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Alternative PressMay 16, 2011Simple Math is a perfect interpretation of an imperfect man's life, and hopefully just another chapter in the larger story Manchester orchestra have yet to reveal. [Jun 2011, p.105]
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May 9, 2011In a year that's produced an overwhelming amount of great music, Simple Math is another outstanding painting worth the public's attention.
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May 9, 2011Throughout, the highs are tinged with sadness and the lows with hope, making Simple Math a complex and rewarding album that soars above the pack.
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May 23, 2011This, their third album, continues the Atlantans' slow but upward career trajectory to date, almost akin to an American Elbow in that they're grandiose, utterly lovely, but unlikely to sell any records for at least another couple of releases down the line.
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May 10, 2011They've perfected the balance of gorgeous songwriting and rabid musicianship, so we can't wait to see what they do next.
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May 25, 2011Two years later, the five-piece returns with Simple Math – a concept album which, according to Hull himself, examines perennial hot button topics like marriage, love, religion, and sex. Again, not exactly revelatory material, but Hull has a gift with prose that turns even the most banal observations into striking reflections.
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May 16, 2011Conceptual conceits aside, Simple Math is a fairly passionate and rocking affair filled with sprawling, if still tightly wound anthemic pop.
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May 10, 2011Hull's greatest skill is making his emotions sound as extravagant as they feel, especially when he screams.
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May 9, 2011Remember what I said about this band being capable of a classic? Well 'Simple Math' is their first. Just a shame about Simple Math.
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May 9, 2011Hull is a fine lyricist, able to make everyday ruminations on relationships utterly riveting. But he's not consistently complemented by music that really matters, a couple of relatively perfunctory arrangements ensuring that Simple Math is no High Violet-matching masterpiece.
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May 9, 2011They seem satisfied enough with their place as one of the underappreciated underdogs of the American alt rock scene, and it's hard not to get a kick out of hearing such an independent spirit raging through this album, even if commercially, Simple Math doesn't quite add up.
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May 10, 2011There are plenty of seeds sewn throughout Simple Math that could likely blossom into Manchester Orchestra's first real breakthrough, but here, we're stuck in the growing pains phase.
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Q MagazineMay 31, 2011The follow-up to 2009's Everything To Nothing crackles with energy. [Jun 2011, p.119]
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Kerrang!May 20, 2011It won't be to all tastes, but those that care will cherish Simple Maths dearly. [7 May 2011, p.52]
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May 11, 2011Simple Math is more intimate and more massive than Manchester's previous sets, as the Atlanta group supersizes the kitchen-sink approach of fellow Georgians in the Elephant 6 collective to depict a panoply of crises: spiritual, marital, chemical, whaddya got?
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May 27, 2011His belief in his own profundity is kind of endearing as Manchester Orchestra's driving force. It's hard to imagine something like the title track, which uses infidelity as a jumping-off point to question the entire basis of human existence, even standing a chance without it.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 31 out of 35
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Mixed: 3 out of 35
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Negative: 1 out of 35
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May 20, 2011
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Jun 4, 2011
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May 22, 2011