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Odds Against Tomorrow Image
Metascore
82

Universal acclaim - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The the sixth full-length solo release for the guitarist features some original songs and was mixed by Chuck Johnson.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Uncut
    Oct 11, 2019
    80
    Following on from a 2017 album of standards, this chiefly replaces covers with original compositions and adds a meaningful, Slint-like loitering on chord to his repertoire of shattered blues licks. [Nov 2019, p.30]
  2. Dec 3, 2019
    80
    Odds Against Tomorrow is contemplative and, at times, undeniably beautiful. If earlier albums like A New Way to Pay Old Debts desublimated blues and roots music, Odds Against Tomorrow resublimates it. On this set of tracks, Orcutt mourns the loss of expressivity in music and conjures the fantastical spirit of the blues.
  3. Oct 11, 2019
    80
    Whether he's putting his stamp on a standard or plowing through his own material, Bill Orcutt cuts an impressive, lyrical figure, and one that is hard to ignore.
  4. The Wire
    Oct 23, 2019
    80
    This LP kicks off with a run of tunes that are wistful and simply beautiful. [Nov 2019, p.56]
  5. Mojo
    Nov 21, 2019
    80
    The result might be Orcutt's most beautiful album, a phantasmal union of folk, blues, rock and country visions that crackles with the intense fire of his own country's turbulent history. [Jan 2020, p.89]
  6. Oct 11, 2019
    78
    On Odds Against Tomorrow he has found a way to settle down without settling into complacency. The album retains the core elements of his best work, and his restless, postmodern exploration of the American lexicon, while refining what makes those qualities potent. Refusing to repeat himself, he takes tradition as a living thing, blazing new trails to familiar vistas.
  7. Nov 21, 2019
    60
    There is also a vibrato-drenched version of "Moon River" that seems more of an afterthought than a statement, but even that hangs in the air quite well. There is some pretty astonishing virtuosity as well as clear thought, and that's what sets this record and Orcutt apart from the excesses of technique. The man makes music as well as notes.

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