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Aug 6, 2013[The songs] are nothing short of radiant, from the perfect vocals to the organic, full-bodied arrangements, from the heart-rending lyrics to the way that producer Charlie Peacock surrounds everything in a smoky ambiance.
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Aug 5, 2013Singer-songwriters Joy Williams and John Paul White brought in more instruments, added deeper textures and, in general, upped the intensity of the songwriting for their second effort.
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Aug 6, 2013Even in the quieter moments, like Williams’ dreamy French lead vocal on “Sacred Heart” and album closer “D’Arline,” there’s the sense that such raw, bare emotion has enabled The Civil Wars to delve deep to intricate details, but also to amplify the internal conflict to greater heights.
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Jul 31, 2013While the result might seem a little like that awkward first post-split Christmas when Dad comes back and crashes on the couch, it turns out that, well, conflict suits them.
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Aug 30, 2013The Civil Wars improves upon its predecessor.
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Aug 23, 2013It’s edgy, but civil, and it looks like the war will rage on for the time being at least, regardless of the outcome of each emotional battle.
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Aug 6, 2013The tension that fills The Civil Wars, giv[es] the songs a sense of weight and purpose that wasn’t apparent on their 2011 debut, “Barton Hollow.”
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Aug 6, 2013Working with producer Charlie Peacock, in spite of discord, the pair refine and expand the sound they architected into a more intense take on their tortured (implied) sexual tension.
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Aug 5, 2013It's unfortunate, really, since without any of that baggage [professional separation], The Civil Wars stands as a powerful and haunting collection that exemplifies Nashville's current fixation with slickly updating traditional themes.
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Aug 5, 2013The Civil Wars have gone from blithely conjuring a co-ed version of the Everly Brothers to making a tense, assertive Southern gothic album, complete with religious undertones, images of decaying locales, and tales of troubled relationships.
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Aug 1, 2013The Civil Wars offers up 12 perfectly elegant, subtly arranged Americana songs of bad love, misplaced emotion, cheating hearts, fighting and fleeing.
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Aug 1, 2013Serene yet disturbed, this is album that progresses the band well.
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UncutJul 31, 2013The Civil Wars proves more than capable of producing its own dark drama. [Sep 2013, p.79]
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Jul 31, 2013The Civil Wars is a testament to the power of their undeniable musical chemistry. It’s even better than their Grammy-winning debut, Barton Hollow.
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Jul 31, 2013There might not be a “Poison & Wine” here, but taken as a whole, The Civil Wars is a more consistent collection than Barton Hollow.
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Aug 6, 2013Its inability to be contained within one genre is the band’s strength and triumph.
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Aug 6, 2013The Civil Wars is darker and more expansive than the group's sometimes-snoozy debut, with more varied tempos and instrumental contributions by Nashville pros.
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Aug 5, 2013Ultimately, the Civil Wars are impeccable craftsmen, taking weathered elements and repurposing them for something that feels new and never haunted by what came before.
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Aug 1, 2013Darker and more intense than their Grammy-winning debut, their second LP solidifies a drama-heavy brand identity reflected in their band name.
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Aug 14, 2013Whereas the debut evidenced White and Williams' exquisite knack for singing together, the set was somewhat heavy on ballads that sounded like they were made to soundtrack television dramas. The Civil Wars corrects this both in the song selection and in the way the compositions are delivered.
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Q MagazineAug 20, 2013It's the same stark template of vocals, acoustic guitars and assorted surprising adornments, but they save themselves from the overworthy trap by those voices. [Sep 2013, p.100]
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MojoAug 13, 2013In spite of its two-headed musical harmony, the personal disharmony in The Civil Wars is all too evident. [Sep 2013, p.94]
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Aug 7, 2013The lasting sense left is of an unexplored potential which, if this is it for The Civil Wars, could be in its own messy way an appropriate swansong.
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Aug 5, 2013At times, listening to The Civil Wars is like wading through a swamp of still-raw emotion. It is an album that is more haunted than haunting.
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Aug 5, 2013The mordant songwriting redeems The Civil Wars.
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Aug 7, 2013This polite Americana mistakes solemnity for seriousness.
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Jul 31, 2013This is a limping, bloodless version of The Civil Wars, and if the band is to have a future they need to fix their issues, or else learn to channel the damage better.
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Sep 5, 2013Ultimately, The Civil Wars plays out lyrically insipid and completely oblivious to the fact that their vocals strive for meaningful but define overbearing.
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Aug 12, 2013Too often their over-earnest delivery is unbearable.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 20 out of 22
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Mixed: 1 out of 22
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Negative: 1 out of 22
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Jul 2, 2015
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Nov 19, 2013