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The Silver Gymnasium Image
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.4

Universal acclaim- based on 12 Ratings

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  • Record Label: ATO
  • Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Alternative Pop/Rock, Indie Rock, Indie Pop
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Top Track

Down Down the Deep River
Spit into the center of your hometown There's leaves in the street And there are friends around you now All the days of your life in a line Or the... See the rest of the song lyrics
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 32
  2. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Sep 4, 2013
    100
    It’s one of the most honest albums I’ve heard, but even better, it’s told with expertise.
  2. Sep 5, 2013
    81
    This album finds them going all-out in swashbuckling revelry for the most part, and it suits them better than anyone might have expected.
  3. Aug 30, 2013
    80
    The Silver Gymnasium finds the band a little more controlled, the emotions a bit more corralled, more focused. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.93]
  4. Sep 30, 2013
    80
    This time around, they’ve toned down on the drama and, despite Sheff wanting to make this album quickly, seem to have taken the time to recount the past so they can tell their stories with appropriate reverence to being young.
  5. Aug 30, 2013
    70
    Ostensibly about a specific time and place, The Silver Gymnasium confirms Okkervil River as a band that's still too crafty to settle for anything so simple as a straightforward paean to childhood, using this boilerplate structure to examine the deeper meaning behind the natural impulse to fixate on the past.
  6. 70
    Preferring to be a bit more refined, The Silver Gymnasium mixes maturity and depth with rare awkward moments which are more typical of a band that is musically in their late adolescence.
  7. Sep 27, 2013
    40
    The Silver Gymnasium lacks some of whatever it was that made previous albums like 'Black Sheep Boy' and 'The Stage Names' so special.

See all 32 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Oct 28, 2013
    10
    Stick with this one. There's magic in it everywhere. Will Sheff's best singing, most moving lyrics (aside from Savannah Smiles)...all buriedStick with this one. There's magic in it everywhere. Will Sheff's best singing, most moving lyrics (aside from Savannah Smiles)...all buried in a brew of the musical memories of our childhood. Collapse
  2. Sep 5, 2013
    8
    No Black Sheep Boy but still a very solid album. Large variety of styles that they had yet to touch on. Very valuable and nostalgic. AllowNo Black Sheep Boy but still a very solid album. Large variety of styles that they had yet to touch on. Very valuable and nostalgic. Allow some song are a bit boring, songs like PInk Slips, On a Balcony, and It was my Season hold it up. Expand