Wilder Mind
| Mumford and Sons
Wilder Mind
Wilder Mind is the third studio album by British rock band Mumford & Sons. It was released on 4 May 2015 through Gentlemen of the Road, Island, Glassnote and Universal Music Group. It was an international success in its first week on sale, charting at number one in seven countries, topping both the UK Albums Chartand the US Billboard200, and reaching the top 5 in nine other countries. Five singles have been released from the album, "Believe", "The Wolf", "Ditmas", "Tompkins Square Park" and "Just Smoke".-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Follows every imaginable rule so closely that all traces of life are erased.
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Spin
Wilder Mind’s musical about-face might not be as, uh, wild as it initially seems.Marcus
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The Gaurdian
Wilder Mind will only make Mumford & Sons more enormous. Mercifully, it has also significantly improved them as a band.
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Billboard
Rock gods worthy of the title, it does so without changing what fans cherished most about them in the first place: their songwriting, their sentiment, their gusto
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Telegraph
Never sounded better than on this overwhelmingly tense and bittersweet album
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Consequence of Sound
This richer pallete shades his apprehension without neutering the catharsis so many seek from the band.
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Drowned in Sound
it’s difficult to be especially riled by a record quite this tepid.
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NY Times
It’s an album of mostly despairing love songs that have found an unexpected but fitting outlet: a mope-rock resurgence.
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Time
A document of a band whose skill and curiosity are finally starting to catch up to its success
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Financial Times
Third album reboots the London faux-folkies as dull stadium rockers.
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Independant
Ditching the banjos leaves an absence of both intrigue and oomph
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Spill Magazine
Have no fear. This is a great recording.
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All Music
Where once they carved their music out of reclaimed wood, they're now all steel and glass -- a bit sleeker but also a bit chillier.
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Slant Magazine
May be something altogether worse than divisive: unremarkable.
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DIY Magazine
But let’s not kid ourselves - this is a band reinvented.
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Music Feeds
You can hear the folk in this new ‘rock’, and retrospectively their older material is laced with an edgier side. More of that please, lads.
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The Current
Think of Wilder Mind as Mumford and Sons' debut album as a rock band. It's a new sound that marks a new direction in the band's career .
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Paste Magazine
They harmonize less often throughout, leaving Mumford solo in the spotlight even on the most bombastic songs like “The Wolf” that sound like the Sons of old.
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Diffuser.fm
This is a band that’s always had inclinations toward music designed to fill enormous spaces
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Expose
In fact, it’s one of the most underwhelming albums in recent memory.
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Saving Country Music
Mostly though, Wilder Mind just makes me sad for the future of music.
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AV Club
With Wilder Mind, Mumford & Sons have morphed from a band that’s easy to either love or hate into a band that’s hard to care much about at all.
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Bearded Gentleman
What I love about them most—their heart—is very much alive and beating well.
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Music OMH
Unfortunately, in doing so, they’ve produced the most crushingly average album of the year so far.
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Christian Today
New sound then, but still the old themes remain. For the most part, the result is a success.
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Bol
There was a change in the approach of the band. Not only in writing and recording, but also in textures and dynamics.
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The Young Folks
A little different than the other Mumford albums but it still stays true to it’s roots.
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Pretty Much Amazing
I don’t mean to punish Mumford & Sons for not meeting an impossible standard.
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Louder Than War
The problem is the sheer facelessness blandity of the music.
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Sound Blab
Every bit as boring as the worst of Elvis Costello.
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UCSD Gaurdian
It’ll win you over just as easily as any of their folksier records.
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How was it Detroit
It sticks to the formula we are used to with a distinctly different sound.
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Digital Spy
Bravely throws out the banjos and takes on hearty, straight-up rock - but does it pay off?
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No Depression
In the years to come, the post-hipsters who first drove the banjo bandwagon only, without so much as changing direction, redecorated the wagon as anti-banjo will listen fondly and with much enjoyment.
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The Know
“Going electric” on “Wilder Mind” probably isn’t going to change any fans’ minds. This is the same old Mumford & Sons you love or hate.
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Daily Bruin
Hopefully the next time Mumford and Sons rebrands itself, it will have finally found its own sound and will live up to its strong musical and lyrical talents.
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Sputnik Music
Ends up being a well-intended push for change that falters mightily
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Rock Review Phil
We undoubtedly have one of the most subtly unique albums to come out in years.
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The National
Mumford and his merry men had chosen to evolve in a direction that made them more distinctive, rather than less.
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The Upcoming
Banjo or not, it is the ability to take listeners on a literary and musical journey with every track
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All Things Loud
New direction may not be to everyone’s liking, yet it’s sure to open the eyes (and ears) of many former doubters of the band.
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Qmuicate Magazine
The band have taken to the electric guitar much better than expected and produced some not-too-shabby riffs, particularly in the album’s first half.
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York Vision
May be a departure from their folk roots, but it is not a departure from their musical quality.
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Daily Review
It’s just a little sad to see that to do so they have shorn much of what made them truly interesting in the first place.
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Slate
They haven’t found a way to jack into that higher current, to replace the kind they’ve left behind.
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Linkedin
In truth, I love the album a lot more than I thought I would, overall I hear a musical maturity in their third album.
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Standard
They might have sabotaged themselves, but they’ve got themselves out of a rut before anyone noticed they were in one.
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Musik Express
Completely ignores some of the core ingredients of the first two records.
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EW
Too well executed to truly dislike, but it also doesn’t provide many reasons to rally around Mumford & Sons’ brave new world.
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Matt Walker
Their best yet.
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Music Times
On its own merits, it's a very commendable. But as the old saying goes: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
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Pres Outlook
I respect a band who is willing to take a calculated, thoughtful risk .
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Herald Standard
Change is inevitable. For Mumford & Sons, change leads to progress and the start of a new adventure.
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God is in the TV
There is still so much of the old lovable quartet still remaining.
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NY Daily News
Mumford & Sons go for rock — and stumble
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930 Club
But one thing is for certain: this is not a band whose focus is stuck in reverse.
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The Australian
Drums are in; banjos are out. Welcome to Mumford & Sons the rock band.
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SA Music Scene
The album is one of great beauty shrouded by a pensive sense of wistfulness.
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Pop Matters
Based off of the taupe take on rock 'n' roll that is Wilder Mind, you've got good cause to keep your change.
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Music Blogged
The album does contain some good tracks, the risks taken with the change in sound have largely not paid off.
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Alpha Audio
Hmmm ... moderate
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OOR
The album may be very mediocre in itself. The most successful songs are those in which Mumford & Sons tried to build on the old style.
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Headstuff
Predictably tame guitar flourish before a final tired chorus eases things out like an old man slipping into a nice warm bath.
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Sunderland Echo
Showing a new level of proficiency - if not flair - in their writing.
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Calvin Chimes
It can be loved on its own terms as a work preventing the band from falling into a trap that most bands find themselves in.
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NZ Herald
It's all still recognisably Mumford & Sons though - due in large part to Marcus Mumford's achy-breaky vocals full of emotion.
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The Music
There's more subtlety to it now.
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Restless Cities
The carefully honed chops of their new found, unabashedly urban rock sound remains unscathed.
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NBHAP
It all doesn’t matter much anymore once the first tunes hit you hard and you realize this album will be on heavy rotations from now on.
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Pursuit of Dopeness
Just fell a little too flat and there’s no real way to defend it. It’s not completely dull
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Sound of Brit
The perfect integration of these pieces in the heart of a setlist that will resume old cross-titles with those of the new generation.
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The Student Playlist
It’s still very formulaic, but it’s at least a different formula.
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Ore Digger
Yet to disappoint listeners, whether it be their original banjo-laid ballads, or their recently unveiled rock and roll edginess
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Chicago Tribune
“Wilder Mind” might strike some as a band reinventing itself, but really, it’s more of the mediocre same.
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Catalyst
What remains to be seen is whether this new sound will excite fans as much as their previous releases have.
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Xsnoize
I hope it works for them and I will watch with interest as this massive English export change the face of their own music.
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Daily Mail
With its shimmering sounds and emotionally charged songwriting, Wilder Mind is essentially Coldplay with more compelling lyrics
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Ottowa Citizen
One has to respect a band that keeps experimenting but these guys are wise to keep the banjo.
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Hit the Floor
This new sound shows growth; these tracks are all made ever-so flawlessly to suit bigger crowds.
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Forget Today
They have made the crossover to a more Indie style.
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Full Shelf Music
Be sure to give this record a try if you're a fan of the band or of arena-rock acts like Coldplay and U2.
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Society Of Sound
No denying the maturity developed in the music.
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The Daily UW
The gents have moved on from folk, and it’s completely for the better. This album is incredible.
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Washington Post
Part of the strange de-Mumfordization of Mumford & Sons. Everything else familiar has been run to ground.
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Zumic
In order for a group to progress, they must expand, and sometimes experiment, with their material. Mumford & Sons have done that on this album, and I commend them for that.
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Rose and Blog
It’s always disappointing to see talented musicians go backwards.
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Newsday
But some fall short and some moments are just weird. The band will be fine this time around, though.
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Gig Wise
This third LP shows Mumford's potential
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411 Mania
The bulk of Wilder Mind struggles to swell towards satisfying choruses or truly inspired compositions.
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Clean Slate Music
On its merit’s I’d give the album a solid
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Popdin
Insufferably dull album
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3Ten
Some of the album’s slower songs like “Believe” present a mellow electronic echo similar to “Midnight” by Coldplay.
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Exclaim
Slick and palatable, with shimmering guitars and spacious synths that evoke the earnestness of bands like Coldplay and U2
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Music Unlabeled
But that’s what makes Mumford & Sons great; their songs are impassioned, with the band’s heart poured out in every note and chord you hear
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Thomas MJ99
Ok. Nice. Not bad. Bareable. Fine. Maybe even Pretty decent.
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Blue Corner Store
I am missing the spark, the passion that I saw in them back in 2012, they seem to have lost it .
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News Record
Perhaps they could have dug a little bit deeper and found something that sounded like more than an empty threat of a record.
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The 405
Whilst Wilder Mind is not very good, it's really not as bad as you want it to be.
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Ultimate Guitar
Bands change styles, and I can understand and respect that.
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Glamorous Paper
The change in sound absolutely works. True fans will recognize the amazingly written lyrics and the deep, cathartic songs.
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Spectrum Pulse
Underwhelming vocal performance and lyrics that set my teeth on edge, I can't recommend this.
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The Music AU
It gets decidedly better put-together as it progresses, and flows well.
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SU Independent
The band not only survived but has blossomed anew—sans banjos.
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Review Stream
The effort that this band has made just to make this album as perfect as it could be!
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Reviews from the Other Side
Overall, just not a very interesting record.
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Slacker
Made the journey from retro throwback to glistening modern construction.
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Mark Gilroy Music
Managed to accomplish that rarest of things- a reinvention of their sound whilst retaining the essence of what makes them such a special band
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Gron
Tracks that make it feel as if the band have moved in the right direction.
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Adriana Renee
An overall great album, but not as striking as you would expect their return to be,
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Shrink Tank
Third album will be where the band took their first bold step – where they stretched out of their comfort zone and risked
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Los Angeles Times
The impact of the new approach is only that much more potent.
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The inscriber Magazine
Simplicity of the lyrics are mind numbing and the music itself is nothing new or unheard – it’s just a regular listen by a band who is supposed to be more than regular.
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Amoeba
Mumford & Sons have gotten wilder indeed, and they’re all the better for it.
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Brehm Center
But this album, their best yet, reaches new heights for the foursome.
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AXS
These are not boys with banjos and mandolins, they are men who have been proven by the pain and paradise, and in between, that is love.
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For Folks Sake
Expand their horizons and play with more sounds that are unique to them shouldn’t be shamed, especially when they wear that change so well.
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Soul Surmise
An artistic success. The tricky transition has been made.
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North Nation Media
This album is the perfect soundtrack to the next summer storm or those lounging in the hammock afternoons.
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Gigslutz
Having the guts to take the first step is commendable, and it is good to know that this direction could prove very fruitful in albums to come.
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Maine Music Quest
Instead of a standout rock-folk band, this album just makes Mumford and Sons sound like another alternative group
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