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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

The Golden Age
by American Music Club


8.0

based on 20 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 16 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Love Songs For Patriots

Official Artist Site

The San Francisco band, now relocated to Los Angeles and with two new members, releases its latest album.

LABEL:	Merge
RELEASE DATE:	19 February 2008
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Rock, Indie

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...

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Eitzel's trademark gloom still dominates, but his ability to bend glacial chords around pure poetry remains vital. In fact, it's stronger than ever.

Drowned In Sound

While the quality and beauty of The Golden Age can stand confidently beside those two classics ["Everclear & "Mercury"], it stands alone as another distinct chapter in the life of this band, precious to those who know them.

Alternative Press

The album doesn't have the reunion hype that helped make American Music Club's "Love Songs For Patriots" such an event. What it does have is songwriting. [Mar 2008, p.140]

Uncut

The Golden Age is the real thing. [Feb 2008, p.72]

Dusted Magazine

The new record is less political than its predecessor, but seems to share the same, more expansive perspective.

Village Voice

Wisely, The Golden Age is less mediated, its variety achieved through smartly arranged curveballs like the Calexican waltz 'I Know That's Not Really You.'

musicOMH.com

The Golden Age is a bewitching and thoroughly addictive record that proves that even when they push themselves out of their comfort zone, American Music Club can still come up with a classic.

Observer Music Monthly

The good news is that the ninth album from these inveterate melancholics is a burnished pleasure.

NOW Magazine

Musically, it’s quiet and reserved, making for a subtle but satisfying listen.

Amazon.com

AMC’s second second-life album (recorded with L.A. musicians on bass and drums) is as gorgeous and disorderly as any in its nine-album catalog.

Hartford Courant

American Music Club return with a quieter but no less excellent addition to a catalog that stretches back to 1985.

Filter

At times, it sounds downright lively, even as Eitzel paints a lyrically bleak outlook and focuses on character creation over self-examination. [Winter 2008, p.92]

All Music Guide

The Golden Age may simply be the Eitzel and Vudi show, but that's more than enough to make this a rich and rewarding set of songs whose gentle surfaces belie their troubling strength.

Pitchfork

American Music Club's central values--humility, self-effacement through musical understatement, sentimental candor-- may be currently out of fashion, but The Golden Age proves that, handled with care, they never truly go out of style.

Tiny Mix Tapes

While the band have shed much of their aggressive musical past, they are able to bring an edge to a wealth of genres that otherwise struggle with balancing a new audience with an older, AOR-accessible set.

Spin

The Golden Age is their most placid disc since 1989's "United Kingdom."

PopMatters

Yeah, Eitzel and company still overindulge in navel-gazing and slow-trudge tempos, but they overcome it on The Golden Age with a confident and mature subtlety throughout.

Q Magazine

Eitzel's own understated standards, 'All My Love,' 'The Sleeping Beauty' and Who You Are' show signs of a more optimistic, softly rocking side. [Mar 2008, p.100]

Under The Radar

AMC resembles a bar band with a raymond carver fixation, playing off Eitzel plaintively and without much care for theatricality. [Winter, 2008, p.80]

Mojo

Aficionados will welcome a renewed emphasis on Vudi's idiosyncratic string-bending, erecting iridescent frames around Eitzel's through-a-glass-darkly vignettes. [Feb 2008,p.105]

The average user rating for this album is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jack C. gave it an8:
"The Golden Age" is good solid record worth hearing. There are some strikingly good songs on here, such as "the decibels and little pills," "all my love," "sleeping beauty," and "the stars." All of it is pretty solid really. The only real gripe I have and why I'm only giving it an 8 is just because things start to feel a little monotonous over the course of the 13 tracks.

Mages gave it a9:
I can't stop listening to it.

Dejan St. gave it an8:
Much more than I expected. A return to form. Beautiful.

Nuemes Nuemes gave it a9:
I think this is AMC's pop album. Golden Age does not have quite the depth or audio sonics of 60 Watt Silver Lining or Mercury. It sounds closest to West & Everclear in specific ways. Eitzel wrote easier to grasp and frankly, happier, lyrics on Golden Age and it's still 100% lovely Eitzel. Vudi's guitar work is much better here then on Love Songs For Patriots (he sounded rushed or unfocused on LSFP). Drums and bass sound good. I miss Danny's voice though, I think he's a good match with Mark. The backing vocals on Golden Age sound... boring. As far as AMC/Eitzel albums go I think it's an 8. As for comparing it to other artist's albums it's an easy 10. So I give it a 9 here. The Golden Age is brilliant and worth purchasing and will likely give you much enjoyment.

Graham S. gave it an8:
A return to form - for a recently reformed and remodeled AMC. High points on this disc, and there are many beautiful moments here-rival their best.

Lasse G. gave it an8:
A grower!

R M. gave it an8:
Stronger than I expected. A couple of clunkers but overall I think it's better than San Francisco. More stripped down than Mercury.

The Golden Age by American Music Club

The Golden Age
by American Music Club