Release and Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllRovi | |
| The A.V. Club | B |
| Pitchfork | 5.9/10 |
| PopMatters | 6/10 |
| Sputnik Music | |
Anonymous was released on June 19, 2007, through Ipecac Recordings, the record label owned by Patton and Greg Werckman. The album's release was preceded by a digital single, "Sun Dance", on June 12. The B-side to the single was the non-album track "El Tecolote".
Reviews for Anonymous have been mildly positive. Writing for AllMusic, Jason Lymangrover rated the album four stars out of five, calling it "undeniably a stunning musical exploration". Lymangrover compared the album to Frank Zappa's Apostrophe (') and Mr. Bungle's California, also noting similarities to Patton's other supergroup Fantômas. Sputnik Music's Andrew H awarded the album a score of 4 out of 5, calling it "arguably the best Tomahawk to date". The review praised Denison's work on retaining a faithful Native American tone on the compositions, while still allowing the album to sound familiar as a Tomahawk recording. Andrew Earles of The A.V. Club rated the album a "B", finding Patton's vocals uncharacteristically subtle. Earles felt that the album's best songs were "Cradle Song," "Omaha Dance," and "Antelope Ceremony", but felt negatively about "War Song" and "Red Fox".
Pitchfork's Jason Crock gave the album a rating of 5.9 out of 10, calling it an "odd, headstrong little record". Crock felt that the group were respectfully faithful to the musical culture they were working within, but described the resultant sound as resembling a film score more than a live band. Writing for PopMatters, Mike Schiller rated Anonymous 6 out of 10. Schiller felt that Patton's vocal work had an "air of non-commitment", but praised Denison's enthusiasm for the project, finding that it might have worked better as an instrumental album. Schiller highlighted "Ghost Dance", "War Song" and "Long, Long Weary Day" as the best songs on the album. A review in CMJ New Music Monthly described Anonymous as "the real wampum", finding it to be a respectful tribute to Native American music.
Read more about this topic: Anonymous (Tomahawk Album)
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