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Brighten The Corners: Nicene Creedence Edition
by Pavement
The rerelease of the indie-rock band's 1997 album features B-sides and live recordings.
| LABEL: |
Matador |
| RELEASE DATE: |
09 December 2008 |
| DISCS: |
2 disc |
| GENRE(S): |
Rock, Indie |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Entertainment Weekly
Many of the unreleased, B-side, and cover tracks here are less immediate, but no less joyful for the Pavement completist.
100
The Phoenix
Matador's two-disc Nicene Creedence Edition (nyuk nyuk) goes way beyond the original 12-song release, adding a whopping 31 additional cuts: outtakes, B-sides, compilation tracks, and live radio sessions, all of them top-notch.
100
Uncut
This slice of weird-rock from a more contented American decade is playful and preposterous in equal measure. [Feb 2009, p.89]
90
Under The Radar
Brighten the Corners has held up nicely and reminds us of the special gift Pavement had for hyper-literate songwriting that was humorous and heartfelt all at once. [Year End 2008]
90
Prefix Magazine
A mountain of shambolic, livewire B-sides and covers of heroes and influence ranging from the Fall to Echo and the Bunnymen, help add a sense of balance and ballast to Brighten the Corners. It makes for an expanded vision of the original while at the same time proving that the original’s vision wasn’t quite so narrow after all.
90
PopMatters
It may never occupy the place in the indie rock canon that "Slanted and Enchanted" has, and it may not be regarded as the band’s high point like "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain," but 11 years later, this album still sounds great, maybe even better in its old age.
90
Rolling Stone
This reissue bonanza shows the Nineties' premier indie band turning reflective and joyfully screwing around at the same time.
90
All Music Guide
All this extra material may not carry the same deliberate weight as so much of Brighten the Corners, but it enhances the album considerably, bringing it closer to an album that can stand with Pavement's first three classics.
90
Drowned In Sound
Individually as good as much of BTC, the bonus material is almost as listenable as the album itself.
87
Pitchfork
If Brighten the Corners signaled a turn to the serious, the 32 outtakes and radio-session cuts compiled here give Pavement plenty of room to, as one B-side aptly puts it, "fuck around."
80
Tiny Mix Tapes
With a couple of exceptions, the Nicene Creedence Edition is the least essential of Matador’s Pavement compilations. But even with this caveat, the package performs the service of reminding us how good Brighten the Corners still is.
80
Billboard
A 62-page book and new vinyl pressing complete the package for the audiophiles and superfans, but the real value is in the album itself, an important piece of the history of a seminal '90s band.
80
Filter
The second disc of this deluxe edition makes Brighten The Corners's faults more difficult to accept as hard truths. [Holiday 2008, p.98]
78
Austin Chronicle
Nicene Creedence Ed. doesn't exactly unravel Malkmus' lyrical labyrinths, but the sprawling, double-disc, 44-song set ties up all loose ends, gathering essential B-sides ('No Tan Lines'), outtakes (instrumental 'Beautiful as a Butterfly'), and live sessions.
75
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Like most modern reissues, this one contains a wealth of B-sides and curios to sift through. Some are fun, like the nasty, thrashing 'Wanna Mess You Around,' but some are for completists only.
The average user rating for this album is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 12 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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