Reviews for 9

9 was released in Ireland on November 3rd 2006, in Europe on November 6th 2006 and in the USA on November 14th 2006. Here is what the critics have been saying:

"As before, Rice simply opens his heart and invites us all in to look around. Nothing is easy. Nothing is certain. Everything is questioned. One song, Elephant, even asks: 'What's the point of this song, or even singing?' The answer, obviously, is that you might one day make an album as good as 9. So much music is described as 'cathartic', but this is the real deal. You can't leave this album unaffected by it." 4 Stars (The Sunday Times)

"The album starts superbly (9 Crimes) and finishes on a freaky ambient note (Sleep Don't Weep; keep an ear out for the hidden lengthy tone-poem). In between is, by and large, surely the best confessional and most candid album of the year." (Tony Clayton-Lea, The Irish Times)

"The work of a man setting out to satisfy his soul. Right now he should be well-pleased." 4/ 5 (Q Magazine)

"In '9' Damien Rice has crafted a masterpiece, period..." (Gigwise.com)

"Good things come to those who wait." (Time Out - London)

"... with its transcedent beauty and cathartic emotion, [9] easily ranks as one of the best discs of the year." 4 Stars (Chuck Arnold, People Magazine)

"... doesn't dismiss outright the folky troubadour charm that distinguished O, but here it's a springboard for jealousy, sex, misery..." 4/5 (Mojo Magazine)

"9 is a record designed to take on the world. And the world, you can bet, will have no option but to sit up straight – and take very good notes." 8/10 (Colin Carberry, Hot Press)

"Dashing the low expectations of cynics, Damien Rice's 9 is heart-flipping, gut-gushing, soul-snatching pop at its very best." 9.5 / 10 (Kate Horstead, In The News)

"The words and music seldom pull any punches. "Me, My Yoke, and I" has the psychosexual mania of PJ Harvey. "Accidental Babies" presents a love triangle at the point of ultimatum. It's dangerous-sounding music. But Rice delivers it like a dream." (New York Daily News)

"In '9' Damien Rice has crafted a masterpiece, period. In all likelihood it will be found to have the longevity and gravity of Jeff Buckley's 'Grace' and Dylan's 'Highway 61 Revisited'. '9' has arresting and earth-halting properties yet feels like you've been on a journey - the combinations of Damien's voice, songwriting and arrangements possess a power and spirituality with torrents of expressed-emotion and musical prowess that make him one of (if not) the most important living singer-songwriters at work today." (GigWise.com)

"As far as sophomore releases go, 9 is as good as they get, while Rice summons a sound that can now distinctively be called that of Damien Rice." (Glide Magazine)

"The follow up to Rice’s multi-million-selling debut has exceeded all expectations. Stunning stuff." (Music Week)

"Overall, Rice has produced a release which equals and perhaps even surpasses his debut, a album that takes you through emotional highs and lows you are unlikely to hear anywhere else this winter. In a few words - it's a bit good." 5/5 (musicOMH)

"One of the albums of the year"(CDReviews.com)

"... stunning... an incredibly solid, expressive and dynamic record..." (The Daily Cardinal)

"It may have taken five years to come to fruition, but '9' represents a progression, in terms of craftsmanship and in terms of ideology. With '9' Rice shows that you can't please all of the people all of the time, but, by producing an album that will frustrate and fulfil people in equal measure, you can still create an excellent piece of work." (CLUAS.com)

"9 is an amazing album that surpasses expectations and reminds us of why O became such a worldwide success. Damien performs with all the intensity and honesty that we have come to expect, but he paints his songs with more colours than on O, and smudges them just a little bit with tears. 9 has even more potential than O for commercial success, if it’s so desired, but it is a very personal album that will touch the heart of every listener." (Our EskimoFriends review, the first review of 9 anywhere)

Reviews for O

"O" was released in the U.K. on July 22nd, 2002. This is what the critics there have been saying:

“the most complete new talent I have come across in several years...a young singer-songwriter capable of touching the parts most of his contemporaries will never reach.”(Daily Telegraph)

"Mesmerising... 4/5" (Q)

“O is gorgeous and understated, never too introverted to include a lovely melody” (The Guardian)

“o is driven by melody, embellished with sumptuous arrangements and underpinned by emotionally acute lyrics... There is not a poor song on the album. Buy it” (The Times)

“.....Sonically adventurous and almost impossibly emotionally acute” (Times – Play magazine)

“This is no reclusive songster , quietly voicing his internal monologues and musings. He knows how to shout it loud” (Time Out)

"...nothing less than a work of a genius...", "...hopelessly beautiful album..." AllMusic.com

“Only Bob Dylan comes close to such cracked passion. This Rice is pretty special” (What's on in London)

"embraces the Celtic twilight, swelling cello, 3a.m. barroom desperation, Cohenesque soul affirming sadness...the unbridled heartfelt brilliance of songs such as The Blower's Daughter..." (Net Rhythms)

"As intense as Radiohead, but as traditional in its approach as Neil Young... Honestly, it’s no wonder that Rice’s album has gone platinum in his native-country; with the right exposure in other worldly regions, such a result seems destined to repeat itself." (RockFeedback.com)

"Quite beautiful and astounding in equal measures." (Manchester Music)

"We rarely hear song-writing with such a strong heartbeat, poetry so damningly served up. There are traces of beauty pervading every moment from beginning to end..." (CRUD Magazine)

"... the greatest album of the 21st century." (The Sun) Around the World:

"Rice's striking imaginatively arranged songs about romance hit the emotional mark, while comparisons to the work of Jeff Buckley and David Gray are on the money." (Billboard)

"Songs that, for all their quietness, leave a dark, lasting impression." (Rolling Stone)

"Nothing short of a complete package of art, personality and presence on a level with Jeff Buckley or Thom Yorke." LA Times

"“O,” is an out-and-out gorgeous CD, so full of undiluted, unfalsified emotions that it verges on open-heart surgery." (Newsweek)

"10 shambling, elegant songs that are, quite simply, exquisitely lovely." (Boston Globe)

"A singer-songwriter with a voice marinated in melancholy and a distinctive image built from roots music. Amazing" (Focus Knack)

"A top record you should buy at once..." (HUMO)

"It deserves to eternally accompany our moments of happiness" (Le Soir)

"Each song is exceptional and the man-woman duets are breathtaking" (Télémoustique)

"One of the most refreshing recordings in recent memory." (Slant Magazine)

"Damien Rice is definitely the breakthrough artist that today's music scene has been waiting for." (delusions of adequacy)

"Damien Rice's talent is singular and tremendous, and O is absolutely extraordinary...these twelve songs are pure magic, joys to hear, and O is one of the year's very best." (Tangmonkey.com - a Canadian site.)

"...laced with sensuality and eroticism...O is an awakening of one's soul through the trials and tribulations of love" (SoundAffects.net)

"Damien Rice writes music that could only come from where Europe ends and an infinite ocean starts...with a voice that echoes of both John Martyns frailty and Jeff Buckleys pretensions, he embeds it gently in irresistible melodies and whispers where most would have screamed." Expressen, Sweden

And in Ireland:

'..this is going to be one of the highlights of 2002' (Hot Press)

'O is a fantastic debut...he has a killer album to his name .. cd of the week' (the sunday tribune)

'..solid, intense, spine-tingling..' (irish times)

'Rrice has crafted one of the best irish releases in the past 12 months.. O is one to remember' (irish independant)

'Damien Rice's solo debut 'o' is undoubtedly one of the most inspired debut Irish albums ever..' (rte guide)

''O' is an organic odyssey. 'O' is obsessively outstanding. 'O' is overpowering.' (IMRO)