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Critic Reviews
83
Some songs are intensely gripping, like the instrumental rave-up "Chemistry," which drives along like Mogwai never happened. Others are plain weird.
13y
60
There are enough excellent moments on War Stories to judge it a success, but there's another sense of missed opportunity hanging over the album.
13y
60
Amid the many features and incredible dynamism that mark every UNKLE full-length, there are no songs to grab onto and little of real essence.
13y
60
While the results aren't entirely successful, 'Twilight,' especially, by Massive Attack's 3D, proves that Lavelle can reimagine 'soul' like no one else.
5y
50
The album as a whole is something of a grab-bag. One track can be great, the next stunningly mediocre.
13y
50
It's solid enough, but given the imagination they once possessed, it sounds like UNKLE are trying too hard.
13y
50
War Stories feels more like a random compilation than a fresh exploration.
12y
45
War Stories is the most unadventurous, most typically rock UNKLE release to date.
13y
40
Every track on this record grows into some such perfectly orchestrated climax, surging as a function of the production alone and with nary a hook or clever turn of phrase or structural complication in sight.
11y
I remember listening to this years ago and thinking it was awesome, the only other way I remembered this was from Ralphthemoviemakers video about Bigfoot Shows, where he uses the song "Persons & Machinery" as the sort of theme song for the episode. So, years later, I decided to revisit this album after a long while, and DAMN, this is honestly better than I remembered it being! There are some great electronic tracks on here, like "Hold My Hand" and "Restless", ... read more
It would appear that the critics are on crack.
This is a dark, edgy but oft uplifting record that successfully mixes genres and moods. The extended LP with the instrumental third and fourth sides is also excellent.
Essential track - Keys to the Kingdom
While the more critically acclaimed Psyence Fiction was more out there and included more experimental touches, that in and of itself does NOT mean it's automatically better than this. You hear that foolish Pitchfork reviewers who rated this over 50 points (!) lower simply because it (gasp!) dared to have a recurring rock edge. It also should be noted that just because something experiments does not mean they created anything enjoyable or memorable when they did. While I did like parts of ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | Intro 0:23 | 78 |
| 2 | Chemistry 3:25 | 89 |
| 3 | Hold My Hand 5:02 | 91 |
| 4 | Restless 5:04 feat. Josh Homme | 96 |
| 5 | Keys to the Kingdom 4:45 feat. Gavin Clark | 89 |
| 6 | Price You Pay 6:22 | 84 |
| 7 | Burn My Shadow 4:57 feat. Ian Astbury | 93 |
| 8 | Mayday 3:18 feat. The Duke Spirit | 90 |
| 9 | Persons & Machinery 6:04 feat. Autolux | 84 |
| 10 | Twilight 5:21 feat. Robert Del Naja | 83 |
| 11 | Morning Rage 5:15 | 86 |
| 12 | Lawless 2:36 | 84 |
| 13 | Broken 4:42 feat. Gavin Clark | 80 |
| 14 | When Things Explode 5:32 feat. Ian Astbury | 86 |
Total Length: 1 hour, 2 minutes
