(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Critic Reviews for My Favourite Faded Fantasy - Metacritic
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20141113153250/http://www.metacritic.com:80/music/my-favourite-faded-fantasy/damien-rice/critic-reviews
My Favourite Faded Fantasy - Damien Rice
Metascore
83

Universal acclaim - based on 12 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
view
per page
  1. Absolute Punk (Staff reviews)
    Nov 10, 2014
    90
    Rice hasn’t changed his sound much, but his writing is still every bit as visceral as it always has been, and his long-awaited third album, called My Favourite Faded Fantasy, absolutely lives up to the legacy of his previous work.
  2. Sputnikmusic
    Nov 7, 2014
    90
    What makes this effort so different is its ability to transcend those mere qualitative descriptions and transport one’s mind to its most emotionally darkest corners--even if it has to clear away some of the cobwebs that we attempt to veil our pain in.
  3. Drowned In Sound
    Nov 5, 2014
    90
    Everything sings here, no matter how dark the matter at hand.
  4. Consequence of Sound
    Nov 5, 2014
    83
    The album flows as if it were a mixtape of Rice songs to a former lover.
  5. Boston Globe
    Nov 10, 2014
    80
    Rice’s Fantasy, coproduced by Rick Rubin, is often dark and beautiful, featuring dramatic orchestrations, intricate arrangements, and hushed, swooning vocals.
  6. All Music Guide
    Nov 10, 2014
    80
    My Favourite Faded Fantasy may come on as a bit underwhelming at first but that's the intent: it's not designed to grab, it's designed to soothe and then slowly worm its way into the subconscious, which is where these eight songs reveal themselves to be as strong as anything else Rice has written.
  7. musicOMH.com
    Nov 10, 2014
    80
    It may not be a barrel of laughs, but My Favourite Faded Fantasy proves that nobody does hushed introspection as well as Damien Rice.
  8. The Guardian
    Nov 5, 2014
    80
    He claims not to care whether his comeback is a commercial success, but one suspects it will be regardless. It deserves to be.
  9. DIY Magazine
    Nov 5, 2014
    80
    This record still feels raw, it still feels intimate, but a little more bold in its sentiments. It’s in those moments of bravery and risk that Rice still stands worthy of his heart-wrenching troubadour title.
  10. Paste Magazine
    Nov 11, 2014
    78
    While eight years could’ve brought about a jarring change, Rice has returned with eight satisfying, hearty tracks--albeit, nothing too far off his beaten path.
  11. Alternative Press
    Nov 6, 2014
    70
    As a whole, they don't quite match the melancholy majesty of his debut O, but moments do rival his best work. [Dec 2014, p.108]
    All this publication's reviews
  12. Slant Magazine
    Nov 10, 2014
    60
    Bombast, buoyed by self-doubt, gets in the way of the finer sentiments, especially in the album's over-inflated middle. But subtle pleasures can still be found.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. davidbrinicombe
    Nov 11, 2014
    9
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Have you ever felt as if you are oppressed by a waking stupor – as if the aim of life is mere existence, rather than enjoyment or self-fulfilment? For some, their salvation from this suppression of the soul is an encounter with a new person; for others, a sense of meaning comes through a promotion or job change; for the majority of us, though, we are left with a feeling of belonging after recognising a kind word spoken or written.

    It is this feeling of awakening which is embodied in Damien Rice’s music – none more so than in My Favourite Faded Fantasy. The title itself appears to be a metaphorical nudge to the writer’s block which had left the singer-songwriter bereft of the ear jangling, heart tingling introspection of which he has become synonymous. Thankfully, Damien’s third album allows us to once more explore the crevices and coves of the writer’s mind.

    Creeping up on his listeners’ ears like the process of days lengthening in summer, Damien’s music is welcoming and warming. Arriving at the first perceptible lyric or chord is fulfilling; and when no more may be heard you are left dissatisfied. Alone.

    This emotion is the one which Damien is master of. It is immensely difficult for anyone to notice a moment within his swelling discography in which Damien is not carving himself open, playing Whack-a-Mole with his emotions, to present himself as truly as possible. Nowhere has this been presented as earnestly as in ‘The Greatest Bastard’. Even the most resistant of listeners would struggle to notice in this an ode to former acquaintances, friends and band mates. “I never meant to let you down”, yells Damien, as the music peaks and then subsides. Musically speaking, this album has far from let us down.

    Like his two preceding full-length releases, O and 9, My Favourite Faded Fantasy is propelled and distorted by its effect on the listener. No two people could identify the same sounds or instruments in their first listen of ‘Long Long Way’, say. Layers of sound and string/wind instruments need to be heard as independent entities, all building towards the same denouement or meaning as one another but via their own, individual routes.

    It is often the crescendos which pinch, or tap at, the heart when you are exposed to Damien’s music. Sometimes a deafening silence abruptly draws to its close a section of warring violins. While, at one notable moment, a clarinet rises from the ether, transporting the listener from ‘Long Long Way’ to the end of the album.

    When the listener arrives at this point, after 48 minutes of archetypal Rice soul-searching – and, for the most part, he is still searching – they are able to look back at the ground covered. Behind them is a memorable sight (or, to appropriate the metaphor, sound). Yes, there are moments which taint our golden-tinted impression of the album: the lyrics of the chorus to ‘I don’t want to change you’ are fanciful at best, meaningless at worst. However, the implications of Damien’s lyrics and the heartfelt character of his imagery are as – if not more – present than ever. While “a dogless bone” reeks of his earlier “like a rootless tree”, his songwriting remains captivating and often original.

    2011, noted for the releases of James Blake’s first full album, and Justin Vernon’s follow-up to the mesmerising For Emma, Forever Ago, was considered the year of introversion in contemporary music. Damien Rice did not produce a solo record that year. Nor had he penned and released a song during the period in which Mumford & Sons, Ben Howard and Ed Sheeran pricked the general public’s consciousness to hysteria. That writer’s block lasted eight years. In which time, the unthinkable breech was bridged in American politics; global economic structures toppled and were rebuilt; and Little Mix’s B*witched inspired, electro shambles left Damien confronted with the Devil.

    Years of escapism from the media’s steely and judgemental glare; years of emotions being meshed, mashed and masked; years of contemplative self-reflection – this is the makeup of My Favourite Faded Fantasy.

    Combined, what does this complex ensemble amount to? A piece of art, 48 minutes in length, which sounds as seminal as O.    … Full Review »
  2. vmd1020
    Nov 12, 2014
    10
    This album is next to perfect. All biases about him as an artist aside, if I had never heard of him and this was the first album I heard from him I'd find it hard to top. I think "O" does have some stronger songs, but I think this is more of a complete work and I've had it on repeat ever since receiving it. Those who were disappointed by "9" will not be disappointed by this!… Full Review »
  3. PoeticDumpling
    Nov 11, 2014
    10
    He's back and he is better than ever. Time (and more listens) will reveal whether I end up loving this as much as O, but it is unquestionably another classic like that one. Gorgeous arrangements that lift to the skies by the end of many of the tracks. One of the years best and a great return from a very talented singer/songwriter.… Full Review »
See all user reviews »