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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
DJ Shadow has suggested that this is “a hopeful, vibrant album” for these divisive times. It is a sprawling, epic work, comprising 11 instrumentals, and 12 vocal collaborations.
83
Challenging, dark, and ambitious, this may be the most baldly confrontational and alienating work the artist has ever produced.
80
He masterfully delivers a snapshot of a disjointed, vibrant and inherently flawed system as seen through one of electronic music's longstanding visionaries.
80
The creativity displayed in so many individual ways on DJ Shadow's new collection offers an effervescent counterblast to the darkness and menacing homogeneity of the "our pathetic age" of the album's title.
4mo
80
Our Pathetic Age captures this era’s soul both in sound and subject matter, while showing how Shadow can be simultaneously of the time and timeless. The album serves as an exclamation point to Shadow’s career up this point, but still leaves me looking forward to what more he has to offer as his music continues to mature.
75
On his sixth album ... he manages to delve into modern angst without sounding like he’s waving his cane at the listener, and instead even does so with an air of optimism.
70
Featuring Nas, Pharoahe Monch and members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the most recent dispatch from Josh Davis looks backward while moving his sound forward.
70
Shadow ... manages to get some strong work out of both himself and his guests, and he deserves credit for not trying to merely recreate the same trick over and over.
70
Perhaps not one for the casual fan, but there’s plenty to unpack for the long-time admirer.
61
The music really soars only when Davis stops trying to channel the paralyzing bleakness of the surveillance state and allows a bit more spring into his step.
60
There’s plenty of great stuff here, but, as is the way these days, it’s worth taking the time to make your own playlist of the good bits.
4mo
60
He remains a maestro at the mixing desk, even as the album's split-down-the-middle concept undermines his genre-splicing strengths.
Print Only
3y
60
Survivors of subsequent so-so dalliances will find plenty to admire on this bloated double set - its instrumental first disc a foreboding sea of sputtering synths, dislocated drums and disorienting ideas.
60
A double LP by name, but distant cousins rather than telepathic twins.
Print Only
3y
60
Not a flawless expedition, but a diverting one.
60
For every moment of flair there are two more where the record meanders and plods, like the soundtrack to a middling sci-fi flick.
60
Seen by Shadow as his "biggest and most ambitious" release thus far, Our Pathetic Age without question plays out like an onerous undertaking.
50
The second half of the album is definitely stronger, and thankfully longer than the first. But it’s still hampered by the feeling that something has been lost in DJ Shadow, the intricacy and care that made his early works so magnificent, and perhaps the innocent insouciance that made such works possible.
45
The revered hip-hop producer’s double LP is a bloated, unfocused tangle of tech-paranoia.
Ah crap, looks like DJ Shadow’s a boomer. Looks like Cosmogramma’s my favourite album now
Hey look! The cover has someone holding an iPhone, and the album is called "Our Pathetic Age". DJ Shadow is so woke rn omg!
As of writing this, I haven't listened to "Endtroducing..." yet. But I don't think that highly-praised record would be this... dull. The first half of this record, while it contains a few fun highlights, mostly resorts to disappointingly cheap production and meh sampling. The second half fairs much better, with the production mostly being a step-up and ... read more
A long one from DJ Shadow. The instrumental suite feels quite cinematic, but I got more enjoyment out of the vocal suite, blending electronic and soul beats together while bringing in a splendid array of rappers bringing in fire flows and diving into themes of corruption, doom scrolling and substance abuse
Fave Tracks (Instrumental Suite): "Juggernaut"; "Beauty, Power, Motion, Life, Work, Chaos, Law"; "Firestorm"
Fave Tracks: "Kings & Queens"; ... read more
dj shadder i know yuor anoiyed that u can not create a nodder album like introducing but you shoed not blame the car rent jennieraysun for not putting there songs in vaynil so you can make songs like what you did with andtrocucing. In fuckd, some ourtist put there songs in there baynil.
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Track List
Instrumental Suite
| 1 | Nature Always Wins 1:20 | |
| 2 | Slingblade 3:58 | |
| 3 | Intersectionality 4:08 | |
| 4 | Beauty, Power, Motion, Life, Work, Chaos, Law 2:06 | |
| 5 | Juggernaut 5:31 | 13 |
| 6 | Firestorm 3:59 | |
| 7 | Weightless 2:55 | |
| 8 | Rosie 4:15 | 100 |
| 9 | If I Died Today 2:24 | |
| 10 | My Lonely Room 5:37 | |
| 11 | We Are Always Alone 3:47 |
Vocal Suite
| 1 | Drone Warfare 3:42 feat. Nas, Pharoahe Monch | |
| 2 | Rain on Snow 3:39 | |
| 3 | Rocket Fuel 3:15 feat. De La Soul | |
| 4 | C.O.N.F.O.R.M. 2:51 | |
| 5 | Small Colleges (Stay With Me) 3:01 feat. Wiki, Paul Banks | |
| 6 | JoJo's Words 4:04 feat. Stro | |
| 7 | Kings & Queens 3:53 feat. Run the Jewels | 92 |
| 8 | Taxin' 1:51 feat. Dave East | |
| 9 | Dark Side of the Heart 3:49 feat. Fantastic Negrito, Jumbo Is Dr.ama | |
| 10 | I Am Not a Robot (Interlude) 1:21 | |
| 11 | Urgent, Important, Please Read 5:34 | |
| 12 | Our Pathetic Age 4:37 feat. Samuel T. Herring | |
| 13 | Systematic 3:25 Bonus Track feat. Nas |
Total Length: 1 hour, 25 minutes
Year End Lists
| #14 | / | Good Morning America |
| #80 | / | Les Inrocks |
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Added on: September 20, 2019