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We'll Never Turn Back
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  • Record Label:
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We'll Never Turn Back Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

  • Summary: Ry Cooder produced this new set of songs for the 66-year-old civil rights activist and member of famed gospel group the Staple Singers.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. NOW Magazine
    100
    Her great success is making these protest songs personal, and she does it in a most profoundly moving way.
  2. Boston Globe
    90
    [It] seems like the album the 66-year-old singer was born to make
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    Staples' voice outshines all: rich, weathered, and full of fire, sometimes resolving in a cracked tone or a dark, knowing chuckle, her eyes still on the prize.
  4. PopMatters
    70
    Because this album’s music is so strong, ironically, it risks being tuned out.
  5. Uncut
    70
    A successful fusion of tradition and modernism.
    All this publication's reviews
  6. Hartford Courant
    70
    While the overall arc is inspirational, the album takes an unflinchingly dark view of the civil rights struggle.
  7. Q Magazine
    60
    Who would want another version of We Shall Not Be Moved is, surely, debatable, but elsewhere the results are more persuasive. [May 2007, p.129]
    All this publication's reviews

See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. HiNumber
    May 8, 2007
    10
    Powerful.
  2. BradleyP
    Apr 30, 2007
    10
    Outstanding work. At 66, Mavis Staples takes most young R&B singers to school and shows them "how it's done" with rock solid grit and Outstanding work. At 66, Mavis Staples takes most young R&B singers to school and shows them "how it's done" with rock solid grit and charisma. As a friend said when he heard it, "there is absolutely nothing wrong with her singing!" - he meant it as a joke because she is so relentlessly perfect in her delivery. Every note drips with that "Rock of Ages" experience. Ry Cooder provides the funk and atmospherics we expect, exceptionally tasteful and organic. The political content is pronounced and self-evident, and her observations are spot-on in 2007. A real treat.… Expand
  4. rub
    Apr 29, 2007
    10
    critics don't know shit - the music is simply amazing. simple.
  5. RonJ
    May 3, 2007
    10
    Mavis and Ry Cooder!....To my old ears, this is simply amazing. Important and funky....Best I have heard in years....
  6. D.C.
    Apr 27, 2007
    9
    Mavis's voice may crack in places, but her heart and grit are as strong as ever. This album is really a Staples/Cooder joint venture, Mavis's voice may crack in places, but her heart and grit are as strong as ever. This album is really a Staples/Cooder joint venture, and given Katrina and New Orelans, the NY shootings, Obama's candidacy, etc., etc., the freedom songs that are featured here are all relevent, and, abobe all, all brimming with angry, hopeful, proud, inspiring soul. Mavis testifies in the best of gospel tradition, and together with Cooder's slide guitar, channels her father, Pops Staples' message. All in all, one of best releases so far this year.… Expand
  7. StefB.
    May 26, 2007
    9
    A long overdue album, soulful and moving. Mavis Staples is revisiting the songs and give them power, she gives us food for thoughts. Great A long overdue album, soulful and moving. Mavis Staples is revisiting the songs and give them power, she gives us food for thoughts. Great masterpiece.… Collapse
  8. KenS
    May 9, 2007
    8
    One of the best of the year so far. Cooder's production and playing are perfect, as usual.

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