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Beautiful Lie is an invigorating and frequently gorgeous affair, essential for old fans and a good place to start for newcomers.
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Harcourt's fourth album certifies his musical genius with songs that are catchy enough to be plastered all over the summer airwaves, bathing us in sweeping melodies and infectious beats.
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"The Beautiful Lie" isn't without its merits but their appearances are few and far between.
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Despite all of the ingredients for a great album being present, it just doesn’t ignite, perhaps due to the unmoving, maudlin stance from which it is all delivered.
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MojoMarvellous. [Jul 2006, p.106]
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Even the moments when Harcourt just falls short are infinitely more interesting than most people's failures.
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Wading through almost an hour of smoky-voiced lonely-heart ballads like You Only Call Me When You're Drunk, Late Night Partner and Until Tomorrow Then is a yawn-inducing exercise that makes you question whether Harcourt's really this sad or if he's just putting on a lugubrious front.
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It might as well be Harcourt’s thesis: marrying the histrionic truths of the deeply aggrieved with the formal mastery of great pop. More often, Harcourt’s failed attempts at mimicking Jeff Buckley throw whatever genre he tries off balance.
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The brio of an amateur would almost have to be preferably to the overzealous professionalism of Beautiful Lie, whose frilly "classicist" pop gets all dressed up to go absolutely nowhere.
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Harcourt’s sound might not suit everyone’s taste (it’s fairly dramatic), but to those who are taken with well-sung, introspective piano ballads and gloriously cascading anthems about Love and Death, The Beautiful Lie will in no way disappoint.
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Q MagazineHis best since 2001's Here Be Monsters. [Jul 2006, p.114]
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Another almost-but-not-quite entry in a catalog full of near-miss gems.
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He loses focus on this overlong, under-achieving album.
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UncutMostly sounds like a weary retread of 2005's superb Loneliness. [Jul 2006, p.95]
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Under The RadarAs is typical of Harcourt's releases, some selections of The Beautiful Lie require time to reveal themselves, which is why slow-burners such as 'Braille' and 'Good Friends Are Hard to Find' have "buried treasure written all over them. [Spring 2008, p.76] [Spring 2008, p.76]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 12
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Mixed: 0 out of 12
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Negative: 2 out of 12
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RJOct 24, 2006
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RennieMJul 13, 2006
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MattA.Jul 13, 2006