Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	59/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Clash
Loud and Quiet
MusicOMH
New Zealand Herald
Sydney Morning Herald
State	(unfavourable)
The Fly
The Mercury
This Is Fake DIY

The Loudest Engine is the third studio album of London-based Australian indie rock band Howling Bells. The album was released through Cooking Vinyl on 9 September 2011 to mostly positive reviews. It was produced by Mark Stoermer and recorded at Battle Born Studios, in Las Vegas from September to October 2010.

Howling Bells began writing for The Loudest Engine more than two years preceding its release while they supported Coldplay on the Viva la Vida Tour. The band sought to capture more closely the essence of its debut album, Howling Bells, and retract from its technically inclined predecessor, Radio Wars. Vocalist and rhythm guitarist Juanita Stein was credited for writing most of the lyrical content on The Loudest Engine. The band moved on from all five record labels it was signed to and established an exclusive partnership with Cooking Vinyl. Only one single, "Into the Sky" was released from the album and it was the first Howling Bells album issued as an LP record. The Australian release and the LP release contain an extra track named "Arrows", which is a demo that was recorded in Sydney. Preceding the release of the album, Howling Bells released a non-physical EP issued via PledgeMusic, titled Invisible. The Loudest Engine appeared on both the UK Albums Chart and the Australian Albums Chart.

Howling Bells characterized The Loudest Engine as a contemporary psychedelic endeavor which was reinforced by the atmosphere of their time spent in the Mojave Desert. To support the album Howling Bells performed a number of headline shows and opened for both Elbow and The Killers. Following this period of time, bass player Brendan Picchio left the band and was subsequently replaced by Gary Daines.

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