• Record Label: Merge
  • Release Date: Feb 8, 2000
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. The album navigates effortlessly from peak to peak.
  2. 90
    The most fully realised Lambchop record, the most perfect blend yet of their alt country roots and their obsession with soul.
  3. Nixon sounds like the Superfly soundtrack recorded in a different dimension, one in which Mayfield and Marvin Gaye met up with Lawrence Welk for an impromptu jam session.... a drowsy near-masterpiece.
  4. 90
    A near-masterpiece of magical sounds that are both familiar and wildly new, a stunning blend of classic Americana and classical orchestration.
  5. 80
    Piled high with elegant strings, horns, and vibraphone, these 10 tracks mark a new sophistication for this talented group.
  6. Music this laid-back but this deep, so full-bodied and yet so restrained, could only have been made by Lambchop.
  7. Heartbreaking, gorgeous and totally individual, these big-production numbers meld the different but complementary beauties of Nashville country and sweet soul while adding a dash of wine-dark weirdness.
  8. Expansively orchestrated, Nixon ultimately comes off as beautiful but slightly disturbing...
  9. [Lambchop vocalist Kurt] Wagner shares a sense of offbeat phrasing and doleful humor with his singer-songwriter friend Vic Chesnutt that is both profoundly Southern and affectingly universal.
  10. Nixon serves as a reminder that expertly executed stylistic hybrids and ironic juxtapositions-- great though they may be-- don't replace memorable songwriting. Sure, it's a novel concept, but while some of us may still be patient enough to "get it" five albums into the band's career, Wagner's talent and unique vision should demand a more challenging album.
  11. This will still strike most as a mighty odd record, though. Ostensibly much of this record was inspired by former president Richard Nixon (there is even a suggested reading list of Nixon-related books on the sleeve). But there are no direct references to him, and even any indirect ones are so oblique that you'd never make the connection if the record had a different title...
  12. 40
    "Nixon," Lambchop's fifth solo LP, does have its moments, some of them truly glowing. But much of the rest of the album turns toward precious self-indulgence.
User Score
6.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 17 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 17
  2. Negative: 5 out of 17
  1. RuiO
    Jan 7, 2006
    10
    Fucking brilliant!
  2. DaveF
    Aug 11, 2005
    10
    A superb, luscious, inventive, thoroughly beautiful album that just keeps getting better with every listen. Quite possibly a perfect record.
  3. EdsonU
    Feb 27, 2005
    10
    Fantastic! Only this...