A Mad & Faithful Telling

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A Mad & Faithful Telling
A Mad & Faithful Telling.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 18, 2008 (2008-03-18)
RecordedWavelab Studio, Tucson, AZ
NFA, Denver, CO
Genre Indie folk, gypsy punk
Length42:08
Label Anti-
Producer
DeVotchKa chronology
Curse Your Little Heart
(2006)
A Mad & Faithful Telling
(2008)
I Love You Phillip Morris
(2009)

A Mad & Faithful Telling is the fifth studio album from the American band DeVotchKa. It was released by Anti- on March 18, 2008. The band's largest tour to date, in support of the album, began on April 26, 2008 at the music festival Coachella. [1]

Contents

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 78/100 [2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Robert Christgau B− [4]
Kevchino9/10 [5]
Music EmissionsStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
Pitchfork 7.7/10 [7]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Tiny Mix Tapes Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [9]

On the review aggregator Metacritic, A Mad & Faithful Telling has a score of 78 out of 100 based on 22 critics' reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reception. [2]

Todd Lavoie of the San Francisco Bay Guardian noted that "A Mad and Faithful Telling throbs and buzzes like a breathless raconteur, its 42 minutes brimming with sentimentality and spectacle", [10] and included the album in his top 10 for 2008. [11] Writing for The Austin Chronicle , Austin Powell said the album "unsheathes a musical realm without boundaries", giving it four out of five stars, [12] whereas Melanie Haupt ranked it ninth on her "National Top 10" list. [13] Joe Tangari of Pitchfork ranked it 12th on his top 25 albums of 2008. [14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Nick Urata and DeVotchKa.

No.TitleLength
1."Basso Profundo"5:14
2."Along the Way"4:01
3."The Clockwise Witness"4:37
4."Head Honcho"3:45
5."Comrade Z"2:24
6."Transliterator"4:31
7."Blessing in Disguise"5:49
8."Undone"5:03
9."Strizzalo"1:30
10."New World"5:14
Total length:42:08
iTunes bonus track [15]
No.TitleLength
11."Undone" (with the Hagerman Quartet)4:33

Personnel

Charts

Chart (2008)Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [16] 26
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [17] 9
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [18] 29
US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard) [19] 10

References

  1. "DeVotchKa Announce Spring Mad and Faithful North American Tour". Anti-. Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "A Mad & Faithful Telling by Devotchka". Metacritic . Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  3. Leahey, Andrew. "A Mad and Faithful Telling Review". AllMusic . Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  4. Christgau, Robert. "Robert Christgau: CG: DeVotchKa". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  5. Brown, Hannis. "DeVotchKa: A Mad & Faithful Telling: Kevchino Review". Kevchino. Archived from the original on November 22, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  6. Younes, Gabe (June 23, 2008). "Devotchka - A Mad And Faithful Telling Review". Music Emissions. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  7. Bowers, William (March 19, 2008). "DeVotchKa: A Mad & Faithful Telling: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  8. Hermes, Will (May 1, 2008). "A Mad And Faithful Telling : DeVotchKa : Review". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on April 21, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  9. Holmes, Filmore Mescalito (March 27, 2008). "Tiny Mix Tapes Reviews: DeVotchKa - A Mad & Faithful Telling". Tiny Mix Tapes . Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  10. Lavoie, Todd (March 26 – April 1, 2008). "DEVOTCHKA A Mad and Faithful Telling". San Francisco Bay Guardian . Vol. 42, no. 26. p. 30. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  11. Lavoie, Todd (December 17–23, 2008). "Todd Lavoie's Top 10". San Francisco Bay Guardian . Vol. 43, no. 12. p. 26. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  12. Powell, Austin (March 14, 2008). "DEVOTCHKA A Mad & Faithful Telling (Anti-)". The Austin Chronicle . Vol. 27, no. 28. SXSW Music Fest Insert, p. 36. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  13. "National Top 10s". The Austin Chronicle . Vol. 28, no. 18. January 2, 2009. p. 52. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  14. "2008 Albums of the Year: Individual Lists". Pitchfork . December 19, 2008. Archived from the original on December 21, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  15. "A Mad and Faithful Telling (Bonus Track Version) by DeVotchKa". iTunes. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  16. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  17. "DeVotchKa Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  18. "DeVotchKa Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2025.
  19. "DeVotchKa Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 31, 2025.