War Stories
by UNKLE

Album details

US: 24 July 2007 on Surrender All
UK: 2 July 2007 on Surrender All

Josh Homme, Ian Astbury, and members of Autolux, Massive Attack and The Duke Spirit guest on the third UNKLE release for James Lavelle, an album which also finds the latter singing for the first time. Chris Goss (Masters of Reality) co-produced.

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The critical consensus

James Lavelle seems to have no problem enlisting big-name collaborators for each of his UNKLE releases, but so far he has had much greater difficulty rounding up strong reviews. Would the third time out be any different? In sound, the answer is yes, as many critics found the album venturing further away from dance and trip-hop into rock (or "goth," as The Independent indicates) territory. But what of quality?

Gigwise is one of the few publications to absolutely love the album, declaring it to be "easily the outfit’s most coherent work yet." IGN finds it not just coherent but "captivating," and Urb, in a very positive review, calls War Stories "the perfect soundtrack to the coming apocalypse." And the LA Times applauds "a stormy set of dark, synth-streaked psych-rock jams that carries a whiff of tomorrow while looking back to the stomping proto-metal of Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer." (Black Sabbath? Really?) Billboard also likes the rockier sound: "Aggressive yet soulful, ‘War’ doesn’t just straddle the line between rock and electronica—it destroys it."

Many critics found it a bit too similar to past efforts, although that wasn’t always a bad thing. Mojo actually enjoys the disc in spite of Lavelle’s lack of musical progress since 1998’s Psyence Fiction. The BBC is also in the heard-it-all-before camp, but they too give it a thumbs-up, calling the disc "diverse and engrossing." Dotmusic calls it "another good rather than great album that sounds ahead of the curve."

However, All Music Guide is a bit disappointed–yet again–by the latest UNKLE release, lamenting that "there are no songs to grab onto and little of real essence." Spin claims that "War Stories feels more like a random compilation than a fresh exploration" (a not atypical complaint about collaborator-heavy releases), while MusicOMH feels that "For every superb moment … there’s also moments of blustering, anonymous rock." The Guardian complains that "UNKLE now waste their talent and technology on reanimating the most sclerotic rock cliches," and NME that "it sounds like UNKLE are trying too hard." Pitchfork discounts the "unadventurous" album as "a castrated version of Primal Scream’s searing XTRMNTR," while Lost At Sea marks it as a "major disappointment." And Blender flat out dislikes the disc, calling it "rambling, mired in sludgy guitar and spectacularly joyless."

There are enough excellent moments on War Stories to judge it a success, but there’s another sense of missed opportunity hanging over the album.

- MusicOMH

Review roundup

Tracklisting and media

1. Intro
2. Chemistry
3. Hold My Hand
4. Restless
5. Keys To The Kingdom
6. Price You Pay
7. Burn My Shadow
   
   
8. May Day
9. Persons & Machinery
10. Twilight
11. Morning Rage
12. Lawless
13. Broken
14. When Things Explode

Also on the web

• Official Artist Site
• UNKLE @ MySpace