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May 8, 2015MCIII goes to show that Mikal Cronin is someone who follows instincts worth following, but who is also wise enough to know that what’s in your imagination can always become bigger and better the more you work at it.
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May 5, 2015Cronin could have just kept cranking out the same album over and over; that he chose to take a risk and go big showed some real guts. That he was able to make it work as well as he did shows some real skill and should make anyone who liked the first two albums really happy.
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May 5, 2015It’s not a few hits padded out with rote genre exercises--it’s thematically consistent and maintains a high level of craftsmanship throughout. Dads and grads can both dig it.
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May 1, 2015It's a feat of musical arrangement and of lyricism, sure, but in essence, it's the songwriting on MCIII that really makes it such an achievement.
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Apr 30, 2015Now and then, as on Say, the bigness of the music prevents you from really hearing and feeling the lyrics through the trumpet blasts and huge solos. But then I've Been Loved comes along, sounding a bit like the Eagles and touched with seriously melancholy cello, and you sense the gravitas beneath the dizzying crescendos.
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Apr 29, 2015MCIII is a great record because it gives us a scattered, messy, but uncompromisingly honest portrait of Cronin himself. Nothing is overthought, nothing is too considered.
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Apr 29, 2015Cronin is often at his best when laid bare, and one of MCIII's greatest moments is the relatively sparse closing track "vi) Circle."
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Apr 29, 2015Cronin’s knack for languid songwriting is enhanced by adding more opulence.
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May 5, 2015MCIII is, in the end, the perfect sunny day album.
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May 5, 2015The record is so awash in its own lushness--occasionally sounding like the orchestra pit of strings and horns Merge has on retainer has tripled in size--that it seems unimaginable even the most versatile songwriter could cram that many music stands into a practice space.
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May 1, 2015Even if MCIII falls shy of its lofty predecessor, this record marks his most ambitious outing to date and makes it impossible not to already start anticipating MCIV.
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May 5, 2015The arrangements are hyped-up and lush, the harmonies are soaring, and there is at least one bona fide prog opus.
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UncutApr 29, 2015It never quite matches the promise of the excellent opening half. [Jun 2015, p.75]
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Apr 29, 2015MCIII might fail to live up to its billing as concept album, but it absolutely doesn’t fail to provide a steady stream of big-hearted guitar-pop songs.
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Nov 5, 2015Missing the shambolic charm of Cronin's earlier work, MCIII nevertheless guarantees bigger stages.
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May 7, 2015Cronin’s dulcet hesitance has given way to slightly meeker delivery. The hooks are there--in the engaging vocal counterpoint to a descending horn line on the bridge of "Say", for instance--but they’re difficult to appreciate.
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MojoMay 20, 2015Though mostly a one-man affair, he covers a lot of ground across the album's 11 tracks. [Jun 2015, p.86]
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May 19, 2015In short, if you liked what you heard on MCI and MCII, MCIII is more of the same, only slathered in lush arrangements with a little less of the raw outbursts of his earlier garage-y grunge sound.
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May 8, 2015Though it manages to be both lovely and adventurous, too often MCIII sounds like Cronin falls back on the string beds instead of utilizing them with the same fervor he used to reserve for crunchy, just-this-side-of-DGAF riffs.
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Apr 30, 2015Cronin’s previous album was something of a messy listen, and MCIII doesn’t offer the solution. But behind the debris, there are glimmers of shimmering greatness.
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Q MagazineApr 29, 2015Side one isn't bad either, even if it doesn't quite scale the same heights.... A mostly impressive set. [Jun 2015, p.103]
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May 12, 2015Side one of MCIII consists of perfectly enjoyable songs, with similar ingredients--piano, interesting guitar work, a voice reminiscent of ‘60s pop, but that ineffable thing that makes songs stick in your head just doesn’t seem to be here.... The second half of the album is problematic in a different way.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 15
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Mixed: 4 out of 15
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Negative: 1 out of 15
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May 5, 2015