Drums Between the Bells
by Brian Eno
  • Record Label: Warp
  • Release Date: Jul 5, 2011
Metascore
68

Generally favorable reviews - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
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  1. Mojo
    Nov 22, 2011
    60
    In louder and busier sections it's easy to lose the text and there's no melody as consolation. [Aug. 2011, p. 94]
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  2. Drowned In Sound
    Aug 22, 2011
    60
    The main flaw with Eno and Holland's collaboration is that words which, read on a page or spoken into silence, might have the space to spark a host of mental images, here frequently seem flattened by the music.
  3. Under The Radar
    Aug 19, 2011
    60
    Even if the project isn't a wholly qualified success, Eno is still putting most of his peers to shame. [Jul 2011, p.84]
  5. Q Magazine
    Aug 19, 2011
    60
    Holland's fragmentary syntax, rendered in a variety of heavily treated voices, rarely proves as mesmeric as the music. [Aug 2011, p.116]
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  6. Clash Music
    Aug 18, 2011
    60
    Often it feels more like an overly conscious art project rather than an album that will sustain repeated listening; it's undeniably, admirably beautiful in parts, but ultimately too consciously cerebral and self satisfied to love.
  7. Rolling Stone
    Aug 18, 2011
    60
    An album of poetry set to music might not be what the world wants from Brian Eno.
  8. The Guardian
    Aug 18, 2011
    60
    Glitch's motorik electronics and Seedpods' airy grooves are compelling, but at times it feels as if Eno is stubbornly working against himself.
  9. The Independent (UK)
    Aug 18, 2011
    60
    It's pleasant enough, but sometimes the words do rather get in the way.
  10. XLR8r
    Aug 22, 2011
    55
    Somehow, when put together, the artists' individual strengths are watered down, resulting in a mixture of the benign and the over-the-top, depending on the particular song.
  11. Consequence
    Aug 22, 2011
    50
    While this album may have taken that last bit a little too literally (or perhaps not literally enough?), it has moments that do just that, blending the perfect amount of dance-ability, intrigue, and emotional power.
  12. Delusions of Adequacy
    Aug 22, 2011
    50
    Drums Between the Bells is by no means an embarrassment, but don't look for it to be lumped into the upper echelon of Eno's output either, where triumphs like Discreet Music or Another Green World reside.
  13. Dusted Magazine
    Aug 22, 2011
    50
    Drums Between the Bells at its simplest is often Drums Between the Bells at its best.
  14. PopMatters
    Aug 18, 2011
    50
    Drums Between the Bells feels like one big obstacle of an album.
  15. Spin
    Aug 18, 2011
    50
    Sonic strategist Eno is clearly in "oblique" mode here.
  16. The Quietus
    Aug 22, 2011
    40
    The combination of Eno's obsession with stasis and his attachment to novelty for its own sake does the album in.

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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. GeorgeBailey
    Sep 29, 2011
    8
    An 'eclectic mix' I think. Some tracks with infectious rhythms, some simple melodies and ambient atmospheres, the usual clarity of productionAn 'eclectic mix' I think. Some tracks with infectious rhythms, some simple melodies and ambient atmospheres, the usual clarity of production and instrumentation. The spoken words occasionally grate, but are, on the whole, wonderfully playful and with a range of deliveries from the theatrical (one sounding like Judy Dench) to the processed (Kraftwerk might have produced it) there is plenty to engage both sides of the brian...or should that be Brain?… Full Review »
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