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MojoOct 29, 2015[A] perfect symbiosis of mournful brass and life-giving rock. [Dec 2015, p.92]
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Q MagazineOct 29, 2015While it may be too easy to reach for the word "cinematic," it can't be avoided. [Dec 2015, p.104]
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Oct 29, 2015It’s a lovely collection showing the band’s evolution while acknowledging the songwriting that made its name. It’s also unabashedly stuffed with gooey strings and all manner of dopey Broadway musical-style cheese. Indulgent? A little, but that’s part of the fun.
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UncutDec 11, 2015Mixed, but mostly positive results. [Jan 2016, p.73]
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Nov 3, 2015Granted, Brass doesn’t exactly qualify as real rock, indie or otherwise. Still, there’s passion that’s gleaned from British Sea Power’s attempt at something bolder, a sweeping sound that literally echoes from the rafters.
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Jan 27, 2016While the studio album underwhelms, the concept takes off on the live versions available on the four-disc edition.
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Nov 6, 2015While the combination curdles occasionally here, there are moments of majesty which justify the gambit.
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Nov 2, 2015The brass in question swells and sways capably throughout, but ultimately feels like window-dressing, never fully delivering the arm hair-raising crescendo that one would expect from an army of cornets, trombones, and euphoniums, though this is mostly the fault of the source material, which ultimately lacks the structural boldness with which to support such finery.
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Oct 29, 2015The best songs are either relatively untouched or given a major overhaul; one can’t help wondering what might have happened had BSP been even braver, and simply asked the orchestra to play their music.
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Oct 29, 2015There are undeniable moments of beauty (the radar-bleeping beginning of “A Light Above Descending” is lent a lovely, watercolour quality by its gentle horn accompaniment), and the live cuts tend to fare better than the studio recordings, imbued as they are with a tangibly excitability. It’s irrefutable though--much of Sea of Brass (by which I mean both the studio album itself and its associated extras) does feel bloated.