Stumble Into Grace
by Emmylou Harris
  • Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Release Date: Sep 23, 2003
Metascore
87

Universal acclaim - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
  1. AllMusic
    80
    What's most heartening is that Harris is not only making some of the finest music of her career at a time when many artists would be treading water, but she's delightfully confounding our expectations at the same time.
  2. Uncut
    100
    You won't hear a more humane, moving or mysterious record all year. [Album of the Month, Oct 2003, p.110]
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  3. Mojo
    90
    Those who want their Emmylou full of sweet, sad longing will play a quarter of this album to death.... Elsewhere, there's righteous anger and an assertiveness and sexuality to the love songs. [Nov 2003, p.128]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Q Magazine
    80
    The poppier bits like Jupiter Rising don't always work, but the darkly gritty Time In Babylon, in particular, shows just how far Harris has pushed the traditional country sound. [Oct 2003, p.104]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. The Guardian
    60
    Subtle exercises in pushing genre boundaries, these (mostly self-penned) songs deal in profundity without resort to cliche, and they deserve better than to have the life polished out of them.
  7. The A.V. Club
    80
    Even breezy pop songs like "Jupiter Rising" and timeless standards like "Plaisir D'Amour" gain profundity from Harris and [producer Malcolm] Burn's genteel approach.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    100
    Lovely, heartbreaking, and just diffident enough to get perspective on this bittersweet old world. [26 Sep 2003, p.94]
    All this publication's reviews
  9. ShakingThrough.net
    68
    Stumble Into Grace's saving grace, naturally, is Harris's voice, possessed of a mature poignancy that transcends pedestrian production; it's far too genuine an instrument for the lackluster arrangements offered here.
  10. Amazon.com
    90
    She is still in the forefront of genre-transcending artistry.
  11. Launch.com
    80
    Grace includes lots of atmospheric touches that are two steps beyond country and miles too ethereal to call pop.
  12. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    80
    Unlike her recent work, Stumble Into Grace is made up solely of Harris’s work--love songs like “Can You Hear Me Now” that perfectly suit her voice, which is sweet and whispery yet never sentimental.

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best Album of 2003
81
#81 Most Shared Album of 2003

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 16
  3. Negative: 1 out of 16
  1. MikeA
    May 6, 2005
    6
    Falls way short of the great Wrecking Ball...
  2. MikeD
    Feb 16, 2004
    10
    Deeply tragic and haunting, but irresistable. Her voice has never been better.
  3. marti
    Oct 31, 2003
    10
    Wonderful!!!
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