Music
All-Time High (And Low) Scores
Best of 2009
Best of 2008
Best of 2007
Best of 2006
Best of 2005
Best of 2004
Best of 2003
Best of 2002
Best of 2001
Best of 2000
Best of the Decade
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
54
3Oh!3
76
Actress
75
Against Me!
56
Christina Aguilera
70
Allo Darlin'
83
Laurie Anderson
87
The Arcade Fire
85
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti
77
Olafur Arnalds
73
Autolux
54
Avenged Sevenfold
80
Dierks Bentley
79
Best Coast
90
Big Boi
73
The Black Crowes
xx
Black Label Society
76
Blitzen Trapper
61
Bombay Bicycle Club
77
Tracy Bonham
81
The Books
66
Born Ruffians
63
Buckcherry
85
The Budos Band
67
Bun B
70
The Chemical Brothers
xx
Cowboy Junkies
66
Sheryl Crow
76
Crowded House
61
Taio Cruz
77
Crystal Castles
48
Miley Cyrus
74
Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse
73
Danzig
71
Deer Tick
71
Delphic
74
Delta Spirit
73
Department Of Eagles
68
Devo
82
Dr. John And The Lower 911
77
Drake
xx
Dru Hill
74
The Drums
67
Eli "Paperboy" Reed
78
El-P
63
Eminem
76
Alejandro Escovedo
70
Fat Joe
79
Foals
77
Fol Chen
72
Frazey Ford
72
Francis & The Lights
77
The Futureheads
79
The Gaslight Anthem
62
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
57
Macy Gray
67
Hanson
76
Ed Harcourt
75
Hawthorne Heights
76
HEALTH
70
Here We Go Magic
81
Micah P. Hinson
79
Jesca Hoop
68
Hot Hot Heat
62
How To Destroy Angels
83
I Am Kloot
66
The Infesticons
62
Jewel
69
Jack Johnson
84
Tom Jones
77
Kelis
85
Konono No. 1
59
Korn
56
Cyndi Lauper
66
Light Pollution
82
The Like
59
Lil Jon
77
Los Lobos
68
M.I.A.
53
The Magic Numbers
71
Maps & Atlases
80
Steve Mason
69
Travie McCoy
63
Sarah McLachlan
64
Katie Melua
76
The Melvins
80
Menomena
73
Tift Merritt
49
Bret Michaels
67
Miniature Tigers
67
Kylie Minogue
87
Jason Moran
52
Morcheeba
67
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
71
Mystery Jets
74
Nada Surf
76
Oasis
71
Kele Okereke
61
Ozzy Osbourne
xx
Panda Bear
71
Peggy Sue
70
Pernice Brothers
72
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
54
Liz Phair
55
Plies
56
Mike Posner
83
Pulled Apart By Horses
79
Punch Brothers
92
R.E.M.
70
Ratatat
71
Rhymefest
76
Max Richter
75
Robert Randolph And The Family Band
76
Robyn
46
Rooney
85
The Roots
79
Rick Ross
37
RPA & the United Nations of Sound
69
School of Seven Bells
71
Scissor Sisters
71
Semi Precious Weapons
74
Blake Shelton
69
Sia
73
Sleepy Sun
84
Sleigh Bells
62
Squeeze
69
Stars
79
Steel Train
66
Steve Miller Band
62
Sting
76
Suckers
76
Sun Kil Moon
81
Teenage Fanclub
80
The-Dream
73
Tokyo Police Club
83
Trash Talk
48
Uffie
76
Various Artists
69
Venice Is Sinking
74
Versus
78
Villagers
75
Wavves
67
We Are Scientists
85
Paul Weller
76
Wolf Parade
61
Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Dark Night Of The Soul
EMAILPRINTby Danger Mouse And Sparklehorse
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 17 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Capitol
Release Date: 13 July 2010
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Indie
Summary
In 2009, due to legal concerns, the album was shelved and released only as a blank CD-R. Originally, the album was to be released with a book of photographs by director David Lynch and vocals by such artists as The Flaming Lips, Super Furry Animals' Gruff Rhys, Jason Lytle, the Strokes' Julian Casablancas, Frank Black, Iggy Pop, the Shins' James Mercer, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chestnut, The Cardigans' Nina Persson, and David Lynch.
Also On The Web: Official Album Site Official Artist Site (Danger Mouse) Official Artist Site (Sparklehorse)
What The Critics Said
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...
PopMatters
Few contemporary pop albums have spoken to the human condition so eloquently, and given the listener so much pleasure in the process, than Dark Night of the Soul.
Read Full Review >Clash Music
Amongst the army of incredible contributors, all unified by melancholic production drawn from the ether of another age, David Lynch’s star shimmers brightest.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
The controversy nearly obscured the resounding triumph of the album itself; written and produced by Burton and Linkous, it’s a breathtaking set of atmospheric ballads (plus a few rockers) that explore cosmic concerns, from the self-destructive trap of revenge to the possibility of spiritual renewal.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
It's a shame if Dark Night of the Soul ends up relegated to a cult souvenir; it's truly exceptional as music.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
Albums like this are a reminder that we've perhaps lost something in the digital age. If it's true that we're the ones fumbling in the dark with rain falling over our heads, Dark Night is, at the very least, one bright ray of hope.
Read Full Review >BBC Music
It’s a complex, winding late-night soundtrack that doesn’t move too fast, but never stops to question the judgement of its own unique outsider logic.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
Indeed, it's both comforting and sad to hear the audible fun involved in making this record.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe
As much as Dark Night of the Soul hinges on its creators’ vision, the album comes to life through its collaborators.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
Linkous’s vocals make only a few brief appearances, but so much of his personality is in the songs that it feels almost like a tribute album he had a hand in recording. A proper coda to a storied, tragic career.
Read Full Review >Sputnikmusic
And through the tragedy, what remains, this testament, is a spiraling exercise in gorgeous music, a record knee deep in that subtle legend, but ankle up a collection of tunes as haunting and surreal as the personas and events that surrounded it.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
Often collaborative projects end up being an average of its participants, merging in the middle in a grey mulch. Dark Night of the Soul escapes all of that, Sparklehorse bringing the songwriting genius, and Danger Mouse the production, and the details - the watery sounds, the effects, the atmosphere.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
It's a shame it's a one-off, because Dark Night's trippy, psychedelic tunes are a true treat for your ears. [Aug 2010, p.146]
The Phoenix
Every song here showcases Linkus's gift for pinpointing little benchmarks in hopelessness with brittle gestures of melody and ambiance. It's also another reminder of Danger Mouse's ability to whittle lean pop shivs from gnarly splinters.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
There's a hesitating beauty to the nightmares explored on "Dark Night," from the keyboard symphonies of "Revenge," featuring a calmly paranoid vocal take from the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, to the carnival-like haunt of "Everytime I'm with You," led by a leery Jason Lytle (Grandaddy).
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Dark Night is a well-sequenced and unique album that ingeniously balances its contributors' strengths with the overall theme of the work--self-examination, often under stark circumstances, in the interest of understanding one's own existence.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
It's engrossing and organic in a way other all-star drive-by projects rarely are.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
As it stands, there is a lot to like here and a lot to digest. One advantage to having so many vocalists is that each song can be separated and dealt with accordingly, giving the record the sort of film soundtrack feel I think the principle authors were aiming for. Other than that, this unburdens Sparklehorse fans slightly of the wait between albums by providing a mainly interesting and, at times, genuinely moving distraction.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
For the most part, it sounds like the most joyous exploration of death and madness since, perhaps, ‘They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!'
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
Dark Night Of The Soul certainly has its moments, but in spite of the sequencing it sounds like a collection of songs rather than a singular body of work.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Despite the delay, Dark Night of the Soul shows what a talent and what a generous collaborator we lost in Mark Linkous.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Dark Night is a vocal showcase: Lynch, James Mercer of The Shins and Broken Bells, The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Iggy Pop, and several more stamp the tracks with appropriately brooding vocals. Only a few really stick, and not always in a good way.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
Here were two artists, anxious and passionate, who knew how to talk to each other. That connection is missing from much of the rest of this collection, an exercise in Rolodex-flexing and loose oversight.
Read Full Review >Q Magazine
For all the celebrity firepower, however, Dark Night Of The Soul never quite adds up to more than a handful of great moments. [Aug 2009, p.111]
Uncut
Dark Night Of The Soul will probably be remembered more for the stunt with the blank CD-Rs than for the music intended to be burnt onto them.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Most of the songs play like invertebrate retreads of Flaming Lips and Grandaddy-styled pomp. [Summer 2009, p.65]
Dusted Magazine
It’s a project with too many authors and not enough personality, too many ideas and not enough meaning.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune
Unfortunately, the ambitious concept proves too unwieldy to work as a consistent album.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
[Anonymous] gave it a6:
Generally good songs with little lasting power.
V T gave it a9:
Quite unique and just great!
danny s. gave it a9:
This is a beautiful combination of efforts grounded by Lynch, SH & DM... exactly what you would hope for from this crew.
Kory M. gave it a10:
Simply, one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. It will be a d@mn shame if this piece of art never sees the light of day. NPR has had a stream up for at least a month...listen while you can.
Felipe R. gave it a10:
Awesome album!
Slobodan R. gave it a9:
Beautiful.
