- Critic score
- Publication
- By date
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Entertainment WeeklyJust plain beautiful... carefully harmonized vocals and pellucid guitar hooks that rarely lapse into merely languid melodies. [2/16/2001, p.98]
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SpinIt's impossible to discern whether Mimi Parker's newfound assertiveness as a harmony singer was inspired by, or the inspiration for, this more aggressive batch of songs, but it's this record's signal grace. [Apr 2001, p.158]
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It's not too ambitious to suggest few other releases this year will match its grace, humanity and power.... A magnificent album.
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The WireLow's original stark minimalism has gradually given way to a broader sonic range, without sacrificing their strangely accessible otherness. [#204, p.68]
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Low have always sought to make music that can both swell the heart like a gospel tune and capture the amplified absence of a funeral parlour. It's difficult to imagine a more perfect expression of their vision than this.
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MojoMeasuring out grief and resilience with a steady hand, these are the best songs of Low's quiet career. [Feb 2001, p.98]
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Alternative PressSparhawk and Parker's boy/girl vocals, Low's overall light instrumentation, and their minimalist approach to compostition all blend to produce an exquisite lethargy that's as haunting as Damon & Naomi's music. [#153, p.78]
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The voices are front and center throughout, but the trio has wrought its most elaborate frames for them yet: brass, strings, and distorted guitars amplify the songs' sentiments and reinforce the cumulative strength of their melodies.
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Low's most accomplished album yet, if not its most creative.
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Things We Lost in the Fire finds Low enamoured with harmonies, drawing from such disparate sources as Swans, the Beatles, Wire, and Simon & Garfunkel.
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Low continues to create beautiful music.
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Low proves enormously versatile here, exploring musically and maturing lyrically.
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Low has crafted a recording that exceeds its own high standards of creativity, harmony, and subtlety.
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MagnetLow is the heaviest band in rock. [#48, p.100]
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For each misstep (like the relentless snare drum on the opening track "Sunflower") there are moments of sublime beauty like "Laser Beam," which feels more like a prayer than a song.
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Things finds Low's measured atmospherics and gentle melodies further enhanced by layers of instrumentation -- for instance, cello, violin, piano, mellotron and trumpet. Moreover, it finds the band's melancholy and affecting textures coalescing even more into traditional song structures.
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Things We Lost in the Fire's high points are, without question, the best they've done.
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RevolverProbably the best indie drone rock since Galaxie 500 put the Velvets jangle to hypnotic use (although Low reach even greater peaks of elegant sublimity). [#4, p.106]
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As unhurried and sonically majestic a slab as Low has ever produced.
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Things We Lost in the Fire's slowly rising warmth and subtly hopeful tone not only make this Low's most cohesive, compelling collection, but one of 2001's best albums.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 28 out of 31
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Mixed: 0 out of 31
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Negative: 3 out of 31
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May 8, 2022
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Jul 24, 2012
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DuncanBOct 24, 2006A very lovely album.