by
Bobby Womack
- Record Label: XL Recordings
- Release Date: Jun 12, 2012
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- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Q MagazineOct 12, 2012It's to Russell and Albarn's eternal credit, then, that they not only noticed but reach out and made this wonderful record happen. [Jul 2012, p.99]
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MagnetJul 24, 2012The dramatic new music made by Bobby Womack - a true survivor - is an important listening session for any serious music lover. [No.89, p.60]
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The WireJul 24, 2012The gift that this record has offered him is the gift of being who he is once again. [Jul 2012, p.59]
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Jun 26, 2012[The production] intrudes on the songwriting, distracts the listener, and interferes with what are otherwise solid and sometimes deeply moving performances.
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MojoJun 25, 2012The Bravest Man impresses on a steadily rising graph as Womack's soul-soaked voice humanises the machinery in ways rarely heard these days. [Jul 2012, p.84]
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Jun 25, 2012The contemporary beats and intermitted uses of techno make this album youthful. For instance, Stupid has a stoic loop that runs through Womack's raspy cries and a sophisticated piano melody. It's a really beautiful blend of new and old.
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Jun 19, 2012While the lyrical content can be a little prescriptive in places, all of Womack's contributions are frank, honest and humble
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Jun 15, 2012We are in the presence of mad, brilliant, soulful genius and there is no choice but to surrender.
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Jun 14, 2012While Womack does his best to step up to his alien surroundings, he can't help but sound like an out-of-place guest on his own album.
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Jun 14, 2012The Bravest Man in the Universe is the sound of that perseverance in the form of an album, but it's also Womack at his darkest and most vulnerable.
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Jun 14, 2012The only problem is that at times, it feels like all parties are a little intimidated by each other, stopping just short of going the whole way with the primal force that the best moments prove Womack is still capable of.
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Jun 14, 2012It's eminently clear these producers know exactly when to assert themselves and when to stay out of the soul legend's way to achieve the most captivating results possible.
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Jun 14, 2012It's bold, cathartic, and essential; a candidate for not only one of 2012's best, but one of the most important records in all of American soul.
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Jun 13, 2012He's at home testifying over coolly throbbing beats.
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Jun 13, 2012The lack of development and subtlety is a frequent problem for the album.
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Jun 13, 2012The Bravest Man in the Universe doesn't need much of a buffer as it quietly approaches its essence with backing tracks, loops, bouts of acoustic guitar and piano all holistically orbiting around the central component of the album, Womack's unblemished vocals.
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Jun 12, 2012A passionate, heartfelt, serious, dogged effort, pregnant with reflection and as wise as you could hope for.
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Jun 12, 2012While The Bravest Man In The Universe bears little surface relation to Womack's best-known music, it is-like "Stylo"-in line spiritually with what Womack's all about.
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Jun 12, 2012The result confronts old age without giving in to self-pity. It earns its title.
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Jun 12, 2012Although not quite the greatest release that Womack's name has been stamped on (as Womack asserts it is), The Bravest Man will, with some luck, serve as a pleasant and uplifting gateway to Womack's imperative back catalogue.
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Jun 12, 2012More studio sympathy and less technical trickery might've made The Bravest Man in the Universe a minor classic.
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Jun 11, 2012Overall this is a deeply satisfying meeting of many minds.
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Jun 11, 2012For as haunting as parts of the album are, there is no fetishization of death on the parts of Albarn and Russell; even with a tinge of melancholy coloring the fringes of the album, this is an album that affirms the power of life, in all of its mess and glory.
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Jun 11, 2012It adds up to Womack's strongest work since the early '80s.
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Jun 11, 2012The production's click-clack effects and arcade synths often distract and inadvertently undercut the sincerity of Womack's words.
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Jun 11, 2012Few voices have been able to reach the emotional heights of Bobby Womack's, and he infuses The Bravest Man in the Universe with every ounce of his lost time.
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Jun 8, 2012It's been a long time coming, and all the more welcome for it.
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UncutJun 8, 2012The results are startling, setting Womacks's distinctive voice against stark electro backings and thunderous beats. [Jul 2012, p.75]
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Jun 8, 2012The Bravest Man In The Universe is a success. It doesn't re-invent Womack as some sort of lost beacon of soul, nor is it an ersatz look at the career trajectory of a legendary figure. Instead the album posits Womack as a restless spirit, ever expository, invigorated and emboldened by age and experience.
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Jun 8, 2012Barring any idiomatic prejudices against the contemporary production techniques, there are no glaring missteps here.
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Jun 8, 2012While The Bravest Man in the Universe may not be quite a masterpiece, it is unquestionably a great achievement in which weaknesses are so few and far between that they barely even register.
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Jun 8, 2012It's an album he could only have made in the autumn of his life, at the apex of his game.
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Jun 8, 2012At times the dribs of Gorillaz-style glitch don't quite fit, making some songs on The Bravest Man in the Universe feel more like clever remixes than organic moments. Still, Womack shines.
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Jun 8, 2012An album that's completely beguiling.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 22 out of 25
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Mixed: 2 out of 25
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Negative: 1 out of 25
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Jan 9, 2013
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Oct 9, 2012
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Jul 24, 2012