Without Feathers - The Stills
Without Feathers Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 20 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 22 Ratings

  • Summary: This long-overdue second album finds the Montreal band shedding its dark, Joy Division-influenced sound for one that more closely resembles classic rock.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 20
  2. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. The result is the work of an effectively new band--and a much better one. [12 May 2006, p.83]
  2. Yet another Next Flaming Lips emerges from beneath the librarian's skirts. In the 'Neon Bible' section, of course.
  3. While stocked with skillful guitars, tuneful vocals and the occasional hook, Without Feathers feels oddly unassuming, a plain-vanilla modern-rock record. [Jun/Jul 2006, p.122]
  4. Where melody, mood, and technique dominated Logic, Without Feathers sinks into a tuneless no man’s land.

See all 20 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 16
  2. Negative: 4 out of 16
  1. BillB
    10
    This is my favorite album of the stills so far! Its better than Logic and destroys Oceans will Rise. Every song is catchy and there isn't one song I dislike. Expand
  2. R.
    8
    Instead of immediately comparing WF to LWBYH (which is one of my favorites of all time), I decided to give the new CD some time. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. WF really shows the band's musical range. Nearly every song has little bits of LWBYH contained in it. Personally, I think the last two-thirds of the album are great (from "Helicopters" onward). "Baby Blues" is the most similar to LWBYH, and also my favorite song on this cd. Overall, I think the critics have been too hard on the cd. One other comment: For a song that reminds one of The Cars, there is an interesting verse in "Baby Blues": "'So lets make it fast, Like lightning through the cars." Expand
  3. Shari
    6
    Argh. If I had never heard Logic Will Break Your Heart, I would think this was an 'okay' album, listenable but not particularly grabbing. However, having heard Logic, I couldn't possibly be more dissapointed. The great thing about Logic was its overall energy. I mean, those were some seriously solid songs. Any of them could have been singles. But this.... it's not even that particularly artful - mostly musical pablum that is easy to ignore. Expand
  4. BrendanD
    3
    I'm still trying to figure out what people see in the Stills. I wasn't unimpressed by their debut, but I haven't heard anything by this band so far that makes them worthy of indie worship (part of which, I have to think, is due to the accolades given by Zach Braff, who included a lot of their stuff in teen-indie darling "Garden State"). I decided to give them another chance when I finally sat down and listened to the soundtrack from "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie," but I found their track to be one of only two songs I DIDN'T like, the other being Avril Lavigne's horrendous cover of the show's theme song. So I wasn't expecting much of their latest release, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The feel of "Without Feathers" is very mundane and samey-sounding (I'd almost liken them to an indie version of Matchbox 20, but that would be a little TOO harsh of a criticism), and perhaps most importantly, there don't seem to be a lot of hooks. I've been hearing that people find resemblances to the Kinks or Elton John, but I'm hearing the more angsty side of Ryan Adams or that awful "Bad Day" song. This is mostly fizzle and hype with no real "pop." Expand

See all 16 User Reviews

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