The Courage of Others

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
BBC	(positive)[4]
Drowned in Sound	[5]
musicOMH	[6]
NME	[7]
One Thirty BPM	(5.2/10)[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
Spin	[10]
Toro	[11]
Classic Rock	[12]

In 2014, drownedinsound.com called the album "a masterclass in crafted repose – repeated listens and time spent in its company yielding considerable reward". While Uncut was less impressed: "Midlake's secret is out: they're highly skilled dilettantes, attempting to master a different genre on each album just to give themselves a challenge. That's no crime in itself, and it beats making the same record over and over again, but it may explain the gaping hole at the heart of this strangely frigid album". And Tinymixtapes called it "the first great record of 2010, though one that admittedly requires a little adjusting... I’m not going to say that opener “Acts of Man” — with songwriter Tim Smith’s lyric “When all the newness of gold/ Travels far from where anyone’s been/ More like the earth/ Over years” lilting over plucked acoustic guitars and skittering snare — isn’t a little ridiculous; the kind of pompous, overblown rock poetry that punk was supposed to have killed. But I’ll argue that it serves as an appropriate disclaimer for the album: If you engage in the alien nomenclature — the way most of us have to when we listen to, say, Lil Wayne or Sun Ra — you’re in for an incredible listen."

All songs written by Tim Smith.[13]

Midlake

• Tim Smith - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Flute, Recorder, Piano, Keyboards
• Eric Pulido - Guitars, Dulcimer, Autoharp, Percussion, Backing Vocals
• Paul Alexander - Bass, Electric Guitar, Bassoon
• McKenzie Smith - Drums, Percussion
• Eric Nichelson - Guitars, Autoharp, Percussion

with

• Max Townsley - Electric Guitar
• Jesse Chandler - Harpsichord
• Fiona Brice - Violin
• Stephanie Dosen - Harmony vocals on 'Bring Down'