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Sep 30, 2016Overall, this is unmistakably a Banks album, so if you've liked anything she's done so far, this is definitely worth checking out. Despite some of the shifts described above, her darkness is still there, and it is still equal parts inviting and off-putting.
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Sep 30, 2016The Altar is very close to being a razor-sharp pop blueprint.
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Sep 30, 2016Banks is perfectly comfortable in her own skin and artistic abilities, and it shows immensely on The Altar.
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Q MagazineSep 29, 2016Few singers examine the pathology of heartbreak so expertly. [Nov 2016, p.102]
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Sep 29, 2016Banks packs enough energy and zeal at the starting line to duly lay waste to whoever was foolish enough to break her heart.
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Sep 29, 2016The Altar is BANKS at her most confident and most empowered; tough and willing to accept her imperfections without a care for who’s listening.
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Oct 12, 2016The Altar is more textured and artful than ‘Goddess’, BANKS growing into her role as a writer, upholding the sensual melancholia that characterised her debut. Yet, it still feels as if BANKS is fine-tuning her sound.
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Sep 30, 2016‘Love Sick’ is filled with sensual longing and ‘Mind Games’ screams out anger over crashing synths. ‘Trainwreck’, meanwhile, is an instant banger with Banks’ aggressive lyrics structured around trap-infused production. Elsewhere, though, soul-baring ballad ‘Mother Earth’ and stripped-back closer ‘To The Hilt’ are more easily forgotten.
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Sep 30, 2016From Gemini Feed’s bold awareness, to 27 Hours’ electrifying finish, The Altar is an accomplishment. There’s much more happening, but its tighter and fuller, filling in the most glaring gaps left by Goddess.
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Oct 3, 2016None of the material on The Altar will revolutionize alt R&B, future soul, or whatever awkward label one might apply to this nebulous genre. What is here, though, is proof of an artist still searching for a new direction.
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Oct 5, 2016The high points of The Altar are nearly perfect, but these are outnumbered by a massive middle section comprised of unremarkable, uninspired filler.
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Oct 4, 2016This sophomore effort builds off her debut, but loses the plot in a mass of electronic blackness and vague grievances.
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Oct 3, 2016Strip away the tics and production fidgets and these songs aren’t hugely distinctive--they lack the arresting weirdness of artier peers such as FKA twigs.
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Sep 30, 2016Banks' list of grievances can get wearying, but the music's dour detail is alluring too.
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MojoSep 29, 2016For every shallow, Banks stirs up a hidden depth. [Nov 2016, p.90]
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Sep 29, 2016Mostly The Altar is claustrophobic with try-hardness. Banks doesn’t sound empowered, she sounds stretched.
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Oct 12, 2016The Altar has a lot in common with Goddess, including its fatal flaw: its attempts to position Banks as edgy or dangerous, despite all musical evidence to the contrary.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 178 out of 199
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Mixed: 10 out of 199
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Negative: 11 out of 199
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Oct 29, 2016
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Oct 2, 2016
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Sep 30, 2016