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8.4
100915
8.4 |
Paste Magazine
If we need a voice to listen to right now—to educate us, to comfort us, to spur us into action—it’s hard to think of a better one than hers
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8.0
100930
8.0 |
Q
Gritty socio-political soul from R&B legend. Print edition only
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8.0
100951
8.0 |
The Observer
Build a Bridge swells with Prince-like melody, No Time for Crying is stark and serious, and Peaceful Dream a gospel singalong. Inspirational work
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8.0
100892
8.0 |
Mojo
An album that opens full of tension, riot and discord - before the acoustic gospel of Peaceful Dream leads into strong pleas for universal love and understand and quests for personal redemption. Print edition only
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8.0
100893
8.0 |
Uncut
Where Mavis' voice once a rangey, optimistic mezzo-soprano, her register has dropped dramatically to an emotionally rich, brassy contralto. It adds a growling intensity to lyrics that are dignified rather than angry. Print edition only
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8.0
100885
8.0 |
The Guardian
Powerful, stirring protest songs
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8.0
100886
8.0 |
The Independent
10 new songs by Tweedy addressing modern social issues, custom-built for her warm soul contralto
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8.0
100887
8.0 |
The FT
The power is still there, and with it a sense of stature and purpose
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8.0
100882
8.0 |
Loud And Quiet
For all the grim social realities on ‘If All I Was Was Black’, the overriding emotion of the album is one of grace and love
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8.0
100883
8.0 |
The Music
Age is more than just a number for Mavis Staples - more experience, more talent (somehow) and more steam
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8.0
100890
8.0 |
The Quietus
Anger, love and the audacity of hope shine through on this third collaboration with Jeff Tweedy
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8.0
100905
8.0 |
Drowned In Sound
Tune-wise, there’s no obvious stand-out, and the record is best experienced as a whole whereby its message is most complete
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8.0
101079
8.0 |
The 405
Often times both troubling and soothing
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7.6
100888
7.6 |
Pitchfork
Mavis Staples presents her signature hope on the taut and lively If All I Was Was Black, another collaboration with Jeff Tweedy. But it doesn’t come as naturally as it once did, as she makes clear
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7.0
100891
7.0 |
Spectrum Culture
Staples is still wading into troubled waters, with a voice as bold and relevant as ever
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7.0
100884
7.0 |
Exclaim
Perfectly captures her gentle, loving and elegant way of making a political statement without sacrificing the passion she's built her career upon
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7.0
100895
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
The title track extends a hand over the wall of prejudice, while "Try Harder" is her mea culpa, a Civil Rights heroine admitting her own flaws but determined, at 78, to keep on pushing
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7.0
100896
7.0 |
Slant Magazine
Mavis Staples’s album is hopeful and optimistic not in ignorance of political reality, but in spite of it
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6.0
100960
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
Staples' enduring faith leads her to believe that we shall indeed overcome
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6.0
100963
6.0 |
American Songwriter
Mavis Staples remains a force of nature
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