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10.0
34229
10.0 |
Q
Quite some achievement: an accomplished pop record infused with intelligence and imagination. Print edition only
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10.0
34355
10.0 |
Pretty Much Amazing
A major new Artist who is worthy of that capital A. Her remarkable new album is too
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9.1
34317
9.1 |
A.V. Club
An exhilarating 56 minutes of unadulterated, undulating emotion that always manages to pull up just before careening off the rails
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9.0
34482
9.0 |
Rave Magazine
Guaranteed to be among the superstar bands of this year with Ceremonials, an album that near-perfectly bridges indie philosophy and commercial viability
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9.0
34423
9.0 |
The Digital Fix
Ceremonials doesn’t fuck about. With immodest glee, it parades its bold assurance, its shameless bravura, its dizzying sense of self-belief
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9.0
34161
9.0 |
Clash
The most successful pop stars are the ones who innovate, not imitate. Florence Welch is definitely the former
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8.5
35069
8.5 |
FasterLouder
Presents a showcase of compelling pop music dressed up to the nines, executed with heart, soul and glorious chest-beating flamboyance
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8.0
34163
8.0 |
Evening Standard
She's growing into her role as the wild woman of pop, and the charts would be significantly more ordinary without her
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8.0
34166
8.0 |
Daily Telegraph
She really does sweep the listener away, spinning wild webs of sound and carrying us off to her own aural dreamland
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8.0
34167
8.0 |
Spin
Nostalgically futuristic, like aural Instagram
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8.0
34200
8.0 |
musicOMH
It's bigger, brighter and braver than what went before, and should elevate Florence even higher, with her Machine shoulder to shoulder
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8.0
34210
8.0 |
Slant Magazine
What could've sounded gaudy and monolithic feels, for all but a handful of tracks, spacious, lush, and finely arranged
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8.0
34160
8.0 |
The Fly
She’s become a bolder, braver and more unabashed version of her oddball self
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8.0
34222
8.0 |
NME
By taking what worked with Lungs and amplifying those qualities to a natural, satisfying conclusion, Florence has made a great pop record
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8.0
34288
8.0 |
PopMatters
Welch is the kind of artist who takes the lead and lets others come along for the ride, rather than simply playing to the whims and trends of the marketplace or banking on gimmickry
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8.0
34616
8.0 |
Under The Radar
An ambitious LP like this, backlit by harmonies and dramatic chord changes, is the perfect vehicle to showcase her voice; a less talented vocalist would crumble under its heaviness
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8.0
34483
8.0 |
State
If it’s meant to come across as confident and unbowed by the pressure of following such a successful debut, then Ceremonials is a success
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8.0
34329
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
Ceremonials suggests she could be a rock star, and a big one
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8.0
34413
8.0 |
Entertainment.ie
Ceremonials is bigger, bolder and better than before - Florence is back, and with a most magnificent bang
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7.3
34488
7.3 |
Paste Magazine
Ceremonials abandons so many of the musical avenues she mapped out on Lungs and focuses instead on a monolithic sound that is certainly affecting but is becoming increasingly conventional in 2011
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7.0
34504
7.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
She sounds passionate, professional, spiritual, scientific, inspired, and excited
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7.0
34268
7.0 |
DIY
Her formula for success remains largely untouched: the twinkling strings, pounding percussion and huge choirs all make an appearance
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7.0
34315
7.0 |
The Scotsman
Ceremonials is best appreciated by adopting the same approach as Florence: dive straight in, submit unquestioningly and let it pull you along in its surge
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6.3
34404
6.3 |
Beats Per Minute
If she ever wants to be held on the same plane of artistic brilliance as her idols, like Kate Bush, then next time she’s going to have to try something a little more risky
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6.0
34391
6.0 |
Pitchfork
By the midway point of the LP, its endless crescendos start bleeding into each other, and the loudness soon tires itself out
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6.0
34336
6.0 |
No Ripcord
The best that could be said about Ceremonials is that it's a pleasant enough listen that will change absolutely nobody's mind about Florence and her machine
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6.0
34296
6.0 |
Drowned In Sound
As a second album, it is perfectly acceptable and there are many aspects of it to admire. But the static present on much of Ceremonials cannot quantify the record as anything but a regression in broader terms
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6.0
34213
6.0 |
The Observer
If only there were more substance here and less bluster
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6.0
34217
6.0 |
Mojo
Granted planning permission for an interesting art-pop extension, Welch has turned her second album into a massive pomp-rock ziggurat. Print edition only
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6.0
34164
6.0 |
The Guardian
Ceremonials always sounds wonderful...but it never really satsifies
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6.0
34165
6.0 |
The Independent
Storm-cloud arrangements, big, rolling drum riffs and ghost-story songs
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6.0
34162
6.0 |
BBC
Offers the pomp, but somehow not quite the power, of Welch’s debut
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5.0
34848
5.0 |
AU Review
As the hour-long album gathers pace, a dull pain begins to take hold
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5.0
34471
5.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Nothing on Ceremonials is particularly exciting or interesting
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4.0
34257
4.0 |
Uncut
Florence seems to have abandoned the struggle to restrain her inner Celine Dion
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3.5
34339
3.5 |
Bowlegs
You may be dazzled by the bright lights for a fleeting moment – but they go out pretty quickly
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