Virgins
by Tim Hecker
  • Record Label: Kranky
  • Release Date: Oct 15, 2013
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 63
  3. Negative: 4 out of 63
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  1. W3R3W00F
    Oct 16, 2013
    10
    Listening to Tim Hecker's "Virgins" is amazing. After a few listens, slowly memorizing the position and elements of each song, it begins to unfold like an epic, or perhaps, like the shadow of one.

    It's as wide as a cathedral, haunting as the Catacombs of Paris, ominous as an approaching hurricane, cold as Siberia, glitchy as Windows 95, fractured as a broken spine, scary as a horror    Listening to Tim Hecker's "Virgins" is amazing. After a few listens, slowly memorizing the position and elements of each song, it begins to unfold like an epic, or perhaps, like the shadow of one.

    It's as wide as a cathedral, haunting as the Catacombs of Paris, ominous as an approaching hurricane, cold as Siberia, glitchy as Windows 95, fractured as a broken spine, scary as a horror film, invasive as a parasite, intelligent as a skyscraper's blueprint, instrumentally varied as Texan geography, glowing as moonlight through stained glass windows, melancholic as peacetime after the war, disquieting as a necropolis... and yet, it remains beautiful throughout.

    I enjoyed Tim Hecker's "Ravedeath, 1972" well enough, but "Virgins" speaks to me far more. Stigmata I and II are wonderful together and are perhaps my favorite songs, aside from Virginal I and Virginal II. It's wonderful throughout. Glad I bought it.

    Also, just for kicks: compare Rachel's' "Systems Layers" to the song "Black Refractions." It's interesting how similar they are.    … Expand
  2. indiegalaxy10
    Oct 16, 2013
    9
    Tim hecker creates art with this fantastic music the soundscapes are beautiful, dark tense. It's a perfect comeback to being one of the best experimental artists out there, as Ravedeath 1972, Hecker can bring the shadows of a obscure world to transformate to light, sadness never sounded so good. Excellent!
  3. adhamhany
    Oct 26, 2013
    8
    This album is a beautiful listening experience. A journey through a road of amazing sounds. Some are sad, others are tense, while others can actually be called scary. And then there are the calm pieces. Just wonderful. It's why "Black Refraction" is my favorite track. It feels almost like a meditation.
    I enjoyed this album more than its predecessor, which is still good in its own right.
  4. BENNEB
    Dec 29, 2013
    10
    This is the most beautiful album of all time, with a strong vibe of mass destruction. Loving it a lot.

    Must Hear Tracks:
    Prisms
    Virginal I
    Virginal II
    Live Room In

    Not So Good Tracks:
    Live Room Out
  5. BetterOffDead_
    May 15, 2014
    8
    Tim hecker really delivers on virgins, the hooks on this album are done very well the track live room is my favorite especially the hooks in this wow, this album has a dark feel to it. Track after track tim delivers. This album is put together really well 8/10
  6. finnigan37
    Dec 8, 2013
    0
    I find this to be totally unlistenable and hard to really quantify as "music". It's more like a bunch of annoying noises layered over each other in random ways. There are many who will bend over backward to convince themselves that they "get" this album, and try to seem "sophisticated" by liking it. I will not be one of those hipsters.
  7. All_ButTrU4
    Jul 25, 2022
    10
    Original Score: 8/10
    Reviewed on: 25/10/21
    It took me a while to realize this is a perfect record. It's always been quite difficult for me to give a completely ambient album a ten as it just didn't seem fair or on par with my other 10's which were 10's for a myriad of factors which usually involve the songwriting, vocals and delivery. But tim Hecker on what is his best album impressed me    Original Score: 8/10
    Reviewed on: 25/10/21
    It took me a while to realize this is a perfect record. It's always been quite difficult for me to give a completely ambient album a ten as it just didn't seem fair or on par with my other 10's which were 10's for a myriad of factors which usually involve the songwriting, vocals and delivery. But tim Hecker on what is his best album impressed me with his skill,how he manages to craft these vivid foreboding soundscapes reminiscent of obsidian and empty attacks. His music feels very hollow, as if delivered by an inhuman celestial harbinger. The ceenter piece "live room" is a solid higlight I can never skip.
    Dark,claustrophobic and peaceful. A great achievement in composing and production. I cannot help but return to this in times of stress. Love this    … Expand
  8. clem666
    Oct 9, 2022
    6
    The kind of album that makes you have deeper reflections on what should actually be and represent any other music album.
    I had the impression that Tim Hecker chose certain sound movements for this project and then diffracted them again and again in various ways. Of course there are numerous floating and transitional moments but it is only to come back harder and with more originality.    The kind of album that makes you have deeper reflections on what should actually be and represent any other music album.
    I had the impression that Tim Hecker chose certain sound movements for this project and then diffracted them again and again in various ways. Of course there are numerous floating and transitional moments but it is only to come back harder and with more originality. Unfortunately there were just too many of it for myself. Time is way too often suspended in my opinion. But I can't take out those pure transitions though, as the beginning of 'Black Reflection' appear to be.
    Indeed this LP manages to invoke powerful and varied emotions in us during the listens. It sometimes feels poetic, rushed, dark, contemplative and derivative at the same time. And surely words would not have been enough to describe it all better than 'Virgins' did.
    It is a questioning effort. But the several listens I had of it just made me realize the major highlight of what I could call shallowness and repetitiveness.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Best Album of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
87

Universal acclaim - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. The Wire
    Dec 10, 2013
    80
    Another nuance of Virgins is the pacing. With the exception of a few slightly predictable orchestral driftscapes, Hecker's editing instincts have rarely sounded this restless and razor-sharp. [Oct 2013, p.45]
  2. Q Magazine
    Nov 22, 2013
    80
    A record tremblingly alert to the darkness, it flickers like a candle in the gloom, a victory for the forces of good against all odds. [Dec 2013, p.107]
  3. Under The Radar
    Nov 15, 2013
    70
    It marks a natural progression--a little more defined, a little less of a homogeneous whole, but still a sound world that's unmistakably Hecker's own.
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