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8.0
11561
8.0 |
Uncut
It's the natural, assured way in which Heaven Is Whenever moves between building on past glories and breaking fresh ground that's so impressive
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8.0
11682
8.0 |
NME
Print edition only
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8.0
11762
8.0 |
The Independent
The departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay has left welcome spaces in The Hold Steady's sound
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8.0
11792
8.0 |
The Guardian
This transitional album indicates there is more in their locker
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8.0
11829
8.0 |
musicOMH
Another gem for an amazingly consistent band with plenty of room left to grow
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8.0
11848
8.0 |
The Observer
This collection is subtly excellent... Singer Craig Finn's lyrics remain a joy
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8.0
11973
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Heaven is more musically compact than the band's last album, 2008's Stay Positiv
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8.0
12017
8.0 |
The Quietus
Maybe they are just getting older, which is fine, as this is a band who has always grasped positive vibes from the move toward greyness. Indeed, that is the very point of this beautifully unglamorous gang of a band
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8.0
12046
8.0 |
Daily Telegraph
This fifth record is more spirited, translating the departure of their keyboard player into a leaner, hard-riffing sound
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8.0
12380
8.0 |
Rave Magazine
Living vicariously through the lives of others is rarely this entertaining or satisfying
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7.2
11884
7.2 |
Beats Per Minute
Great bands always struggle to match their past musical output. Take it for what it is – a guitar-centric party rock record – and it won’t disappoint
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7.0
12068
7.0 |
The Sunday Times
The Hold Steady are a one-trick pony. But what a trick
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7.0
12601
7.0 |
No Ripcord
There are some missteps on this album, but the last line on the record, which comes at the end of the seven-minute closer, is a perfect sign-off: “This shouldn’t hurt, but you might feel a slight discomfort”
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7.0
12015
7.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
This is no longer an experiment in repurposing some of the most outre moments of pop rock; it’s an institution and each album’s success rests on its songs. Rejoice: Heaven is Whenever delivers
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7.0
11960
7.0 |
Blurt
Given the band's skill and experience, it's not surprising that most of the album's strongest tracks are riff-rockers. As for the experiments, sometimes they work, sometimes they don't
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6.5
11882
6.5 |
Bowlegs
Still depicts street level America, and the band still sound like a stadium filling bar-room rock band, whilst the energy and unapologetic attitude is as blatant as ever
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6.2
11904
6.2 |
Pitchfork
Despite the confidence of that opening track, Heaven Is Whenever sounds like a transitional album, hopefully paving the way for something stronger, more cohesive, more specific.
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6.0
11907
6.0 |
PopMatters
This album gives us a new energy, one that comes on subtly, that earns its way through, and will last a lot longer than Holly’s high used to
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6.0
11910
6.0 |
Scotland on Sunday
Finn's voice sounds more flexible than before. Springsteen should seriously consider covering the closing A Slight Discomfort
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6.0
11817
6.0 |
Evening Standard
At their best — The Weekenders, The Smidge — the Hold Steady have a dynamism, the lack of which leaves much US rock churning in the mire
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6.0
11821
6.0 |
The Times
The ghostly chorus of Barely Breathing and shimmering riffs of The Weekender are the highlights of an album that tends to slip back into a trademark groove of chugging power-chords
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6.0
11750
6.0 |
The Digital Fix
Heaven Is Whenever is not a bad album, far from it, there is just an inescapable feeling is that something, or someone is missing
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6.0
11488
6.0 |
The Irish Times
It portrays them as a band at a crossroads: lighters aloft at one fork, at the other a formlessness where frenzied light rock calls the shots
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6.0
11549
6.0 |
Mojo
A rewarding listen with a definite touch of Groundhog Day about it. Print edition only
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6.0
11583
6.0 |
Q
This is Everyman music with a peacock strut; yet the production gloss is a mixed blessing. Print edition only
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6.0
11636
6.0 |
The Skinny
Lacks a certain je ne sais quoi due to the departure of keyboardist Franz Nicolay, known for his killer ‘tache and deftly blending harpsichord and synth into the meat-and-potato rock
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6.0
11650
6.0 |
Drowned In Sound
While The Hold Steady haven't made a bad album this time, they haven't made a really good one either. It's a good album with some problems
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6.0
12007
6.0 |
Under The Radar
Despite the veteran group putting in a valiant effort, Heaven Is Whenever will largely be known as "the transitional LP"
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6.0
11969
6.0 |
Spin
The Midwest's ambassadors to Brooklyn hone their ballsy bar-band philosophizing with a focus worthy of CSI
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6.0
11862
6.0 |
Independent on Sunday
They're pretty good and they're heartfelt. But for all their raging guitars, they're exciting only some of the time
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6.0
12522
6.0 |
FasterLouder
The poetry is still there but the fire and brimstone of the music just does not seem to bring anything flash to the party
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