• Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Release Date: Mar 27, 2007
User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15

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  1. FlemmingF
    Mar 28, 2007
    9
    Up there with her best (being Carbon Glacier). Catchy as hell.
  2. TimB
    Apr 18, 2007
    7
    Not as good as her last 2 albums but still really enjoyable and far far better than the Pitchfork review will lead you to believe
  3. Dan
    May 3, 2007
    8
    Has anyone noticed that Veirs' best song to date and the best song I heard this year thus far is on this album? "Drink Deep" is absolutely stunning!
  4. MattD.
    Apr 16, 2007
    9
    Ok, that does it. I'm not even going to Pitchfork to try to learn about new artists. None of their reviewers knows what they are talking about. This CD has some enchanting songs where you can really use your imagination and visualize. But she also complements these songs with the sing-along song "Saltbreakers" and the punky "Phantom Mountain." A well rounded and inventive CD.
  5. BrettN
    Apr 28, 2007
    8
    Pitchfork is usually out of line. I think their take on the Sufjan Stevens' relationship here is way off base and ignores the temporal relationship of the emergence of these two artists. I rarely pay any attention to Pitchfork (I hate even having to capitalize it, because I don't think it merits such importance).
  6. thrownfree
    May 13, 2007
    8
    Here's the problem with the pitchfork review: The writer, by his own admission, decided before he gave the album a chance--or even, probably, a listen--that it was imitative. It then goes on to fulfill his expectations. So, yeah, let's not even try to be disinterested. I found the album less obviously outstanding than Year of Meteors, but there's much to love. Far from Here's the problem with the pitchfork review: The writer, by his own admission, decided before he gave the album a chance--or even, probably, a listen--that it was imitative. It then goes on to fulfill his expectations. So, yeah, let's not even try to be disinterested. I found the album less obviously outstanding than Year of Meteors, but there's much to love. Far from "adult contemporary" instrumentation (as the pitchfork reviewer states), the musicianship is infectious, articulate, but never hints at either melodrama or a sterile, "boxed" studio sound. Though I loved YofM, I found some of Veirs' lyrics overwrought. Lyrically, this album is stronger, the images somehow more direct and less fussy. Expand
  7. CaptainWacky
    Apr 29, 2007
    7
    Ha ha, suck shit Pitchfork! Wrong again! I haven't actually been madly in love with much that Laura's done since her early EPs, but it's still good to see some chicks on the bench. Keep up the good work, toots.
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. By eschewing the careworn vulnerability so favoured by many female artists, Veirs allows her remarkable songcraft and ornate use of language to shine.
  2. Uncut
    80
    [It] strikes a finer balance between ['Year Of Meteors'] and the magic folk realism of her earlier work. [Apr 2007, p.116]
  3. Although Saltbreakers may have less easy-to-find melodic hooks than its predecessor, it certainly doesn’t lack much in the rich eclecticism stakes.