The Coral - Coral Island
Critic Score
Based on 15 reviews
2021 Ratings: #81 / 753
User Score
Based on 158 ratings
2021 Rank: #716
Liked by 17 people
April 30, 2021 / Release Date
LP / Format
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CRITIC REVIEWS

90
musicOMH

Coral Island is an ambitious record that never topples under the weight of that ambition. Unusually for a double album there’s barely any filler and the songs have a timeless quality that keeps you returning.

90
AllMusic

Coral Island is the band at their best, effortlessly conjuring up the glorious ghosts of rock & roll's past and turning those sounds into something timeless and instantly rewarding at once.

90
Clash
An extraordinary piece of world building, it’s a 24 track song cycle that never once wavers in quality, a true double album that is hued in beautifully pastoral late summer tones that verge on the Autumnal.
90
Louder Than War

On Coral Island, the band have created what could well be their opus ... It’s a whole world within a world, an escape from reality that resonates deeply, fantastical yet altogether real.

90
XS Noize

They have deservedly thrown any caution to the wind and produced a true, modern masterpiece with Coral Island. It sounds like an album they have always wanted to make and truly enjoyed the ride.

80
NME
Immerse yourself in this heavily themed epic and you’ll be rewarded with a nostalgic trip that showcases some of their most adventurous writing to date.
80
The Guardian

Nostalgic without bitterness or regret, the melodies pour out of this double album themed around the titular resort.

80
Mojo

While Coral Island's concept is unusually robust ... it's the melodic strength of its 15 'proper' songs that's the real mindblower.

80
The Telegraph

The band are having fun, and it shows in a carnivalesque cornucopia of strange delights – even if it never quite escapes its contrivances.

80
Gigwise

Coral Island could easily be considered as The Coral’s White Album. Both records are an expansive, epic collection of tracks crammed with fresh ideas and astonishing heights of creativity.

80
The Arts Desk

What gives blood and muscle to the conceit ... is The Coral’s abiding pop craft.

80
Record Collector

Coral Island, a double record, recounts the faded glory of an imagined funfair isle. It’s a project in keeping with this enduringly impish group’s adventurous DNA.

80
Classic Rock
Such is the attention to detail that it evokes an eerie world of rattling ghost trains and deserted penny arcades as successfully as a windswept day-trip to Blackpool.
70
Uncut
An occasional change in pace might be welcome, but the craftsmanship is beyond reproach: swings, yes, but those roundabouts.
60
Dork
Sure, there is the odd bit of filler as you’d expect. But tracks like’ My Best Friend’ and ‘Vacancy’ are The Coral at their best, the sort of folksy indie-pop that they’ve been knocking out for two decades.
BGL13
64

this starts off really nice, but it gets pretty boring really fast. also, the interludes are unnecessary and don’t add to the confusing story of the album at all

Valeyard
90

Ok so this is one of the best indie rock albums this year no cap.

AngelHerntz
85

Es difícil reinventarse en un noveno disco, y Coral Island es el claro ejemplo de que ello no es imposible, claro, es una ayuda el tener un amor inconmensurable al respectivo arte, como lo ha demostrado The Coral desde su primer álbum, el homónimo, hasta este "último" (entrecomillo último porque es el último de ellos hasta ahora, pero no deseo que sea el último, aunque si lo fuese, no habría mejor manera que con uno de tus ... read more

AP__Music
70

Welcome to Coral Island. An album about a once popular band that is loved for a short period of time, forgotten and left to fade into obscurity, sorry did I say band, I meant seaside location. The concept helps to add to the interest of the album in a big way, and is littered with witty interludes. My main problem lies that the interludes and songs don't match up? Just seems to be a collection of normal, sometimes very bloody good, indie songs with seaside interludes. Whilst I won't fault them ... read more

holsgr
30

questionable (★★☆☆☆)

Freddyarcade
88

Es un álbum divertido que navega por diferentes emociones de sonido

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Added on: January 28, 2021