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An Obelisk
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An Obelisk Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

  • Summary: The sixth full-length release for the Brooklyn-based rock band was recorded in six days with producer Bob Mould.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. Under The Radar
    Jul 30, 2019
    85
    An Obelisk is fast, rugged fun. Blues dirge for your rocking chair ("My Body and Me"), vocal harmonies ("The Lion Inside"), and almost funk ("Within the Gravitation").
  2. The Line of Best Fit
    Jun 20, 2019
    85
    The songs here beg to fall apart but are kept in tight reign by Chris Wilson's drums and R.J. Gordon’s flurrying bass while Stickles and guitarist Liam Betson slay riffs and trade licks.
  3. Consequence
    Jun 18, 2019
    83
    Titus Andronicus didn’t need to further prove themselves with this album, but they did anyway.
  4. Exclaim
    Jun 18, 2019
    70
    It's an in-your-face, no-frills rock record that contrasts with the slower tracks of A Productive Cough, reminding fans that no matter what happens, this band can still rock. For those looking for the vintage punk Titus Andronicus, this record will do just fine, even if it doesn't quite match the high points of their best work.
  5. Glide Magazine
    Jun 25, 2019
    70
    While the overall tone and style fits him and the band well, the majority of songs are fine yet not particularly memorable. A Productive Cough looks like a mid-career outlier now as Titus Andronicus settle back into their pub rock punk hybrid on An Obelisk.
  6. Pitchfork
    Jun 24, 2019
    70
    A Productive Cough felt more like a genre exercise than a passion project, and that’s true of An Obelisk, too, except this time the genre is a far better fit.
  7. Slant Magazine
    Jun 18, 2019
    40
    With so many flat, unoriginal riffs and unmemorable choruses, there’s just not enough meat here to reward that approach, and despite its unrelenting volume, An Obelisk just feels empty without the wide-ranging dynamics and ambitious arrangements that have, until now, defined Titus Andronicus’s music.

See all 15 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. meanjoelgreen
    Jun 21, 2019
    10
    Mission accomplished! Born to bruise. Everyone's a critic but most people love guitar solos
  2. Haksawjimthugin
    Dec 7, 2019
    10
    This is the most raucous and driven album yet from one of the most inconsistent bands in the scene. The poignant exposition of our complicitThis is the most raucous and driven album yet from one of the most inconsistent bands in the scene. The poignant exposition of our complicit guilt in modern America on (I Blame)Society still rocks like a ****… Expand

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