Mumford & Sons

VIMTV Album Review #538: Mumford & Sons – Babel

Jake: 59/100

Tom: 59/100

Verdict: A disappointing release from a folk-rock band with much more potential.

Overview: This album might as well be titled “Songs that sound good in concert; just like our first album.”Babel shows us that Mumford & Sons isn’t finished with the musical message they were delivering on 2009’s Sigh No More.  It’s pretty obvious to us that this album doesn’t bring much new to the table; you could pick any 12 songs out of their discography and assemble them into a Mumford & Sons album.  That’s the definition of formulaic, gimmicky music.  Mumford’s instrumentation, songwriting, dynamics and vocal presentation are all very strong.  The production is clean to a fault.  But there is an element of originality and soul lost on this sterile, manufactured release.  Unless you’ve already drank the Kool-Aid, don’t start now.

Jake’s Track Picks: 

• 8. Reminder
• 9. Hopeless Wanderer

Tom’s Track Picks: 

• 1. Babel
• 8. Reminder

VIMTV Episode #124: Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More

Jake: Recommended, 79/100

Tom: Recommended, 75/100

-Requested by and dedicated to Lindsay Phillips

Overview: As the debut album from this British folk/rock group, Sigh No More shows a lot of promise. It’s full of emotionally driving melodies and intense, earthy jams, topped by Marcus Mumford’s soothingly addictive voice. The Downsides: Not much here, but mainly the sheer lack of variety. Mumford & Sons try to achieve the same “epic” sound with every track, which ends up being somewhat self defeating, but not enough to ruin the inarguable talent that is present on this record.

Recommended Similar Artists: Noah and the Whale, Dave Matthews Band

Jake’s Track Picks: 

• 5. White Blank Page
• 6. I Gave You All
• 7. Little Lion Man

Tom’s Track Picks: 

• 2. The Cave
• 4. Roll Away Your Stone
• 7. Little Lion Man

VIMTV Research Links:

• Mumford & Sons Official Website
• Wikipedia – Mumford & Sons
• Mumford & Sons Myspace
• Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More review at Metacritic
• Lyrics – Mumford & Sons

Litle Lion Man Music Video

White Blank Page Live