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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
Few bands are brave enough to try something this ambitious, even fewer have the talent to pull it off. But then Manchester Orchestra were never one of the pack. If this is their vision, it’s one everyone needs to see.
90
While the instrumentals are a vital element in immersing listeners, it’s the lyrics that bring The Valley Of Vision to the next level. Taking us through a roller-coaster of emotions, and uncovering hidden feelings is a pretty impressive feat for only six songs.
70
Overall ‘The Valley of Vision’ is a strong release and shows that Andy Hull isn’t running out of ideas after almost 20-years. This is a melancholy, broody, moody and fun project to get lost in.
68
Even by the band's excellent, if admittedly sedate recent pacing, The Valley of Vision is positively withdrawn.
One Sentence Wrap-Up:
Manchester Orchestra's latest EP in a dense a beautifully layered 6 tracks that build a cohesive and intense emotional response; 'The Valley Of Vision' will have a difficult time being dethroned as my favorite EP of the year.
I don't know much about Manchester Orchestra, but the cover for this EP intrigued me so I decided to check it out before some of the bigger releases this Friday. And it's an enjoyable EP. The way each track builds in intensity as well by bulking up the vocal line rather than increasing the volume of the vocalist was a great idea. The production also sounds great particularly towards the beginning of tracks when it sounds muted. Only complaint is that the structure of many tracks feels near ... read more
This is the first Manchester Orchestra project that I've ever heard and I must say I'm quite intrigued. The instrumentals are very polished and vibrant and I enjoyed them thoroughly throughout the length of this album. The highlights for me here are "The Way" and "Quietly", really great dreamy soundscapes with nice vocal layerings. I think the writing for the most part is fairly good and emotional at times but the biggest gripe for me with the project is how formulaic it all ... read more
Truly beautiful, haunting, dense, and ambitious. This band may not be raising the bar with every release, but its a high bar. We'll look back one day and realize this band continued to push out incredible art and went underappreciated.
Manchester Orchestra is a group that I'm somewhat familiar with, because spotify loves to play their music after I finish an album lol.
But, I decided to give them a shot on a full project just now, with this EP, and I have to say it sounds great!
Going for a more synthetic sound on the majority of the songs, a story about death, loss and love is told through lots of moody pads, soft sounding drums, pouding pianos, dazzling harmonies and weird but simple synth melodies/textures. The vocalist ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | Capital Karma 3:35 | 84 |
| 2 | The Way 3:54 | 87 |
| 3 | Quietly 4:53 | 85 |
| 4 | Letting Go 3:57 | 81 |
| 5 | Lose You Again 3:42 | 72 |
| 6 | Rear View 5:48 | 81 |
Total Length: 25 minutes
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Added on: February 23, 2023