Critical reception
Hamburg Demonstrations was met with generally favourable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 67 based on twenty reviews. [2] The aggregator AnyDecentMusic? has the critical consensus of the album at a 6.2 out of 10, based on twenty-two reviews. [1]
Barry Nicolson of NME praised the album, declaring: "it sounds like a long-overdue coming-of-age. It's never been easy being a fan of Doherty, but it's certainly getting more rewarding". [7] AllMusic's Heather Phares stated: "Doherty's solo career has resulted in some of his most rewarding music even if it's not the most attention-getting, and fans who have stuck with him this long will find a lot to enjoy on Hamburg Demonstrations". [3] Terry Staunton of Classic Rock noted: "the skeletal arrangements allow the controlled frailty of Doherty's voice to pack a stronger emotional punch". [4] Andy Baber of musicOMH proclaimed: "there is nothing here that is dramatically different to what he offered on his debut solo album, but the end result is charming and beautifully comforting nonetheless". [6]
In mixed reviews, Tim Jonze of The Guardian resumed: "The Kinks-esque melodies are surprisingly tuneful and, during its hushed moments, Doherty proves himself a deft master of late-night intimacy". [10] Phil Mongredien of The Observer wrote: "it's not without its longueurs--"Oily Boker" is an unremarkable five minutes--but at least Doherty can once again show why anybody was bothered about him in the first place". [11] Randall Colburn of The A.V. Club concluded: "there is the sense here that he's trying to get away from himself, to grasp at problems that loom larger than those in his personal life. It feels necessary, if not particularly memorable". [9] Pryor Stroud of PopMatters expressed: "Hamburg Demonstrations, for all its charm and cheeky wordplay and get-the-bar-to-its-feet swagger, doesn't quite live up to the expectations that its forbear set for it. Nevertheless, this is millennial Brit-rock through and through". [8]
In negative reviews, Scott Heisel of Consequence stated: "the album falls flat in just about every aspect. It's not offensively bad, it's inoffensively boring". [5] Lily Moayeri of Under the Radar penned: "the intriguing collage cover of Hamburg Demonstrations is the best thing about this album, which feels unfinished, more like a gathering of demos than a realized, cohesive collection". [12]
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