by
Mew
- Record Label: Columbia/Evil Office
- Release Date: Aug 25, 2009
- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Despite its ominous (and lofty) title, No More Stories/Are Told Today/I'm Sorry/They Washed Away/No More Stories/The World Is Grey/I'm Tired/Let's Wash Away is a dreamy blend of circular melodies and odd time signatures that requires multiple listens (this is par for the course with any Mew album) and a significant amount of cinematic stamina from the listener, and though it may not appeal to the masses, its mass is definitely appealing.
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It's hard to know where you stand with it. There are moments where the listener is engulfed in it all, but others when it feels cold and detached.
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Always inventive, often beautiful and occasionally totally sublime, Mew have always stood out from the pack, and this latest--with producer Rich Costey back on board--sees them raise the bar that extra inch higher.
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It bears to be dissected because it is pretty much all over the place, even if what they wanted to achieve could be stored inside a magical pot of gold.
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No More Stories… finishes Mew’s transition into the swirling, arena-rock monsters they’ve threatened to become all along, with reliably decent results, but it fails to top the blissful heights of "Glass Handed Kits" or the pop-theory class of "Frengers."
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Simply put, No More Stories… is accessible without being overbearingly so, experimental without sounding too abstract and ridiculous, and most importantly, one of the year's most endearing records.
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Like Muse, Mew fly in the face of the zeitgeist, cultivating a devoted following all the while. It’s one that should be sated (and in an ideal world, expanded) no end by No More Stories.
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Forward, it’s enticing--but in reverse, it’s sublime.
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Mew really does inhabit a place where few contemporaries can be found.
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Under The RadarNo More Stories is the most intricate batch of songs they've produced but pratical enough for daily listening. [Summer 2009, p.61]
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But where the band’s U.S. breakthrough, "And the Glass Handed Kites," sometimes felt sprawling, its follow-up achieves some much-needed clarity, distinguishing one song from the next and reining in the reverb with throbbing bass hits.
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Despite a few drawbacks, NAITNTIL is a triumph. It signals a more mature Mew, with more to say and more ways to say it.
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Mew has succeeded in developing a good sound from some of the least hip ingredients imaginable, and No More Stories... feels like a consolidation of every stride they've made to date.
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FilterNo More Stories... glitters with ethereal beauty and optimism that has been absent on Mew's prior releases. [Fall 2009, p.91]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 71 out of 81
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Mixed: 2 out of 81
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Negative: 8 out of 81
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AndrewT.Sep 27, 2009
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Oct 9, 2012
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JonTOct 4, 2009