The Incredible Machine
by Sugarland
Metascore
52

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 2 out of 11
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  1. Boston Globe
    80
    the bigger question with any record regardless of genre should always be is it good? And The Incredible Machine is very good indeed.
  2. American Songwriter
    80
    As a project, The Incredible Machine succeeds big time, and may make these guys even less welcome to certain factions of Music Row as they continue to change the face of what is considered country.
  3. BBC Music
    Feb 3, 2011
    70
    Ultimately you have to admire the precision tooling, the cunningly-gauged parallel levels of bigness and blandness, the ruthlessness – the only-too-plausible machine.
  5. Los Angeles Times
    Dec 23, 2010
    63
    It's a shame Sugarland couldn't find room for anything as moving or richly layered as "Stay," the pair's 2007 hit that rightly landed them so many industry awards. The new stuff will most assuredly get audiences on their feet; whether it leaves them with anything beyond visceral thrill as they exit the arena is another matter.
  6. The New York Times
    60
    This all amounts to an unwelcome unraveling of the Sugarland formula. As a country duo, the members of Sugarland are surefooted. As tweakers of Nashville orthodoxies, they're goofy and fun, but clumsy.
  7. Entertainment Weekly
    58
    When having 15,000 fans wave their cell phones in the air goes from a nifty career aftereffect to the very reason for writing songs, it seems like something is amiss.
  8. Rolling Stone
    50
    Sugarland are ruthless in their desire to leave no radio-ready trick untried, but in the end it's too much machine, not enough heart.
  9. AllMusic
    50
    The Incredible Machine is a collection of (mostly) competent if unremarkable songs, held together by slick -- often sterile -- production.
  10. Mojo
    Apr 4, 2011
    40
    Incredible Machine, however, is mostly just Nettles having a bawl. [Mar 2011, p.108]
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  11. Slant Magazine
    30
    Though its style alone makes it a sure bet to be hailed as progressive by those who only like country music that doesn't sound a damn thing like country music, and just as sure to be reviled by country music purists, the real problems with the album are with its failures of execution and its inexplicable aesthetic choices.
  12. Uncut
    Feb 1, 2011
    20
    The downhome strum of "Stuck Like Glue" has a certain charm--at least until its horrific cod-dancehall break down--but fails to redeem a depressingly calculated record. [Mar 2011, p.101]
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. SnowDay
    Aug 14, 2011
    8
    This album is underrated. Most critics give this a low rating because it doesn't sound like country music. Well, I'm no critic, but I didn'tThis album is underrated. Most critics give this a low rating because it doesn't sound like country music. Well, I'm no critic, but I didn't know an album had to sound country to be good. This is Sugarland's fourth studio album and a great attempt at country/rock music. From opening to close, every song on here is enjoyable. Jennifer Nettles gives a great vocal performance on every track and every song feels different from the last. So tell me that the critics are right when this album has already gone platinum in the days when an album is lucky to go gold.… Full Review »
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