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It's a thoroughly likable effort.
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The album contains a lot of strong material, made even better by Hammond's tendency to add a little extra guitar filigree every few minutes, just to make the songs even grander and more generous.
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FilterJust think of it as Diet Strokes. [#24, p.100]
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An intimate, frequently beautiful and consistently surprising record that gets better with every listen.
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UncutThe album has a hazy, deeply romantic quality. [Nov 2006, p.112]
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SpinLike most of these top-shelf indie-pop tunes, ["101"] is cause for hoping Julian Casablancas loosens his songwriting grip on the next Strokes album. [Mar 2007, p.94]
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The best record the Strokes should have released after "Is This It."
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MagnetA delightful surprise. [#75, p.99]
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Seven great tunes... and... three dull ones.
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None of the songs on "Yours to Keep" lack a naggingly memorable chorus; none is remotely inaccessible; and none is less than excellently crafted.
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At some points, you listen and think 'my God, this is actually better than The Strokes'.
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Hammond doesn't out-write his band -- several songs here get vague -- but Yours to Keep is more expansive than the Strokes, and sweeter.
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BlenderWhat Hammond... lacks in attitude, he makes up for in old-school pop charm. [Apr 2007, p.111]
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Under The RadarA solid Beach Boys-inspired pop rock album. [#17, p.91]
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Alternative PressEven when he's sticking closest to the sound that made him famous, it's a kinder, gentler variation. [May 2007, p.150]
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Hammond's solo outing is a spry if unexceptional pop charmer, less supercilious than Is This It or Room on Fire but almost as cool.
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[Yours to Keep] doesn't have the stylish and sexy six-string swagger one would expect from the 'froed Strokes guitarist, but it does yield enough Top 40 radio gems to spark a small feud with Liam Gallagher.
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Q MagazineThere are some decent tunes. [Nov 2006, p.142]
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To put it bluntly, what this album suffers from is a lack of balls.
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MojoIt's a reversal of the usual wild and weird direction of extra-curricular albums: it's more commercial than Room On Fire! [Nov 2006, p.112]
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Yours To Keep is kinda like an entire disc of that Lust For Life riff. Fun but a bit flat.
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Yours to Keep may be consistently enjoyable, and eminently listenable, but it’s no Is This It.
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What do these songs evoke? Nothing much in the realm of emotion.
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Bouncy bass and catchy vocals keep it going, but sometimes it seems Albert Jr. has nothing substantial to fall back on.
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UrbNot exactly ironic hipster or fashionably cool... the end result, ironically, is damn cool. [Apr 2007, p.104]
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The musicianship on this album retains a professional, waxed sheen, and that’s part of the problem: Hammond sticks to the basics, employing pedestrian rock setups whether he’s punking along with gusto or putzing around on the beach.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 34 out of 37
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Mixed: 2 out of 37
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Negative: 1 out of 37
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Jun 17, 2018
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Nov 3, 2010
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JaharMar 28, 2007I am very impressed with Hammond's vocals and knack for catchy tunes. I never even knew he could speak, let alone make an album this good.