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Jun 24, 2016Far from being an album for wallowing in the depths of grief, True Sadness is a record about the emergence of hope.
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Sep 6, 2016Ultimately, True Sadness is a confessional set of songs, revealing in many ways and vulnerable in many others. However, honesty has always been an inherent element in their sound, so in that sense this album’s no different.
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Jun 22, 2016[An] unapologetically polished album, which reframes their music without sapping their identity.
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Jun 22, 2016With True Sadness, The Avett Brothers open up to their audience, sharing their dark depths with tenacity and bravado, all while inspiring to see struggles as strength.
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Jun 24, 2016True Sadness, their ninth studio album and fourth produced by music whiz Rick Rubin, both treads familiar ground and maps out new terrain.
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MagnetAug 9, 2016There’s True Sadness, whose songs touch lyrically upon all things sad but with various shades of unsubtle sound to guide them. [No. 133, p.54]
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MojoJun 28, 2016There's often been a whiff of contrivance around the Avetts, but by coming of age they come up smelling of roses. [Aug 2016, p.92]
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Jul 15, 2016If Seth’s letter announcing its arrival prior to release has any overarching voice in this, their goal of developing a record that portrays itself as “multidimensional as its makers” has been thoroughly achieved.
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Jun 24, 2016It's in this elemental balancing of sorrow and joy that the band burns hottest.
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Jul 1, 2016The record doesn’t fully commit to a new direction, so its primary audience will still be Avett diehards, but it’s a fun listen for the summer and a testament to the brothers’ enduring success as one of the savvier folk groups out there.
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UncutJun 22, 2016Fortunately, they haven't forsaken their natural songwriting strengths. [Aug 2016, p.70]
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Jul 8, 2016True Sadness is very much a musical olio (it's easy to pick up on countless other influences, as well), but as a whole, the album envelops the listener, like the embrace of a comfortable blanket.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 7 out of 15
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Mixed: 3 out of 15
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Negative: 5 out of 15
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Mar 31, 2020This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view.
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Sep 10, 2017
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Oct 4, 2016