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The Bachelor
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 3 votes
Read user comments
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Album Info
Label: Nylon
Release Date: 11 August 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Alternative
Summary
The fourth album for the British singer features Tilda Swinton as a guest artist.
Also By This Artist: The Magic Position Wind In The Wires
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The Onion (A.V. Club)
When the dust settles around the closing notes of The Bachelor’s outro, 'The Messenger,' it’s clear that Wolf has achieved that rare artistic feat: total catharsis. And a beautiful batch of it, at that.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
The Bachelor's overall tone reflects a nihilistic view of both romance and humanity, making for an about-face from the relative sunshine of 2007's "The Magic Position," and this tone is reflected in some of Wolf's most ambitious, baroque compositions to date.
Read Full Review >Sputnikmusic
A rousing vessel in which Wolf has finally had the chance to channel his newfound zany confidence into his most extravagant and captivating record yet.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
Wolf's music has always held itself in reverence of a wild, untamed Mother Nature; and while The Bachelor is less organic and unfettered in its sonics than, say, the snap and crackle of Wind In The Wires, its message--to preserve all the things a broadband connection cannot provide for us--is clearer than ever.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
Richly textured electro-pop teems with flamboyance and sees Wolf come over like a cosmic Martin Fry.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
The power of this album comes from the mystifyingly cohesive blend of piano ballads, orchestral choirs, heavy metal, and completely danceable electronic.
Read Full Review >Uncut
It’s a ravishing production, and with a companion disc promised next year, feels like a fresh start for a brilliant career.
Read Full Review >Under The Radar
Never cheaply manipulative or sentimental, The Bachelor is Wolf's most ambitious album both sonically and thematically. [Summer 2009, p.69]
Q Magazine
Daft, complex, and beautiful, it's also his best yet. [Jul 2009, p.133]
Lost At Sea
Wolf, ever so self-aware, makes The Bachelor's most intimate moments its most powerful ones, where the frivolity stops and the artist reverts to his eccentric, idealistic nature.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
Listeners who are not acquainted with the idiosyncratic vocal stylings of Wolf's Britpop predecessors (think of Bryan Ferry, Dave Gahan and especially Morrissey) might find his singing too over the top to take seriously. The way Wolf sees it, though, very serious topics require very dramatic treatment.
Read Full Review >Paste Magazine
There's little here in the way of cohesion, but Wolf demonstrates a nuanced affection for his craft that’s easy to appreciate.
Read Full Review >Urb
The Bachelor is quite a journey with a clear direction and theme. Wolf is going through an inner struggle and seeks to find a resolution.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Wolf has often stated that he has no allegiance to styles when it comes to recording, but The Bachelor feels most alive when it's wallowing in its own dusky ruin.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
It's all gloriously indulgent--Wolf is one kook who should never try to resist his own kookiness.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
The Bachelor is a thoughtful record whose greatest flaw is only that it’s overthought (though to the fans obsessive enough to fund it, that’s probably a bonus).
Read Full Review >Prefix Magazine
While The Bachelor is not a bad listen, it takes a little more energy to understand than seems fair for what it delivers.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
The Bachelor most damningly lacks the charm attendant with any of those character descriptions, continuing Wolf's ability to please one's inner music critic, but too often ignoring any sort of pleasure principle.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe
There’s talent here, but it seems Wolf’s spent so much time devising a plan to smuggle abstraction over the pop barricades that he neglected to pack the payload.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
The Bachelor sounds like another attempt by Wolf to perfect something that he got pretty much right on his first album.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
The Bachelor has more than a whiff of a histrionic West End musical confined to a primary school assembly hall which means it's 10 out of 10 for effort, but for execution...
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The Bachelor is the work of a hugely fertile imagination, skipping from the aforementioned Celtic folk to electro to glam, but one wonders how much more affecting Wolf might be if the grand passions were calmed down a little, the musical magpie impulses restrained a tad. For now, he's a little too much of a good thing.
Read Full Review >Spin
His fourth album is a buzzing, overblown concept piece about psychic warfare, in which sheer force of will conquers icky stuff like depression and homophobia.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Patrick Wolf still engenders a puzzling and sometimes fascinating discussion about romanticism and pretension and authenticity and songwriter worship, but what’s disappointing is that he seems to no longer be a part of that discussion, simply the subject of it.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Where his previous records felt vital and exciting, The Bachelor often sounds staid and predictable.
Read Full Review >Mojo
If you open your album with a song, 'Hard Times,' which rails against the mediocrity of the modern world, it might be worth ensuring it isn't the only tune out of 14 that sticks in the memory. [Jul 2009, p.105]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
