• Record Label: Epitaph
  • Release Date: Aug 26, 2003
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 10
  2. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. As wonderfully crafted an album as Reconstruction Site is, some listeners will be put off by its perceived highbrow attitude; it's too scholarly for the masses, too pop-smart for the avant garde set.
  2. It's an outstanding piece of work -- literate, catchy, and emotional.
  3. Musically, Reconstruction Site has more in common with literate indie types like Clem Snide or even the mature, clear-eyed work of Michael Penn.
  4. Magnet
    80
    A catchy rock record steeped in intelligent social and personal commentary that incorporates pedal and lap steel with great cowpunk results. [#60, p.119]
  5. An album that's smart at every level.
  6. John K. Samson’s vocal and lyrical talent is the most immediate thing and, ultimately, what sets the band above the two-a-penny similar rock acts the world over.
  7. Incorporating the best moments of the band's previous two releases, Reconstruction Site offers a clear blueprint for future efforts, built on Samson's instinctual mingling of liberal-arts smarts, poignant sketches of perceptive reflection, and a melodic infrastructure of pop and rock gestures.
  8. This would be an easy record to (dis)miss; aside from the intellectual reaching... it glides by fairly effortlessly on initial listenings. But textures -- Stephen Carroll's lap/pedal steel guitar, Sarah Harmer's cozy backing vocals that make the band sound like a more laid-back New Pornographers, Jason Tait's tight, emotional drumming and the warmth of vibes and glockenspiel -- reveal themselves long after the lyricism ceases to delight.
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. PatW
    Oct 27, 2006
    10
    This band is the best thing Canada has ever done.
  2. Jan 30, 2011
    8
    I hate Winnipeg.
  3. Oct 15, 2010
    10
    This is, in my opinion, one of the best evaluations of grief and loss in any form of media; it's easily the best album I've ever heard toThis is, in my opinion, one of the best evaluations of grief and loss in any form of media; it's easily the best album I've ever heard to grapple with the idea. Nothing I've heard or seen, and very little I've read, has come even close to capturing the spectrum of emotions and states that accompany the process of loss and mourning, from awaiting the inevitable to grim reflection, and the cacophony of emotions in between. Even during the album's upbeat beginnings, you can can visualize the grimace behind Samson's voice as he sings about how, "I'm so glad that you exist" on "The Reasons"; the relentless ennui and depression that permeates throughout "Plea from a cat named virtue"; the desperate attempts to re-enter back into normalcy on "Our Retired Explorer"; the passive introspection on "A New Name for Everything"; the sheer desperation and agony of "Benediction" (the album's highest point); everything is agonizingly perfect in capturing the whole spectrum of the experience. Yet, in spite of how depressing this album's theme may seem, its so brilliantly crafted that it's not an album only to break out on rainy days and at wakes; some of these songs are almost criminally catchy ("The Reasons" "Our Retired Explorer"), and the album speaks just as much to the lasting joy of memory as it does to the sorrow of immediate loss. Indeed, as heartbreaking an album as "Reconstruction Site" may be, it doesn't end leaving you an emotional mess; in fact, it makes everything feel a little bit better, strangely.

    TL;DR: This is one of the best albums ever made. If you haven't listened to it yet, stop what you're doing and get it. (Standout tracks: Everything! What, not particular enough? Ok, fine, "Reconstruction Site", "Plea from a Cat Named Virtute", "Our Retired Explorer (Dines with Michael Focault in Paris, 1961)", "A New Name For Everything", "One Great City", "Benediction")
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