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Front Row Seat to Earth
by
Front Row Seat to Earth Image
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 56 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest full-length release for singer-songwriter Natalie Mering was co-produced with Chris Cohen.
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Top Track

Be Free
It's sad to dream It constantly seems Like there's no light at the end of my tunnel False dreams and promises How do I get through to you? Tried to... See the rest of the song lyrics
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. The Guardian
    Nov 3, 2016
    100
    It’s beautiful, unsettling and wholly compelling.
  2. Under The Radar
    Dec 14, 2016
    85
    In this album for insane times, Mering has attained universal connectedness while allowing us into her own excruciatingly cathartic purview, no easy feat.
  3. Pitchfork
    Oct 19, 2016
    83
    As much of a throwback as Mering can seem, at her best she captures her era in her words.
  4. The Line of Best Fit
    Oct 18, 2016
    80
    A step toward the intimate clarity of Front Row Seat to Earth, it still didn’t foretell the use of more ambitious instrumentation on “Diary”, “Used to Be” and “Do You Need My Love”, embellished with brass, wire and ivory. Mering counterweights the classic touches with ambient drone here and electronic manipulation there.
  5. Clash Music
    Oct 18, 2016
    80
    Front Row Seat To Earth strongly standing as one of the year's most affecting and luscious releases.
  6. Los Angeles Times
    Nov 1, 2016
    70
    Breezy and sunset-hued, the tone of the album is calm--a reassuring piano buoys the melody one moment, and, later, delicate woodwinds fade a song to black.
  7. The Observer (UK)
    Oct 31, 2016
    60
    These songs move from the personal pain of a breakup--Seven Words, with its sentimental organ, heartbeat pulse and clouds of choral glory--to the planetary pain of environmental disaster and our Snapchatting detachment from it.

See all 12 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 9
  3. Negative: 1 out of 9
  1. PetCheetah
    Aug 16, 2020
    10
    i loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove it
  2. DenefRobles
    Nov 1, 2020
    10
    Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before
  4. borgespedro
    Aug 23, 2022
    10
    um dos melhores álbuns que já ouvi. um compilado de convites ao canto coletivo sobre fracasso nas relações.
  5. Simao
    Oct 1, 2020
    9
    natalie set the bar so high with front row seat to earth. it’s a very cohesive body of work and it features some of her magnum opus. wordsnatalie set the bar so high with front row seat to earth. it’s a very cohesive body of work and it features some of her magnum opus. words really lack when trying to describe the album and it’s musicality that manages to get so near perfection.

    fav songs: be free, used to be, do you need my love

    least fav: can’t go home    … Expand
  6. Ricko
    Apr 27, 2020
    9
    This album really caught me by surprise in that I listened to it after coming across "Titanic Rising" only to learn that I find "Front RowThis album really caught me by surprise in that I listened to it after coming across "Titanic Rising" only to learn that I find "Front Row Seat to Earth" a superior effort. This is beautiful stuff and the range of melodies on show need to be heard to be believed. Weyes Blood brings us back to a time of purer pop music but its very much an album of the 21st century. If pop music was an illicit drug, this album would have a purity of 100%. I understand that "Titanic Rising" ironed out a few creases and is a step up in some aspects but like many older siblings, "Front Row Seat to Earth" simply has charms in its mistakes.… Expand
  7. Onrush
    Oct 31, 2016
    8
    The album was surprisingly refreshing. Give it a listen when you need to relax. (Your review must be at least 150 characters long.) (fillers, fillers)
  8. Scraper
    Nov 16, 2016
    3
    A journey back to 70's songwriter campiness. I thought the album was dull and outdated. No real surprises, just track after track of musicA journey back to 70's songwriter campiness. I thought the album was dull and outdated. No real surprises, just track after track of music that would be played during a sad montage on a cartoon you used to watch in a onezie in 1985. Throwback styles to groovy eras in music and film will always get the highest explosive reviews from critics regardless of content - as long as the time period is nailed perfectly. Maybe because the critics now have only been alive for 25 years. I am still trying to understand how a direct imitation of something, posed as original art, is considered a bold move and an achievement.… Expand

See all 9 User Reviews

Awards & Rankings

96
#96 Most Discussed Album of 2016
45
#45 Most Shared Album of 2016

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