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Fridmann's detailed sound is a far cry from either Kramer or Albini's minimalist tendencies, but his work here shows that Low can sound as good in elaborate settings as they do in simple ones.
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UncutGenerally, the album has a frantic, acidic, raggedly glorious feel. [Feb 2005, p.85]
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What makes The Great Destroyer surprising is how seamlessly they balance all these moods and sounds. Not to mention courageously. This is an album, not a collection of Low songs.
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MojoThough not an unqualified triumph... The Great Destroyer is the latest high from a band that routinely rewards the virtue of patience. [Feb 2005, p.94]
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Q MagazineWhile a generic indie rock sound is flirted with, an amicable relationship deelops between that and their trademark hush. [Mar 2005, p.100]
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New Musical Express (NME)Anger has always been at the root of Low's modus operandi; the difference, ultimately, is that where once it lurked behind marble pillars, it now stomps and snorts like a pig on a griddle. [29 Jan 2005, p.59]
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Rolling StoneThe result is impressively visceral darkness. [10 Feb 2005, p.81]
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Under The RadarA gamble that paid off in spades for a band that... is still sounding fresher, tighter and more relevant with each record. [#8, p.107]
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When The Great Destroyer rocks, it rocks with passion, rigour and an unmistakable but enormously dignified rage.
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Simply another shimmering LP from a truly original band.
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In making like a post-rock Crazy Horse, Low has found new ways to eke dynamic moments out of lingering notes.
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SpinYears of gradually opening up their minimalism have imbued Low with the wisdom to make every new layer count. [Feb 2005, p.91]
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Songs like “California” and “Walk Into the Sea,” by far the sunniest, poppiest material Low has ever produced, shatter the mopey mold the band has so carefully cultivated, and to thrilling results.
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Entertainment WeeklyIndie rock's maturing avatars of tense lethargy paint life as an epic fade. [21 Jan 2005, p.88]
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“Everybody’s Song” features the melodic discipline, barely contained anguish and cryptic lyrical finger-wagging that marked the last few Posies records. “Just Stand Back” (“I’m gonna turn on you so fast”) is a hateful little bon-bon that could stand tall on a Sugar record. And yet, The Great Destroyer remains too rickety and pristine to be anyone’s baby but Low’s.
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Stunningly good.
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BlenderThe boldest album of their career. [Mar 2005, p.141]
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FilterThe true surprise, then, is not the feedback and guitar solos... it's the more pop-oriented structure and melodies. [#14, p.104]
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The thing that lifts The Great Destroyer just above an album like Trust is that it is more spirited: there’s a hint of revival here.
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A work so consistently stirring, stately, and pop-aware it makes most recent guitar-based art-rock albums look tawdry.
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Even the lesser tracks here endear themselves upon multiple listens, and the best stuff is uniquely exciting given their context of departure from a well-loved sound.
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A career-defining work.
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The Great Destroyer is a marvel of layered beauty -- the sort of album that makes you call in sick to work so you can spend a day with headphones clamped to your head, charting its every elegant nuance.
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Destroyer simmers with life in all of its noisy, tuneful excess.
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The Great Destroyer is a masterpiece of emotional tumult.
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Low goes overboard at points, and detrimentally so... [but] the dissonance and harmonies mostly gel.
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They still retain a unique identity even as they plunder and explore more generic alt-rock themes, and their particular skill is in making this transformation seem logical and welcome.
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Almost CoolWith the new directions in sound, there are a couple places where the group stumbles just a bit.
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The album is harsher, darker, and just plain louder than Low have ever been in their 10-year career.
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Low sounds fearless in its experimentation. Such personal intimacy juxtaposed with extremely haughty pretension could easily turn off listeners, but it’s all woven together so well that it’s hard to dismiss even the wrong turns.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 33 out of 38
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Mixed: 2 out of 38
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Negative: 3 out of 38
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Jul 23, 2012
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Sep 14, 2010
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MoLFeb 22, 2006One of my favorite albums, and by far the best album of the year.