Before The Poison
by Marianne Faithfull
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 15 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 15
  3. Negative: 1 out of 15

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  1. KervinH
    Mar 3, 2005
    6
    Her haunting voice sounds older than before, but the songs are well writen, as one would expect from P J Harvey, Nick Cave and (to a lesser extent) Damon Albarn. Cave's tracks sit comfortably alongside his 'The Boatman's Call' album, Harvey doesn't surprise, but thats not necessarily a bad thing, while Albarn continues his lyrical yearn to join Ray Davis' Her haunting voice sounds older than before, but the songs are well writen, as one would expect from P J Harvey, Nick Cave and (to a lesser extent) Damon Albarn. Cave's tracks sit comfortably alongside his 'The Boatman's Call' album, Harvey doesn't surprise, but thats not necessarily a bad thing, while Albarn continues his lyrical yearn to join Ray Davis' 'Village Green Preservation Society.' However, in my opinion, each track would be better suited to the unique vocal talents of those who wrote them.… Expand
  2. KatieH
    Nov 1, 2004
    6
    very emotional and dark-hearted. but i find it difficult to get over the fact that, though it's not always a bad thing, you cannot separate the her aging from her music.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Playlouder
    80
    If anything this year's model raises the stakes on its predecessor.
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  2. The Wire
    60
    The five tracks penned and played on by PJ Harvey... reverberate with all the dark, elastic abrasion of PJ's best work. [#248, p.66]
  3. The Guardian
    70
    Faithfull's most stylistically cohesive album for some time.
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