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Standards
by
Standards Image
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

Top Track

Period Piece
Mamma I guess I just found my match I'd line here in the dark I had a face gone station coming alive ... I am not afraid to die Born 1961 just like... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. Pitchfork
    92
    Not only is it the most acoustically enthralling album they've released, it's also without a doubt the most playful, dynamic, and anthemic post-rock album that has been released to date.
  2. The Wire
    90
    If you value surehandedness, richness, immaculate timing and the occasional tilted eyebrow then there's a lot to enjoy on Tortoise's most assured set to date. [#204, p.65]
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  3. CDNow
    90
    Throughout Standards, Tortoise takes the listener on mini-journeys into sound that alternately shimmer, contort, seduce, and confound...
  4. Urb
    80
    So even as Tortoise integrate guitar surrealism and edgier motifs into their palette, they also progress their unique relationship to electronic music and hip-hop. [#82, p.139]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Q Magazine
    80
    More tightly structured than their last outing TNT, this has enough dizzy polyrhythms and craziness for the free jazzers but is chock full of tunes, good humour and a certain grooviness
  6. Rolling Stone
    70
    What finally rescues this album from the graveyard of cerebral noodling is rhythm.
  7. Magnet
    20
    Tortoise makes like Herbie Hancock wandering through the '80s, all lost at the jazz-fusion supermarket. [#49, p.95]
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See all 20 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. EdH
    Nov 9, 2006
    10
    Easily my favourite Tortoise release. It's a cohesive, well structured album, melodic and memorable. It has enough sonic consistency to Easily my favourite Tortoise release. It's a cohesive, well structured album, melodic and memorable. It has enough sonic consistency to be immersive as a whole, rather than a mere colection of tracks. Anyone who thinks there is too much 'noodling' and 'rambling' needs only to get more familiar with the music.… Collapse
  2. DantorD.
    Nov 23, 2001
    9
    After i watced tortoise live in belglium this year, which i rate as one of my best concerts ever, i bought the album and listened for it for After i watced tortoise live in belglium this year, which i rate as one of my best concerts ever, i bought the album and listened for it for one week, nam. I would've preferred a bit more "raw" sound But of course it's a matter of personal taste and Tortoise can be a bit query in the beginning. Just listen to the album over and over again, and you will love it or hate it? … Expand

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Best Album of 2001