Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
by Sturgill Simpson
Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
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  1. Paste Magazine
    May 21, 2014
    92
    If you don’t like country music, don’t bother. But if you do have an ear for Waylon and Willie and the boys, then you’ll find plenty to love.
  2. Mojo
    Sep 12, 2014
    80
    A great country music record. Nothing less. [Oct 2014, p.91]
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  3. Record Collector
    Jul 1, 2014
    80
    Where Simpson truly scores is in the ease with which he ponders life’s bigger questions while couching them in familiar country language and sounds.
  5. PopMatters
    May 21, 2014
    80
    Metamodern Sounds In Country Music doesn’t carry the same unfiltered, raw energy as his debut album, High Top Mountain, did. But, where he was bottling lightning, he’s now cleaning up the aftermath of the storm, patching together what works and smoothing everything over.
  6. AllMusic
    May 21, 2014
    80
    As an artist of uncommon ability, he has learned from its hallowed lineage and storied past that in order for it to evolve, it cannot be reined in; it must be free to roam in order to create its future. His visionary work on this album opens the gate wide on that frontier.
  7. American Songwriter
    May 21, 2014
    80
    Simpson lets his band, and his songs, do the talking on Metamodern Sounds, which is surely one of the very best straight up country records of 2014.
  8. Austin Chronicle
    Jun 19, 2014
    78
    Metamodern Sounds in Country Music uses the genre's classic narratives to obscure right and wrong in the search for higher truths.
  9. Pitchfork
    May 21, 2014
    77
    Nothing else on Metamodern is quite so bold or quite so dense as “Turtles All the Way Down”, but Simpson comes across as a man deeply dissatisfied with the easy answers country music typically passes along as wisdom.
  10. Rolling Stone
    May 30, 2014
    70
    With his new LP, Kentucky's Sturgill Simpson is taking it metamodern.
  11. Blurt Magazine
    Jun 11, 2014
    60
    These nine songs are dusty and determined, stoic ruminations on hard luck and happenstance.

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Most Shared Album of 2014

User Reviews

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User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 19
  3. Negative: 1 out of 19
  1. Taruine
    Oct 24, 2014
    10
    This is what country is supposed to sound like, not the country rap or pop country **** that proliferates today. It's sad that a genre onceThis is what country is supposed to sound like, not the country rap or pop country **** that proliferates today. It's sad that a genre once full of soul has devolved into what we hear on the radio.… Full Review »
  2. All_ButTrU4
    Feb 11, 2022
    5
    Sturgils deep baritone feels matured and classic out of place. It's charm in all of the collection of songs on this phenomenal album. DespiteSturgils deep baritone feels matured and classic out of place. It's charm in all of the collection of songs on this phenomenal album. Despite the lack of a narrative an atmosphere binds them together. The higligh " the promise" a once in a career achievement renders heartbreak to its essentials:broken promises and hearts. It's so frank it's surprising it's only a cover. Bound to be a staple in country music… Full Review »
  3. hopstar
    Jul 14, 2014
    8
    As great as these songs are, it is an injustice not to hear them live to get the true depth and energy of these songs. The lyrical feel andAs great as these songs are, it is an injustice not to hear them live to get the true depth and energy of these songs. The lyrical feel and attitude beat anything coming out in punk/rock today. Sturgill is going to be around for a long time!… Full Review »
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