The Shadow I Remember

Cloud Nothings - The Shadow I Remember
Critic Score
Based on 18 reviews
2021 Ratings: #318 / 753
User Score
Based on 240 ratings
2021 Rank: #834
Liked by 12 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
PopMatters

Cloud Nothing's The Shadow I Remember caps a remarkably prolific 12 months for leader Dylan Baldi with a reminder about the possibilities for community that music can provide.

90
AllMusic

By revisiting their past, Cloud Nothings find something new in it, as well as something timeless, and The Shadow I Remember is a full-throated, full-hearted triumph.

90
Sputnikmusic

It's a release that sees the band returning to what they do best, but also updating and fine-tuning their craft to reflect how they've matured.

83
Consequence of Sound

The album feels like that of a seasoned band, but its refined nature doesn’t sacrifice their signature sense of spunk.

80
Louder Than War

The Shadow I Remember is a great return for the band. High-speed rhythms jut up against hooks that fly around and grab you.

80
The Sydney Morning Herald

The Shadow I Remember feels untethered from expectations: a biting statement of selfhood in the face of change.

80
Upset

'The Shadow I Remember' feels like a nod to where they've been, but more importantly a big, open arms gesture to where they're going.

80
Northern Transmissions

After eleven years, countless tours and six records, Cloud Nothings have capped off their first decade by releasing their best album yet. It’s encouraging to hear how comfortable they sound together, how powerful they are in a room crashing and bashing their way through these cathartic songs.

80
Slant Magazine

The intensity of Cloud Nothings’s sonics—all of the wailing noises a guitar can produce as well as hard-hitting, double-time drumming—provide a cathartic outlet with which to confront the pains of self-definition and personal growth in an ever-amorphous world.

80
Exclaim!

The Shadow I Remember perfectly encapsulates everything the band do so well, and hints at what might be to come.

80
DIY

Raw and uncompromising, yet always harbouring a degree of melody, it’s the product of ten years of learning, and succeeds in deftly balancing subtle nuance with a sense of uncompromising aggression.

73
Paste

The album squeezes 11 songs into 33 minutes, with plenty of space for little experiments and faithful rockers.

72
Pitchfork

As the Cleveland band returns to Electrical Audio at full force, they retain their penchant for rueful concision and world-weary chronicles of pandemic existence.

62
Beats Per Minute

It’s loud for the sake of being loud, as if Baldi feels like he needs to appease the crowd who dismissed his riskier moves on Life Without Sound by making another Attack on Memory, rather than keep pushing forward.

60
The Line of Best Fit

Perhaps it’s the run that Cloud Nothings have had, but The Shadow I Remember suggests something is incomplete, the band failing to consistently scale the heights capable at their gut-punching best.

60
NME

For better and worse, the Ohio quartet's eighth album speaks to their 10 years in the game, a lack of inventiveness offset by their relentless drive.

50
Uncut

The constant frenzied back and forth between power-pop hooks and furious noise, while fun, begins to feel a little repetitive as an inescapable feeling of 'we've been here before' takes hold.

AngelHerntz
64

Conocí a Cloud Nothings hace diez años con su disco homónimo, el segundo; en aquel entonces lo vi como una propuesta interesante, necesaria para representar la escena underground del rock de la década pasada. Ahora vuelvo a toparme con ellos gracias a AOTY, y es triste hasta cierto punto el cómo se quedaron encasillados en su estilo. The Shadow I Remember inclusive parece un álbum debut, desde mi punto de vista; y es que todas las ideas ya usadas por ... read more

BGL13
49

yeah those vocals are getting on my nerves

ThomasGuy
64

Feels very derivitive and over-performed, as well as clunky. It isn't horrible, but you'd be forgiven if you confused this record with any other indie rock album from the 90s or early 2000s.

yrrresa2
75

liked it, overall it is is a nice indie rock moment.

lildillmp3
80

The riffs on this album are some of Cloud Nothing's best in my opinion. "Open Rain" and "A Longer Moon" are good examples of that. Dylan's melodies aren't as catchy as they were on Life Without Sound, but he does explore a few different vocal styles. "Nothing Without You' has a falsetto chorus, and many other songs have gut wrenching shouting, in Kurt Cobain fashion. The last three songs on this record are a highlight for me as well. "It's Love" is short ... read more

Freddyarcade
70

Me gusta el sonido de esta banda, y de este álbum, aunque un poco triste de no poder disfrutar de toda su discografia, este álbum es bueno y está bien construido lo recomendaría para escuchar y explorar con mucha calma.

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Track List

1Oslo
4:08
67
2Nothing Without You
3:18
86
3The Spirit Of
2:30
74
4Only Light
2:37
80
5Nara
2:28
73
6Open Rain
3:01
68
7Sound Of Alarm
3:03
78
8Am I Something
3:26
62
9It's Love
1:31
63
10A Longer Moon
2:51
92
11The Room It Was
3:15
93
Total Length: 32 minutes

Year End Lists

#24/The Alternative
#31/No Ripcord
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Added on: October 13, 2020