The Crying Light
by Antony and the Johnsons
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 64 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 50 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 64
  3. Negative: 10 out of 64

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  1. All_ButTrU4
    Dec 2, 2021
    7
    Whatever hopes you held in the aftermath of "I Am a Bird Now," they have been exponentially exceeded in poetry, music, and honesty here.
  2. Ricko
    Jan 16, 2014
    8
    Unwelcoming and inaccessible but moments of brilliance

    While not their best work, "The Crying Light" is still a strong collection of beautifully arranged songs. The record has that inaccessible feel that often comes with this band, the songs sound so otherwordly that at times the music can be disconcerting and feels like your intruding on one of Antony Hegarty's personal moment. It's    Unwelcoming and inaccessible but moments of brilliance

    While not their best work, "The Crying Light" is still a strong collection of beautifully arranged songs. The record has that inaccessible feel that often comes with this band, the songs sound so otherwordly that at times the music can be disconcerting and feels like your intruding on one of Antony Hegarty's personal moment.
    It's hard to describe but the album gives a very unwelcoming vibe on occasion. You just don't feel like you belong . While quiet a sombre and dark album, musically and lyrically the band are in flying form for the majority of this record. Kiss my Name, one of the very few uplifting tracks on the album is the highlight for me, a real magical song that staggers dramatically back and forth between sadness and elation. The record probably could have done with a few more of these moments. Epilepsy is Dancing is another high point. Overall, this is a very solid if very arty album.    … Expand
  3. RylandDinneen
    May 25, 2013
    7
    Yes, it's almost unbearably cloying and very eye-roll inducing with its lyrics, but The Crying Light is a very beautiful album to listen and absorb. Plus one of the most emotional male voices in existence.
  4. Kipnosky
    Jul 16, 2011
    9
    Not as overtly emotional as I Am a Bird Now on first few listens but the nuanced beauty of the arrangements make up for it. As usual. Antony's wondrous voice carries each song and even manages to convey deep emotions to rather elemental topics like mother earth and nature. An amazing listen.
  5. JorgeB
    Mar 13, 2009
    8
    beautiful album from one of the best singers right now. Every song is an experimental trial in his own dramatic style.
  6. FabioD
    Mar 6, 2009
    10
    Simply magic, wonderful.
  7. DirkN
    Mar 5, 2009
    6
    The voice is an acquired taste because the "he" was formerly a "she" (transsexual)--that is why it make take a bit of getting used to...
  8. FlemmingF
    Mar 5, 2009
    4
    why this when you have two sublime and far superior albums before this. it really is rather dull.
  9. Janice
    Mar 4, 2009
    1
    Hard as I tried, I couldn't find one good thing about this album. It's full of tedious, boring, uninspired tripe with some of the most annoying male vocals I've heard in years. That awful endless vibrato is just...ugh! Unbelievably overrated.
  10. SP
    Feb 20, 2009
    10
    An album of complex, haunting, and lyrical compilations. It's difficult to categorize Antony and his music, but it ignites a symphony of emotions, from exhilaration to anguish. Particular standouts on this album are Aeon, Her Eyes are Underneath the Ground, and Another World.
  11. DylanM
    Feb 6, 2009
    9
    This is a beautiful, beautiful album and his voice is spectacular. To call it anything else would be insanity. I didn't know what to expect from this (I hadn't heard any of his other work) and I was completely floored.
  12. Vincent
    Jan 27, 2009
    9
    What is wrong with people? This is a blossoming work of beauty, of maturity, of wonder and depth. Antony truly one of a kind is a master of what yhe does. The songs grow and unfurl in a way few other artists music ever has. He is a gift to a true lover of music and though less commercial than its predecessor I do feel that it is the equal. It doesn't need the celebrities. listen to What is wrong with people? This is a blossoming work of beauty, of maturity, of wonder and depth. Antony truly one of a kind is a master of what yhe does. The songs grow and unfurl in a way few other artists music ever has. He is a gift to a true lover of music and though less commercial than its predecessor I do feel that it is the equal. It doesn't need the celebrities. listen to that voice, uncomfortable and haunting, golden and challenging, he truly is a star in the REAL sense. God bless that man!… Expand
  13. lewisb.
    Jan 21, 2009
    3
    Hs voice is more than just and acquired taste... it ruins anything that might have been good about this album.
  14. ArmenS
    Jan 21, 2009
    10
    This is a sensational album, one that deserves to be listened to by everyone and anyone who has ever uttered the words I like music.
  15. FabioD.
    Jan 21, 2009
    10
    Simply wonderful.
  16. JeremyF
    Jan 20, 2009
    8
    The first album by them I actually am getting into. Her Eyes Are Underneath The Ground is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard in the past year.

Awards & Rankings

81
#81 Best Album of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 35 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 35
  3. Negative: 0 out of 35
  1. Hartford Courant
    80
    Hegarty wrote and helped to arrange all the songs on The Crying Light, and his writing bears the same pensive sensitivity as his singing on what amounts to a spellbinding album.
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  2. Rolling Stone
    60
    Antony Hegarty's tremulous warble is a strange and marvelous instrument--and for many, an acquired taste. The Crying Light, this diva-dude's third album, spotlights his haunting vocals with few distractions, using piano and low-key orchestral arrangements as foils for him to swoop and shiver over.
    Read full review
  3. Spin
    70
    Antony and the Johnsons' third full-length wisely focuses on the frontman's enormous talent, with Nico Muhly's classical arrangements plinking and waltzing but never overpowering.
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