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Achilles Heel
by
Achilles Heel Image
Metascore
71

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

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

  • Summary: James McAlister (Ester Drang) joins band leader David Bazan and his longtime collaborator TW Walsh on Pedro The Lion's fifth album.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Alternative Press
    100
    A heartbreakingly brilliant album that unravels itself slowly if you just stop and listen. [Jul 2004, p.132]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. AllMusic
    90
    A hallmark for the band, a culmination of their previous work, and -- upon its release -- their best album to date.
  3. PopMatters
    80
    Ultimately, Bazan continues to sound more like a distillation of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and The Counting Crows' Adam Duritz than the latest flavor of pop star.
  4. Trouser Press
    60
    The band's attempts to diversify the tone are not always successful.
  5. Almost Cool
    60
    I'm not sure if it's the lack of a clear-cut conceptual idea or something else, but the 11 songs on the release just seem to plow along through waters that the group has already rowed many times before.
  6. Delusions of Adequacy
    60
    Nothing here is horrible, but nothing here is great.
  7. Stylus Magazine
    40
    Rather than show true sympathy by exploring the nuance of even the superficially simplest lives, Bazan makes drearily deterministic morons out of his supposed objects of pathos.

See all 14 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. [Anonymous]
    Oct 4, 2004
    10
    Devastatingly Beautiful!!!! Spend a few listens alone with this album, and it will take you over...
  2. dorisd
    Jun 11, 2004
    9
    I've already listened to it more times then Bazan's other albums combined. A few of these songs are perfect; the rest are merely I've already listened to it more times then Bazan's other albums combined. A few of these songs are perfect; the rest are merely really good. Fine, two of them suck. But overall it's exceptional.… Expand
  4. BenjaminBunny
    Sep 17, 2004
    5
    The Lion's poorest album in the sense that it's the most forgettable. There are no standout tracks, no real stinkers either...just The Lion's poorest album in the sense that it's the most forgettable. There are no standout tracks, no real stinkers either...just a blase collection of mid-tempo numbers without real choruses that blend together seamlessly because they all sound the same. Check out the folksy "It's Hard To Find A Friend" or the more rock-oriented "Control" if you're interested in hearing prime Pedro; "Achilees Heel" is for completists only.… Expand

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