Cope (Manchester Orchestra album)

In the press release announcing the album's official title and release date, the band provided some further details about the album. It was revealed that Cope was recorded entirely in the band's recently completed home studio, and the album was described as an "unrelenting and unapologetically heavy 38 minutes of rock."[2] Lead singer and songwriter Andy Hull went on to explain the tone of the album: "We wanted to make the kind of album that's missing at this time in rock: something that's just brutal and pounding you over the head every track [...] Whereas Simple Math was a different palate with each song, a different color, I wanted this to be black and red the whole time."[2]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	6.5/10[3]
Metacritic	70/100[4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Alternative Press	[6]
American Songwriter	[7]
Blurt	[8]
NME	[9]
Paste	7.9/10[10]
Pitchfork	5.6/10[11]
PopMatters	6/10[12]
Rock Sound	7/10[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]

Cope mainly received positive feedback from critics upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70, based on 18 reviews, indicating 'generally positive reviews'.[4] In a review for AllMusic, Matt Collar claimed that, "Manchester Orchestra's fourth studio effort, 2014's Cope, is a heavy, often dark, yet incredibly melodic album that finds the Atlanta outfit delving deep into its post-hardcore roots."[5]

At Alternative Press, Brian Shultz rated the album four stars out of five, saying that the band are "appeared to be making the artist natural self-reaction statement when the promised their fourth full-length [...] would be 'brutal', 'pounding' and 'unapologetically heavy' rock record in contrast to the emotional and musical bell curve" of its predecessor, which this even "though appearing far more straightforward to the average listener, certainly delivers just that: it's the band's signature sound, only beefed up with massive choruses, heavy plowing and pleasing anguish".[6] In addition, Shultz closes with "And though it unfortunately eschews the dynamic emotive crests and space of past efforts in favor of MO's intensely urgent intent, the results make it a completely worthy addition to an alt-rock catalog."[6]

Miles Raymer of Entertainment Weekly stated that the album "combined indie rock melodicism with hard rock heft."[15]

Rhian Daly of NME said the album veers from the "prettier, quieter moments" of Simple Math and "focuses instead on turbo-charged power-pop."[9]

The album's track listing was announced on January 21, 2014, through the band's mailing list:[16]