by
Josh Ritter
- Record Label: Sony
- Release Date: Aug 21, 2007
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Historical Conquests is above all a fun record. It's got all of the heartache, acute observation, and crushing truth that fans are used to, but it never preaches without a wink and, most importantly, sounds as good blisteringly loud as it does drifting out of a clock radio in the garage.
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The Josh Ritter who appears here is primarily a writer of quality pop songs.
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The rollicking Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter, makes clear that the songwriter is no mere mimic, and he’s having a grand old time.
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Q MagazineHis fifth album is a triumph where his previous efforts have promised but fallen just short. [Oct 2007, p.105]
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'Right Moves,' meanwhile, is the kind of soppy-hearted, joy-fuelled singalong tune American freeways, convertibles and radios were designed for. If it doesn't make Ritter a star, nothing can.
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The Historical Conquests is at its best when Ritter's off-the-cuff approach intersects with a winning pop melody, as on 'Right Moves' and 'Empty Hearts,' where the neatly arranged horns, fiddles, and piano play against Ritter's tumbling lyrics.
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The resulting album is as lean, rambunctious and snarling as its predecessor was stately.
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The Historical Conquests of..., a sprawling diorama of down-home rhythms and thoughtful lyrics, isn't immediately striking. But there's a joy in unfurling the half-submerged melodies and wry, tender sentiments.
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In many ways, the album plays out as a far more effective and far less deliberately post-modern survey of the multiple phases of Dylan's career than does Todd Haynes's "I'm Not There" or its accompanying soundtrack.
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What makes The Historical Conquests Of... a great album and not just Ritter’s foray into stylistic versatility is the integrity of his musicianship. The album is thorough; it is complete.
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The Historical Conquests is astonishing for its depth of exploration in the folk genre.
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The production creates a Joe Henry feel of gently deconstructionist pop--warm and relaxed even as the instruments occasionally struggle against their leashes--giving the album's best material an extra spin.
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Idaho native Josh Ritter's fifth LP illustrates how well an artist can incorporate his influences while developing his own voice and sound, which in this incarnation is part Dylan, part sensitive swinger with a soft spot for Calamity Jane and Joan of Arc.
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Ultimately, it ends up being a fine album. Nothing too spectacular or breakthrough but filled with enough great tunes to keep you coming back.
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The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter finds namesake and frontman Ritter boldly claiming musical territory with a reinvented sound, turning from the meticulous arrangements and somber ruminations of his previous album to a more daring, moxie-charged approach that yields some of the freshest, most captivating songs of his career.
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You're presently reading about what may be the best album of 2007, hands down, by the most under-accorded American musical genius.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 37 out of 40
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Mixed: 0 out of 40
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Negative: 3 out of 40
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Apr 25, 2012
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Feb 2, 2012
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Aug 6, 2011