{"data":{"comparison":{"title":"Hen's Teeth vs The Shepherd's Dog","page_title":"Hen's Teeth vs The Shepherd's Dog | Iron & Wine Album Comparison","same_artist":true,"comparison_type":"discography","url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/artists\/iron-wine\/compare\/iron-wine-hens-teeth\/vs\/iron-wine-the-shepherds-dog","api_url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/api\/music\/compare?left=iron-wine-hens-teeth&right=iron-wine-the-shepherds-dog","score_gap":7,"review_gap":14,"leaders":{"score":"right","review_depth":"right","confidence":"left","consensus_tightness":"right"},"headline":"The Shepherd's Dog currently leads Hen's Teeth in Chorus's Iron & Wine critic-consensus view.","summary":"Hen's Teeth sits at 76\/100 across 11 reviews, while The Shepherd's Dog sits at 83\/100 across 25 reviews. The Shepherd's Dog has the deeper review sample right now. Consensus is tighter around The Shepherd's Dog, which suggests critics are landing in a narrower range. Use this comparison to see where the stronger critic favorite sits against the adjacent discography benchmark.","meta_description":"Compare Hen's Teeth and The Shepherd's Dog in Chorus's Iron & Wine discography. The Shepherd's Dog currently leads by 7 points on Chorus's 0-100 critic-consensus scale."},"left_album":{"album":{"id":1104,"title":"Hen's Teeth","slug":"iron-wine-hens-teeth","url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/albums\/iron-wine-hens-teeth","image_url":"images\/iron-wine\/hens-teeth\/f05c6621-5d87-574b-95e8-c6cb71ee6789.jpg","release_date":"2026-02-27","label":"Sub Pop Records","artist":{"name":"Iron & Wine","slug":"iron-wine","url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/artists\/iron-wine","ranked_url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/artists\/iron-wine\/albums-ranked"}},"answer":{"score":76,"review_count":11,"sample_state":"Established consensus","confidence_percent":89,"last_consensus_update_at":"2026-02-27T18:02:50+00:00","verdict_label":"Broadly positive consensus","verdict_summary":"Iron & Wine's Hen's Teeth reconvenes Sam Beam's warm, textural songwriting in a record that critics largely view as a quietly rich continuation of his recent work. Across reviews, the consensus suggests the album succeeds when arrangements expand familiar folk-rock instincts into lush, cinematic spaces \u2014 most notably o","standout_tracks":["Roses","In Your Ocean","Robin's Egg (feat. I'm With Her)"],"primary_praise":"The best song is 'Paper And Stone' because the reviewer calls it 'gorgeous' and 'Beam at his best' with standout fingerpicked guitar and violin.","primary_criticism":"The album\u2019s core strengths are intimate acoustic arrangements, classic singer-songwriter influences, and effective family vocal contributions.","audience_fit":"Best for listeners looking for acoustic ruminations and life and longing, starting with Roses and In Your Ocean.","methodology_url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/methodology"},"metrics":{"consensus_score":76,"review_count":11,"confidence_percent":89,"agreement_label":"Sharp split","score_std":14.3,"score_range":50,"score_min":50,"score_max":100,"source_count":8,"source_spread":[{"score":50,"source":"Under The Radar","source_slug":"under-the-radar","author":"Austin Saalman","url":"https:\/\/www.undertheradarmag.com\/reviews\/hens_teeth_iron_and_wine"},{"score":100,"source":"The Spill Magazine","source_slug":"the-spill-magazine","author":null,"url":"https:\/\/spillmagazine.com\/spill-album-review-iron-wine-hens-teeth\/"}]},"leader_badges":["Higher confidence"]},"right_album":{"album":{"id":1179,"title":"The Shepherd's Dog","slug":"iron-wine-the-shepherds-dog","url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/albums\/iron-wine-the-shepherds-dog","image_url":"images\/iron-wine\/the-shepherds-dog\/c3024794-e498-5f41-a034-7af96db0e3bf.jpg","release_date":"2007-09-25","label":"Sub Pop Records","artist":{"name":"Iron & Wine","slug":"iron-wine","url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/artists\/iron-wine","ranked_url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/artists\/iron-wine\/albums-ranked"}},"answer":{"score":83,"review_count":25,"sample_state":"Established consensus","confidence_percent":88,"last_consensus_update_at":"2026-03-23T16:16:47+00:00","verdict_label":"Broadly positive consensus","verdict_summary":"Iron & Wine's The Shepherd's Dog expands Sam Beam's folk introspection into a vividly orchestrated, often haunting record that earns an evident critical thumbs-up. Across 25 professional reviews the collection received an 83.4\/100 consensus score, and critics consistently point to a widened sonic palette, richer arrang","standout_tracks":["House by the Sea","Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car","Flightless Bird, American Mouth"],"primary_praise":"The best song is best because its quoted imagery exemplifies Beam\u2019s intimate, metaphoric lyricism.","primary_criticism":"The consensus is largely positive but nuanced: many reviewers welcome the album's lush arrangements and Southern gothic imagery, while some mourn the diminished lo-fi intimacy of e","audience_fit":"Best for listeners looking for folk intimacy and religion, starting with House by the Sea and Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car.","methodology_url":"https:\/\/chorus.reviews\/methodology"},"metrics":{"consensus_score":83,"review_count":25,"confidence_percent":88,"agreement_label":"Clear lean","score_std":8.2,"score_range":33,"score_min":67,"score_max":100,"source_count":25,"source_spread":[{"score":67,"source":"The A.V. Club","source_slug":"the-av-club","author":null,"url":"https:\/\/www.avclub.com\/review\/iron-and-wine-emthe-shepherds-dogem-7536"},{"score":100,"source":"The Skinny","source_slug":"the-skinny","author":"Hamza Khan","url":"http:\/\/www.theskinny.co.uk\/music\/records\/40366-iron_wine_shepherds_dog"}]},"leader_badges":["Higher score","More reviews","Tighter consensus"]}},"meta":{"source":"Chorus - Critical Music Consensus","last_updated":"2026-07-11T01:34:14.709666Z"}}