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10.0
71980
10.0 |
A.V. Club
Black Messiah confirms that music holds the power to challenge and comfort, to take us someplace spiritual, political, and existential. It’s beautifully, devastatingly human
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10.0
71992
10.0 |
Exclaim
It is masterful, it is heartening and it represents today's best from an R&B/soul perspective. Black Messiah has come and we weren't ready
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10.0
72001
10.0 |
Pretty Much Amazing
The liner notes say, “For best results, listen at maximum volume.” It’s the most useful advice I’ve received all year
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10.0
72002
10.0 |
The Arts Desk
This is one of the greatest vocalists of his generation absolutely at the peak of his powers
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10.0
71995
10.0 |
Slant Magazine
The album would be vital in any time, but in 2014, it's downright restorative
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10.0
72071
10.0 |
Tiny Mix Tapes
D’angelo’s music is soul against evil. Murder, racism, violence, oppression, hatred: Black Messiah is protest music, healing music, a bomb and a balm
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10.0
72081
10.0 |
The Irish Times
Every track is tricked out and super-loaded, a series of superlative jams in which D’Angelo gets loose and goes far, pushed and prodded by various collaborators
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9.5
72056
9.5 |
Earbuddy
Although the song arrangements are meticulous and full of layers awaiting discovery, never does it threaten to run off its rails. Every note, it seems, has been thought out and planned beforehand, but with such care and craft as to seem effortless
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9.5
72062
9.5 |
Paste Magazine
Luxurious, raw, crashed-up, silky, a funky collage of sounds and grooves, Black Messiah takes listeners ever deeper into the dozen songs with repeated listening
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9.4
72008
9.4 |
Pitchfork
It’s a wonder to hear his mutant groove unblemished by the passage of time and stretched around this gobstopping cosmic slop of country funk, psych and new wave.
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9.1
72028
9.1 |
Consequence Of Sound
He is a delicate, impulsive genius of rare distinction, and this defiant streak is essential to the character of his music
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9.0
72032
9.0 |
All Music
he mere existence of his third album evinces that, creatively, he's doing all right. That the album reaffirms the weakest-link status of his singular debut is something else
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9.0
71996
9.0 |
Rolling Stone
An avant-soul dream palace to get lost in, for 56 minutes of heaven
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9.0
71999
9.0 |
Spin
Black Messiah is both ancient and fresh — a surging mass of old blues and new soul built from classic thought and rebel spirit
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9.0
72063
9.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Like Voodoo, Black Messiah’s greatest strength lies in D’Angelo’s understanding of how to create mood by weaving an impossibly complex instrumental palette
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9.0
72067
9.0 |
The 405
Vocally, Black Messiah is sparse, but sonically, it is accomplished and fulfilled. Every sound, every instrument, every lyric and harmony is in the place it needs to be
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9.0
71993
9.0 |
Clash
Fresh, unmistakable, damn near flawless
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9.0
71981
9.0 |
NME
Not just one of the best records of 2014, but one that will stay with you throughout next year, too
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9.0
71982
9.0 |
The Quietus
Black Messiah has landed at the perfect time in R&B/soul music where it is strong and diverse enough to push on, and be at ease with its heritage
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9.0
72078
9.0 |
Beardfood
The title is no exaggeration
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9.0
72036
9.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
Technically, it’s a near alchemic distillation of arrangements and textures, complex patterns and compositions, plucked from an array of genres and recalling decades of music history
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9.0
72047
9.0 |
PopMatters
Black Messiah is less throwback funk and more a vision of the possibilities of modern post-funk, although it’s clearly rooted in soul and funk traditions
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8.0
72054
8.0 |
Mojo
An exquisite realisation of what D’Angelo does best
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8.0
72087
8.0 |
The FT
Songs are late-night jams in the spirit of Sly Stone and Prince, the music a mix of funk, psychedelic rock, jazz and soul
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8.0
72132
8.0 |
The Independent
Notwithstanding the occasional foray into jazz and blues, Black Messiah is much the same blend of miasmic boudoir soul, bare-bones funk and liberation songs that characterised his 2000 milestone, Voodoo
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8.0
72517
8.0 |
Q
On this timely yet oddly timeless record, the Emperor is not only clothed, he's in full ceremonial regalia. Print edition only
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8.0
72017
8.0 |
Fact
An astonishing, disorienting album of densely psychedelic drunken funk, jazz-inflected blues vamps, and repentant gospel lamentations
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8.0
72033
8.0 |
The Music
D’Angelo has always floated between classic and modern soul, mixing in layers of jazz, pop and funk to great effect. He nails that again on Black Messiah
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