American Standard
by James Taylor
  • Record Label: Fantasy
  • Release Date: Feb 28, 2020
Metascore
60

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
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  1. Classic Rock Magazine
    Apr 8, 2020
    60
    A classy, slick, impeccably executed album of covers, but a disappointing successor to US No. 1 Before This World. [May 2020, p.83]
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  2. Mojo
    Feb 27, 2020
    60
    He keeps the core of material such as The Nearness Of You and My Blue Heaven spare and the tone intimate. [Mar 2020, p.94]
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  3. Uncut
    Feb 27, 2020
    60
    A poignant folk-jazz take on Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" is the standout and it's all impeccably tasteful - but in a threadbare kind of way. [Apr 2020, p.37]
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  5. PopMatters
    Feb 28, 2020
    50
    It's all flawlessly performed and comforting in its predictability.
  6. Boston Globe
    Mar 3, 2020
    40
    The ghosts of more well-known recordings hover over “American Standard,” and they’re enough of a distraction to make one think that a better tribute to these compositions might have been a Taylor-curated playlist of the versions that originally captured his imagination all those years ago.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. jwolfyesj
    May 3, 2020
    9
    I guess you must be a Baby Boomer to appreciate the warmth and style of this man. As critics get younger, it's all more cerebral, absent justI guess you must be a Baby Boomer to appreciate the warmth and style of this man. As critics get younger, it's all more cerebral, absent just the human emotion evoked. I loved it, not for the arrangements, but his ability to put his signature on songs he obviously always appreciated.… Full Review »
  2. Grantram
    Apr 24, 2020
    9
    JT has yet again delivered an light-n-easy ride through the catalog of great American music. So it's not going to blow your mind -- Exactly,JT has yet again delivered an light-n-easy ride through the catalog of great American music. So it's not going to blow your mind -- Exactly, and it's not supposed to. As mentioned in the companion 'making of' video clip: Taylor plays songs in a way that makes you think he wrote them. Great. And that's why we keep listening. The critics' composite 60 score is an acknowledgment that no new ground has been broken here, so boo hoo for them; yay for the rest of us.… Full Review »
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