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8.6
46423
8.6 |
Paste Magazine
A little rougher around the edges, a little less pristine than the band’s recent stuff, cutting out the piles of overdubs and miles of reverb that kept the still-beautiful Infinite Arms from having an immediate, visceral impact
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8.0
46458
8.0 |
God Is In The TV
Whilst being laid back to the point of horizontal, is a beautiful homage to Band of Horses adored influences and the best kind of middle finger to anyone who expects a band to stay the same and churn out the same songs with every album
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8.0
46289
8.0 |
Mojo
Mirage Rock's persistent melodies and infectious energy is hard to resist. Print edition only
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8.0
46293
8.0 |
Uncut
Great mixed bag from alt.country rockers. Print edition only
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8.0
46241
8.0 |
NME
Could and should be the LP that at least bumps them a good few places higher up next year’s festival bills
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8.0
46242
8.0 |
The Guardian
There's no gambling or experimenting here, but a ruthless and successful targeting of the band's strengths
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8.0
46247
8.0 |
Evening Standard
Infinite Arms sounded like their crack at the mainstream and fell flat. This more restrained fourth release suits them better
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7.0
46250
7.0 |
DIY
At their best on this album they reinvigorate the positivity of some of Fleetwood Mac’s finest songs, at their worst they are simply treading the same musical path that they always have
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7.0
46246
7.0 |
All Music
The ebb of Mirage Rock is, to some extent, compromised by an earnest attempt to showcase the band’s eclecticism
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7.0
46320
7.0 |
Slant Magazine
While Mirage Rock may want for a certain degree of ambition and creativity, Band of Horses have, at the very least, figured out how to bring Americana music to a mainstream rock audience without succumbing to the genre's most dire, comatose conventions
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7.0
46366
7.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
Mirage Rock isn’t a perfect record, but it’s one to own. By adding Glyn Johns behind the boards, Band of Horses allowed a master to do his work.
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6.7
46315
6.7 |
A.V. Club
On Mirage Rock’s best songs, the band feels like a sum of those parts. On its worst—like lyrical head-scratcher “Dumpster World”—it sounds like an ace band that can’t salvage the mediocre material
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6.0
46280
6.0 |
Q
For all its finite charms, Mirage Rock lacks the slinkiness of Infinite Arms. Print edition only
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6.0
46244
6.0 |
BBC
There is a sense that perhaps too much has been thrown into the mix – a common problem as bands get bigger and inevitably splash more dollar bills on studio indulgences
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6.0
46719
6.0 |
PopMatters
The new album is the first one that carries over Band of Horses’ entire lineup, unchanged, from the last. Despite that, or maybe in part because of it, they still just can’t put it all together like those first couple albums did
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5.5
46413
5.5 |
Prefix
The album, sweet as it sounds, is so polite that to keep from offending listeners it stops short of saying anything to them
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5.0
46730
5.0 |
Blurt
The songwriting - all but one of the 11 songs on here were either written or co-written by Bridwell - takes a bit of a dip on this one
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5.0
46240
5.0 |
Drowned In Sound
It’s not that Mirage Rock is by anyone’s definition a bad record, it’s actually a rather accomplished one, slickly made and smoothly played, but it is painfully easy to ignore
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5.0
46323
5.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Mirage Rock is not travesty or an outright disaster, but it is a failure in more places than it is a success
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4.0
46334
4.0 |
musicOMH
It's too comfortable, old ideas diluted to homeopathic proportions, results half-hearted and strangely spiritless, songs feeling overly long
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4.0
46370
4.0 |
Pitchfork
Mirage Rock seems to have been conceived, consciously or not, as a photo negative of what this band once was, emphasizing Bridwell's weaknesses and negating his strengths
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4.0
46375
4.0 |
Under The Radar
If Infinite Arms was this band treading water, then Mirage Rock is the band sinking into mediocrity
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4.0
46555
4.0 |
Spin
Mirage Rock can't quite manage the personality split between the beautiful, electrifying anthems of old Band Of Horses and the soft-rocking sway of the band’s recent past
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4.0
46245
4.0 |
The Skinny
Conjures the image of Ben Bridwell and co high-fiving, group hugging and generally seeming, well, perhaps just a little too happy
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4.0
47986
4.0 |
Tone Deaf
The greatest difference between Mirage Rock and the group’s previous three records is a lack of energy. While there are some standout tracks, this is their least successful album to date
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