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This Is Hope
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Metascore
62

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: Colin McIntyre returns with his third album in as many years, like its predecessors a bit, well, strange.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. Amazon.com
    80
    This album is bursting with quality. [Amazon UK]
  2. Dot Music
    80
    Warm and welcoming.
  3. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    Strange, out of time, unfashionable, eccentric, obsessed with found sound, full of boffiny tics and tricks. [24 Jul 2004, p.48]
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  4. Mojo
    70
    The third choice record from McIntyre in as many years. [Aug 2004, p.99]
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  5. The Guardian
    60
    As the disc wears onwards, MacIntyre's pallid voice and incontrovertible wimpishness can sometimes bring on mild sensations of nausea.
  6. Uncut
    40
    Few of the colourful oddities that filled his debut remain, but there's still much melodic guile to admire--albeit increasingly difficult to love. [Sep 2004, p.96]
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  7. Q Magazine
    30
    Half-written, overproduced songs collide with grandiose ideas, and the self-indulgence is astonishing as sounds and samples appear with little grace. [Aug 2004, p.116]
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User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. IanR
    Aug 8, 2004
    10
    And from reading above I see that Q continues its decline into a magazine catering for skater kiddies and R&B decadence, as it fails to And from reading above I see that Q continues its decline into a magazine catering for skater kiddies and R&B decadence, as it fails to acknowledge this as a work of genius. In terms of his journey along his career this is Colin MacIntyre's Ok Computer. Brave samples infused with at times biting and angry lyrics (echoed by the loose guitar strumming in "This Is The Hebrides"). Yes the samples don't weave seamlessly into the music but the album is supposed to be about jagged edges and a sense of displacement. The lyrical themes, which remain the same as on his previous two albums, highlight this more so now than ever. Again the worry of small-town nuances being wiped out by big business prevails but the albums centrepiece (Mull albums traditionally have one - see Barcode Bypass on Loss and The Supermarket Strikes Back on Us) is an ode to the late Dr David Kelly. Death Of A Scientist is a fantastically realised piece of work with at least 4 different segments making up the whole. Just as the song seems ready to put itself to bed it kicks into a different direction - undoubtedly the best 6min 30 seconds of music I've heard this year. Elsewhere "Peculiar" continues the story started by "Watching Xanadu" on Loss and "Tobermory Zoo" recounts the odd local characters that Colin introduced us to on "Mull Historical Society" from the same album. If you're already in love with Mr MacIntyre's universe then this will only serve to draw you in further and, like all hope, it is sadness tinged with the recognition of better things and the eternal possibility of human diversity. Top marks.… Expand
  2. NickD
    Aug 10, 2004
    9
    Yeah, this is great. Not as fantastic as the previous two efforts, but sparkling songs like Peculiar, Len, Your Love My Gain and Yeah, this is great. Not as fantastic as the previous two efforts, but sparkling songs like Peculiar, Len, Your Love My Gain and Treescavengers are worth the asking price alone.… Expand