Generally favorable reviews - based on 17 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 17
  2. Negative: 0 out of 17
  1. The Old 97's sound youthful and newly energized, having returned to Dallas and relocated that beloved crossroads between twangy country rock and tight, economic power pop.
  2. Blame It On Gravity is a welcome return to form.
  3. The disc has plenty of amped-up, distortion-filled moments (Ride, The Easy Way), but the band throws in more than few twangy, laid-back tracks (She Loves The Sunset, The Beautiful Thing). Infectious tunes and, most important, variety, make this another great disc in the band’s solid career.
  4. Comfortable and confident all the way through, and a highly welcomed return.
  5. These 13 tunes unfold at less of a breakneck pace than some of the band's earlier songs, but the musicians are as tight and the songwriting as strong as on anything the group has released.
  6. Gravity should keep fans happy, the unconverted will stay that way, and no one will be embarrassed.
  7. Miller’s voice remains in fine form throughout, crooning and growling his smartly phrased romantic ambivalence, while the band mixes it up with Spanish, island, and jazz flavors without neglecting their beloved twang. [Summer 2008]
  8. "Strum it on a Telecaster/Sing it like a train-disaster song," sings Miller. It's a perfect mission statement from four Texans raised on the Beatles and Johnny Cash in equal measures, whose shiny melodies, and fatalistic character studies, do their forefathers proud.
  9. 70
    Their seventh studio album bucks and chugs, balancing the quartet's original alt-country impetus with Rhett Miller's love of power pop. [June 2008, p.116]
  10. 70
    Make no mistake, Blame It On Gravity is a guitar-pop record at heart. Other than a few twangy flourishes here and there, bassist Murry Hammond appears to be the one keeping the country faith, delivering one of his best performances on “Color Of A Lonely Heart Is Blue.”
  11. The songs move between love and regret and between restlessness and loneliness.
  12. It’s a nice reminder of what was so wonderful about alt-country in the first place.
  13. 60
    The players' tight grip on the material reveals a first-rate band in peak form. [June 2008, p.98]
  14. 60
    Rhett Miller’s lovelorn lyrics remain respectably literary, while his pretty singing and his pals’ pretty playing turn increasingly wan and half-cooked.
  15. What sounds like leftovers from Miller's last solo effort and bizarre surf-rock-inspired numbers rear their ugly heads, leaving these Lone Star Staters in jeopardy of repeating the grade. [July 2008, p.158]
  16. Feminist complaints aside, the problem with this seventh LP is that the Old 97's suffer from being too comfortable.
User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. CoreyJ.
    May 17, 2008
    Blame it on Gravity shows the Texan Alt-Rockers Old 97's at their absolute best. After the disappointing punch of Drag it Up, the 97's have found their sound again, returning to the days of Satellite Rides and Too Far to Care. Perhaps their finest album, Blame it on Gravity is certainly energetic, and contains many of the band's best songs. Full Review »
  2. kevD
    May 17, 2008
    97's return with a classic. This is up there with fight songs and satellite rides.