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Oct 4, 2012There are instances where the lyrical content edges too close to "artsy" teenage erotic poetry, but no song is without an attractive quality, whether it's a heavenly melody, a riveting rhythm, or a boggling production nuance.
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Nov 19, 2012Enjoy Kaleidoscope Dream for the rarity that it is: an unerringly consistent, very good pop record.
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Oct 4, 2012He's at his best when he slips into his expressive falsetto, but Miguel frequently comes off too remote for a true soul singer.
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Oct 16, 2012The singer with the feathery falsetto creates a fluid, dreamscape environment that floats across eras with a connoisseur's discerning feel for the telling detail.
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Dec 21, 2012He, like his album, works best in its woozier, hushed moments.
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Oct 5, 2012The success owes a good deal to the production, sparse and specific, and always in tune with Miguel's tenor.
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Oct 4, 2012There's no doubting that he's gone from a freshman to a full-fledged member of R&B's graduating class with Kaleidoscope Dream.
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Nov 28, 2012Kaleidoscope Dream is a statement that Miguel has arrived.
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Dec 30, 2012He's major now, and musically, this locks in top to bottom.
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Oct 4, 2012In its finished form, Miguel's Kaleidoscope Dream is a testament to his evolved songwriting, reverence to the past, and refusal to be pigeonholed.
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Oct 4, 2012Miguel's second album delivers on the L.A.-based musician's early promise, taking the best ideas from the debut--slow, lilting grooves, layered electric guitars, darkly squelching bass lines, meandering falsetto--into a more expansive, emotionally varied and personal sound.
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Oct 4, 2012It's respectful of tradition, quietly ambitious, and deeply personal, a wonderfully considered album from an artist who was starting to seem a lot like a forgotten gem in the wake of mishandled promotion.
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Oct 19, 2012Even with a weaker Side B collection of songs, Kaleidoscope Dream is a thrilling listen that draws comparisons to D'Angelo's Voodoo or Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Part One on first listen.
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Q MagazineDec 11, 2012On his impressive second album, the LA-born R&B auteur offers fresh options for mainstream urban pop. [Jan 2013, p.110]
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Oct 5, 2012He rubs his shadowy croon against electronic gurgles or electric guitar, keeping his tracks spare and unpredictable.
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Oct 4, 2012Miguel has impeccable songwriting chops and a deceptively supple voice, not to mention total command of both.
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Oct 9, 2012Kaleidoscope Dream will almost surely attract comparisons to another recent R&B album with its own amiable internal logic, Frank Ocean's Channel Orange, and not unfairly, given that both are uniformly excellent.
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Oct 18, 2012Miguel has pushed himself hard on his second album, and pulled it off.
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Oct 16, 2012The range of sonic ideas, fully realized songs, and prodigious vocal talent on Kaleidoscope Dream arrives as the most pleasant of shocks.
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Dec 4, 2012It's a record that's every bit as multifaceted as its kaleidoscopic cover art, and one sure to grow over multiple listenings.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 129 out of 141
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Mixed: 6 out of 141
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Negative: 6 out of 141
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Oct 5, 2012
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Oct 5, 2012
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Nov 22, 2012