taste if they were to tell me they like this. Expand
  14. John
    Oct 28, 2005
    1
    And I thought Blueberry Boat sucked. Just an awful, awful album. If you claim to like this music, you are lying to yourself.
Metascore
63

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 25
  2. Negative: 5 out of 25
  1. As a think piece, Rehearsing My Choir is enormously engaging, but as a pop record, it's exhausting and fruitless.
  2. The Fiery Furnaces have delivered another great American novel via guitars, drums, bells, and whistles.
  3. Billboard
    50
    Think of a visit to Nana's house reimagined as alt-Broadway musical theater. [29 Oct 2005]