Tanglewood Numbers
by Silver Jews
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 27 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 27
  3. Negative: 2 out of 27

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  1. DuderR
    Oct 18, 2005
    6
    A bit of a let down after a four year wait. The album has a studio sound with tracks that sound more like Dire Straits than anything you've ever heard from Berman before. I'm sure a lot of longtime fans will be put off by this but that's not really my complaint with this album. It sounds great but Berman's characteristic poetic wit seems to have abandoned him. Perhaps A bit of a let down after a four year wait. The album has a studio sound with tracks that sound more like Dire Straits than anything you've ever heard from Berman before. I'm sure a lot of longtime fans will be put off by this but that's not really my complaint with this album. It sounds great but Berman's characteristic poetic wit seems to have abandoned him. Perhaps he intentionaly jettisoned it along with the sad, addictive depressive side of himself that damn near killed him last year in order to produce this happier radio friendly rock N' roll album. Unfortunately I fear that side of him may have been the side responsible for his dark and trenchant self depricating humor and his all-too-close-to-home soul baring lyrics that deliver a very personal and macabre thrill for Silver Jews fans. Berman's lyrics have always stradled the line between tounge- in-cheek camp and outright maudlin and mawkish, but this time he has fallen over the fence and landed squarely on the wrong side. With a scant few exceptions Berman's formerly original poetic wittisims have been replaced with unctuous tired platitudes and cliches. That being said, its not an entirely bad album, its far from being unlistenable and there are probably a few keepers here for the longtime Jews fan. Still better than your average Alt-Country/folkie indie rock album.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

64
#64 Best Album of 2005

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Dusted Magazine
    40
    If another band were to serve up the fiddling strings and lollygagging vocal harmonies of “Animal Shapes,” the wanky guitar breakdowns of “The Poor, The Fair, and the Good,” perhaps Tanglewood Numbers wouldn’t feel like such a disappointment. But Berman’s a brilliant lyricist with 30 or 40 minutes to spare every couple of years, and his voice seems oddly absent from this record.
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  2. AllMusic
    90
    A uniquely powerful and moving set of songs.
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  3. Amazon.com
    90
    A record that is wholly satisfying: not too overwrought and never self-assuredly slick.
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