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  • Record Label:
  • Release Date:
The Life Of The World To Come Image
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 14 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the latest album for the North Carolina-based band.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 18
  2. Negative: 0 out of 18
  1. While he might elicit the specific from his listeners, his music--especially here--is general. This is his gift and the gift of effective storytellers: to build toward the general by using the specific.
  2. Darnielle's lyrics are as true as ever to his incisive yet confused style; 'confused' because, as his myopic cleverness makes for phrases as bracing and direct as can be, his words always--simultaneously--obfuscate or complicate themselves.
  3. This is a record not so much crying in the wilderness, but one recognizing that its characters are in that wilderness.
  4. It's cool that he's trying to change things up, but there's no substitute for a strong result.
  5. Literate, perceptive, sometimes a tad mawkish, they're also resolutely sturdy, insightful diversions that would please even without the Biblical trappings.
  6. Under The Radar
    50
    The Goats have noble intentions, but their Biblicval tunes call to mind 7-11 praise music. [Fall 2009, p.59]

See all 18 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Oct 24, 2017
    10
    One of my favorite albums of all time. The nuanced emotion John can convey without the context or space of mote than a few minutes of time isOne of my favorite albums of all time. The nuanced emotion John can convey without the context or space of mote than a few minutes of time is staggering. The biblical references work to build his stories even for people like me who have a complicated relationship with religion. Expand
  2. Oct 15, 2010
    9
    A beautifully literate work that combines the intimacy of Darnielle's trilogy of autobiographic records with his masterful storytellingA beautifully literate work that combines the intimacy of Darnielle's trilogy of autobiographic records with his masterful storytelling abilities that are so integral to the Mountain Goats. At the same time, this is easily The Mountain Goats' most musically beautiful album (by mountain goats standards, of course), in spite of the fact that the melodies and rhythms on display here are by and large amongst Darnielle's simplest and most minimalistic. All in all, this was easily among the best albums of 2009, and a fascinating and moving new direction for this consistently fantastic band
    (Standout tracks: "Psalms 40:2", "Genesis 3:23", "Hebrews 11:40", "Genesis 30:3", "Ezekiel 7 and The Permanent Efficacy of Grace")
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