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Oct 5, 2016The high points of The Altar are nearly perfect, but these are outnumbered by a massive middle section comprised of unremarkable, uninspired filler.
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Oct 4, 2016This sophomore effort builds off her debut, but loses the plot in a mass of electronic blackness and vague grievances.
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Oct 3, 2016Strip away the tics and production fidgets and these songs aren’t hugely distinctive--they lack the arresting weirdness of artier peers such as FKA twigs.
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Sep 30, 2016Banks' list of grievances can get wearying, but the music's dour detail is alluring too.
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MojoSep 29, 2016For every shallow, Banks stirs up a hidden depth. [Nov 2016, p.90]
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Sep 29, 2016Mostly The Altar is claustrophobic with try-hardness. Banks doesn’t sound empowered, she sounds stretched.
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Oct 12, 2016The Altar has a lot in common with Goddess, including its fatal flaw: its attempts to position Banks as edgy or dangerous, despite all musical evidence to the contrary.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 178 out of 199
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Mixed: 10 out of 199
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Negative: 11 out of 199
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Oct 29, 2016
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Oct 2, 2016
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Sep 30, 2016