Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 84
 Early Contender for Album of the Year March 9, 2010
Remaster Addict (Baltimore, MD)
29 out of 34 found this review helpful
Danger Mouse is on a roll and this collaboration with James Mercer of The Shins is beautifully unexpected. I was expecting something similar to his work on Beck's Modern Guilt, Gnarl Barkley, Gorillaz, or Damon Albarn's Good, Bad & the Queen.
Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) plays his own instruments rather than sampling while bringing the same melodic intensity. Mercer brings his signature vocals. Together, the result is immediate and exactly what 2009 was lacking IMO.
Worth the price at any price.
Awesome album March 9, 2010
Shane Hughes (Edmonds, WA USA)
17 out of 21 found this review helpful
Probably the album of the year so far. Not one bad song on it. The beats are musically interesting and I really like Mercers vocals in the Shins and they are just as good here. Good lyrics too. Definitely buy this one if you want some great music.
The bell loudly tolls... March 9, 2010
Nse Ette (Lagos, Nigeria)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Broken Bells is producer du jour Dangermouse's latest musical venture comprising himself and vocalist James Mercer from Indie band The Shins. The pair say songwriting was shared 50/50 and the result is an album comprising 10 tracks, which are experimental and melodic, with sonic variety.
Everything stands out really, from opening "The high road" with guitars and soothing harmonies, the acoustic Beatles-meets-U2 "Vaporize", to the groovy falsetto-sung "The ghost inside" (which wouldn't sound out of place on Gorillaz new CD).
The psychedelic "Sailing to nowhere" is delicate with ghostly harmonies, "October" has a lovely piano refrain, while "The mall & misery" has a Middle Eastern feel.
My favourite track is "Mongrel heart" with a wavy groovy baseline, cascading harmonies, and a string/mariachi horn break, simply stupendous! Hopefully, we'll be hearing more from the pair.
"The Dawn to End All Nights" March 10, 2010
Jack Baker (LeRoy,IL)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I don't own anything by James Mercer (The Shins) or Brian Burton (Danger Mouse), and hadn't heard any of the hype surrounding this release. I was pretty lucky to hear "The High Road" a week or so ago and became intrigued, which led me to NPR's free preview of the album, which in turn led me to purchase the album when it was released yesterday. I must say that I'm blown away. Mercer and Burton have written some incredible sounding music for this album. Mercer plays guitar, bass, and provides the vocals, while Burton plays drums, organ, piano, bass, and synthesizers and he produced the record. The album also incorporates strings and horns in some of the songs. Mercer's voice is well suited for the material, ranging from tenor to falsetto. This is pop music at its finest, with some beautifully layered instrumentation.
Highlights for me were: "The High Road", "October", "The Ghost Inside", "Citizen", and "The Mall and Misery", but all the songs were great. Broken Bells have crafted a perfect pop listening experience with this release.
Buy it March 10, 2010
Chris P. (Rhode Island)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Although it's not horribly emotional or life changing, this is a must have album. It's beautiful and calming but could be played at parties without a problem. The song "The Ghost Inside" will be a radio hit for sure. I see some similarities to Vampire Weekend, and the singers voices sound a little like the singer from The Killers - yet they feel like a fairly new, creative band to me. If you have a good taste in music, buy this album.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 84
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![Broken Bells [+Video]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HOvM9OnNL._SL160_.jpg)
