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Good Souls Better Angels
by
Good Souls Better Angels Image
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 19 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 18 Ratings

  • Summary: The latest full-length release for the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter was produced with Ray Kennedy and Tom Overby.
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Q Magazine
    Apr 21, 2020
    100
    It's the voice that carries it all: rawer and more rousing by the minute. [Jun 2020, p.108]
    All this publication's reviews
  2. PopMatters
    Apr 27, 2020
    90
    Better Souls Good Angels was written and recorded well before the pandemic. But the album, with its darkness tinged with glimmers of hope, its rage touched with tenderness, is very much one for our terrible time.
  3. The Line of Best Fit
    Apr 24, 2020
    85
    As a songwriter and a storyteller, she’s simply never recorded anything quite like it. After so long in the game, it’s miraculous to hear her take such a fresh approach to her sound.
  4. Glide Magazine
    Apr 21, 2020
    80
    There are songs where she’s smoothed out the edges somewhat. That, with the raw instrumentation framing it, makes this one of her stronger vocal outings.
  5. Paste Magazine
    Apr 24, 2020
    80
    Good Souls Better Angels is proof that even legends like Lucinda don’t just leave their best work behind them one day: They keep writing and making as long as they can, challenging people to listen to their newest music with the notion that it could be some of their best.
  6. The Telegraph (UK)
    Apr 24, 2020
    80
    The guitar playing throughout is fantastic, rhythm and lead entwining around Williams’s beautiful, ruined voice, rising to a fury on tough rockers. ... It is an angry record but one that can make you shake your fist into the void and feel that, at least, no matter how bad things might look, you are not alone.
  7. The Independent (UK)
    Apr 23, 2020
    60
    There are moments when it all starts to feel a little bit too doom-laden. But Williams saves not only the best, but the most hopeful, until last. ... An impressive but relentless album.

See all 19 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. bjmul67
    Apr 27, 2020
    10
    This is a fine example of an extraordinary songwriter finally FULLY gelling with an extraordinary backing band. It is wondrous dirty blues,This is a fine example of an extraordinary songwriter finally FULLY gelling with an extraordinary backing band. It is wondrous dirty blues, gothic south stories told through the lens of one who understands pain and joy more than most, with a groove that is haunting at times, infectious at others. Buick 6 is a perfect compliment to one of music's best.… Expand
  2. DallasTex
    May 1, 2020
    9
    There has been a lot of attention to the lyrics on this album, but its the BAND that kicks it. This album totally rocks, and, yes, there areThere has been a lot of attention to the lyrics on this album, but its the BAND that kicks it. This album totally rocks, and, yes, there are definitely punk overtones on some of the tracks.… Expand
  4. Lajaleaa
    Jun 18, 2020
    7
    ( 75/100 )

    Lucinda es de las chicas que han crecido rasguñando la guitarra con el gusto que se puede tener en una vida enojada y triste. Su    ( 75/100 )

    Lucinda es de las chicas que han crecido rasguñando la guitarra con el gusto que se puede tener en una vida enojada y triste. Su Rock, Country y Folk ha sido una consciente experiencia femenina sobre su país, sus lecciones y los hombres de su vida. En este álbum, Lucinda explora un lado pesado y arrebatado de la edad, la soledad, la familia, el tiempo, las angustiosas incertidumbres y las pesadas certezas de la vida en medio de la adultés. Su voz, aunque envejecida, todavía poderosa, acompaña a su guitarra con toda la intención de rockear y embriagar a todos los vaqueros tristes y enojados con un Country-Rock añejo y agrio. Este Rock no es anda nuevo, y a veces es cansado o monótono, pero la sensibilidad y la intención honran la experiencia en la vida de la forma más clásica, se aprecian.
    -
    Lucinda is one of the girls that has grown up scratching the guitar with the pleasure of an angry and sad life. Her Rock, Country, and Folk has been a constant feminine experience about her country, the men and lessons of her life. In this album, Lucinda explores a heavy and outburst side of age, solitude, family, time, the anguish of uncertainty, and the heaviness of the certainties of life in adulthood. Her voice, even if old, still powerful, joins the guitar with all of the intention to rock and drunk all sad and angry cowboys with a stale and sour Country-Rock. This rock is nothing new and sometimes is tiring and monotonous, but the sensibility and the intention of honoring the experience in life in the most classical way, are appreciated.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

73
#73 Best Album of 2020

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