Untitled #23
by The Church
User Score
8.9

Universal acclaim- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 18
  3. Negative: 1 out of 18

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  1. craigm
    Jun 4, 2009
    10
    Sublime. Transcendent.
  2. JyotirmayaD
    Jul 30, 2009
    7
    Not as gorgeous as their previous "Uninvited like the Clouds" album, but it is also full of beautiful sounds which are like heavenly Church music!
  3. gregd
    Jun 12, 2009
    8
    When your listening to this your listening to a sound collage 30 years in the making. I can still hear what I loved about this band in the 80's but its not stuck in the 80's -- or 90's for that matter. Instead they approached their art with integrity and created something new.
  4. BrandonM
    Jun 3, 2009
    10
    I have everything The Church has ever released and this is by far one of their best abums. While most of their albums are at least enjyable, this album is one of their best. Their previous albums seem to tool around with the sonic sounds and dream-like lyrics. Untitled #23 brings it all together in one near perfect package.
  5. AaronC
    Aug 16, 2009
    10
    Magnificent once again. I just cant listen to it enough!
  6. richardm
    Aug 2, 2009
    10
    4 lifetimes of gorgeous ideas distilled into this one (for a newer church album) abbreviated adventure. succint. yet transcendent. varied, yet cohesive.
  7. harryv
    May 29, 2009
    9
    It's amazing that The Church, having been around for close to 30 years can still put out an album of this quality. In fact, they've been getting better and better over the years. Check out 2002's "After Everything Now This" - another gem.
  8. BrianM
    May 29, 2009
    10
    We all know that great albums are sonic journeys, taking us to some place we haven't been before. None of the ten tracks on Untitled 23 has the immediate impact of Metropolis or Under the Milky Way, but in time they grow to in stature, although they will never singles. Listened in its entirety, the whole album grows because the songs work so well together. Space Savior would not We all know that great albums are sonic journeys, taking us to some place we haven't been before. None of the ten tracks on Untitled 23 has the immediate impact of Metropolis or Under the Milky Way, but in time they grow to in stature, although they will never singles. Listened in its entirety, the whole album grows because the songs work so well together. Space Savior would not drive so furiously if it did not follow the ethereal Pangaea and Happenstance, while the album closer, Operetta, pulls forth all that came before into a crescendo of slowly swirling choruses. Here, Kilbey's voice, more so than in previous outings, demands attention, not because he desperately need to be heard and seen like an angst ridden youth or an American Idol contestant, but because he has something to say and the ability to say in his natural voice. The Church, for the most part, have been forgotten by the music industry, and that has been a great liberation for them. Untitled 23 proves once again what we have known: that many of the great journeys are to be discovered outside the public eye.… Expand
  9. JayP
    May 31, 2009
    10
    Fantastic "album" in the truest since -- a beautiful journey from start to finish. The individual parts are strong and self-assured, but even more impressive as a whole work. One of their best.
  10. MarkY
    Jun 2, 2009
    9
    A continuation of beautiful and thought-provoking music.
  11. juana
    Jul 10, 2009
    10
    Marvelous!!!
  12. Buonomanp
    Nov 16, 2011
    10
    Simply a great album! Since Priest=Aura a gradually maturating music. U23 shows how sublime and wide the guys can bring the essence to the auditor. It let you leave for a moment the real world...for a more real one.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. AllMusic
    90
    They have done many good, verging on excellent records, over the past decade, but only this has the songs and the atmosphere to be placed next to their best albums.
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  2. Hartford Courant
    80
    The collection presents Big Music on a manageable scale, and even if the songs reference fire, water and sky, the long-running Aussie quartet forgoes the kind of sonic grandiosity such subject matter tends to invite.
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  3. Pitchfork
    70
    The Church are still producing at a high level, and Untitled #23 is a must for anyone who's followed them this far.
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