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Last Active 02-25-16 1:12 am
Joined 03-07-07
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| The Mountain Goats Ranked
They've become one of my favourite bands over the past couple of
years. No other person in music comes close to matching John Darnielle's
songwriting prowess and lyrical genius (in my most humble opinion), and
the amount of music he has produces is staggering. At long last, I have
heard it all. This ranking does not include EPs, or the compilations,
meaning a lot of his early cassette recordings are not represented. For
the sake of keeping it somewhat simple, I've just ranked his 18 full-length
releases. | | 18 |  | The Mountain Goats
Hot Garden Stomp
An early cassette from 1993. Darnielle's magic is missing a bit here and some of the
songs are completely forgettable, though there is some good to be found here.
2.7/5 | | 17 |  | The Mountain Goats
Taboo VI: The Homecoming
The oldest thing on the list, this cassette was an interesting representation of
Darnielle's style, but not one that showcased his brilliance, at least not consistently. 3.1/5 | | 16 |  | The Mountain Goats
The Life Of The World To Come
A relatively weak effort by The Mountain Goats pt. 2 (studio version) but still a
great album. 3.4/5 | | 15 |  | The Mountain Goats
Zopilote Machine
In many ways, this was The Mountain Goat's first "official" LP. More cohesive than
earlier works, but Darnielle still had tweaking to do. 3.5/5 | | 14 |  | The Mountain Goats
The Hound Chronicles
The second oldest album on this list, this 1992 release brilliantly captures Darnielle's
unique songwriting approach, flaws and all. 3.6/5 | | 13 |  | The Mountain Goats
Sweden
1995 produced two great Mountain Goats albums. 3.8/5 | | 12 |  | The Mountain Goats
Nothing For Juice
An album with a distinct charm and likability, even if it is quite rough around the
edges. 3.9/5 | | 11 |  | The Mountain Goats
Heretic Pride
A marvelous album that gets often overlooked (by me as well) in favour of similar
but somehow more distinct and satisfying. 4/5 | | 10 |  | The Mountain Goats
Get Lonely
The lovely Adam Thomas put it brilliantly: "the mountain goats album for when you
realize everything is your fault and you just want to die" 4.1/5 (both the album and
the quote) | | 9 |  | The Mountain Goats
All Eternals Deck
A soaring return to top form after one of their overall weakest albums. 4.3/5, and
Damn These Vampires is one of their best songs. | | 8 |  | The Mountain Goats
Full Force Galesburg
The sound of The Mountain Goats starting to build towards something immense.
Their last album before the BIG 5. 4.4/5 | | 7 |  | The Mountain Goats
Hail and Farewell, Gothenburg
An underrated and largely overlooked work by the 1995 rendition of The Mountain
Goats. They're still finding their feet a little bit, but there are flickers of genius reminiscent of later classics. 4.4/5 | | 6 |  | The Mountain Goats
Transcendental Youth
In 2012 John Darnielle shows us all that he's still got it, as he produces possibly his
best record since the golden era. best songs: Lakeside View Apartments Suite,
Night Light, Transcendental Youth | | 5 |  | The Mountain Goats
We Shall All Be Healed
Ahh, my first Mountain Goats album. I have fond memories of listening to this one
night, drunk and a little drugged out, and it finally sank in. I had a weird feeling
that I was listening to a special band, and it was then that I decided to start
discovering their music. This album flows so well from start to finish and works as
one long story. I can't believe an album that I love this much could be at number
5, but The Mountain Goats pumped out absolute gold from 2000 to 2005. 4.6/5 best
songs: Palmcorder Yanja, The Young Thousands, Your Belgian Things, Quito | | 4 |  | The Mountain Goats
All Hail West Texas
The last of the lo-fi masterpieces; after this album Darnielle would move to the
studio and use a full band approach. Like most of the music in this era of their
career, accessibility is not its strength. Something about this album kept me coming
back, and in time I wondered how I could have ever doubted it. 4.7/5 best songs:
The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton, Color In Your Cheeks, Fault Lines, The
Mess Inside | | 3 |  | The Mountain Goats
The Sunset Tree
The fan favourite: the almighty Sunset Tree. By 2005, The Mountain Goats were
riding a previous four records of incredible quality. Surely the magic had to stop, or
at least slow down at some point, but this was not that point. 4.8/5 best songs:
You or Your Memory, This Year, Up The Wolves, Hast Thou Considered the
Tetrapod, Love Love Love | | 2 |  | The Mountain Goats
Tallahassee
In 2002, The Mountain Goats sound was forever changed as Darnielle ditched the
lo-fi gear and stepped into the studio with a full band. The result was yet another
masterpiece, and a sign of things to come. Darnielle's songwriting adapted brilliant
to the drastically different approach, which lead to The Mountain Goats attaining a
much more accessible, and yet no less authentic, sound. 4.8/5 best tracks: No
Children, No Children, No Children, No Children, Game Shows Touch Our Lives,
Oceanographer's Choice, Tallahassee, also No Children is good. | | 1 |  | The Mountain Goats
The Coroner's Gambit
Released in the magical year that was 2000, this slow burner became my favourite
over the past two years. This was the moment in Darnielle's career where his lo-fi
approach and songwriting combined perfectly to create an intimate, beautiful, and
personal piece of music. It may not be the shiniest, catchiest, or even most likable
album in The Mountain Goat's discography, but there is something undeniably
endearing about it that makes me return to it again and again. An underrated
masterpiece of the indie/folk sound. 5/5 best tracks (literally all of them, but...):
Elijah, Bluejays and Cardinals, There Will Be No Divorce, Family Happiness, Scotch
Grove | |
Aids
10.07.12 | Also, Tallahasse was released 10 years ago next month, and Crooked Neighbor has put together a tribute album called "Tallahassee Turns Ten." The whole album is covered, each song by a differnet artist. Guests include Andrew Jackson Jihad, Bomb The Music Industry!, Kimya Dawson, and get this, Laura Stevenson doing "No Children"
It will rule, check it out here: http://www.tallahasseeturnsten.com/ | Sirob
10.07.12 | wow that will definitely be awesome and nice list man | Rikardur
10.07.12 | good list, all I can say | therayder
10.07.12 | Really similar to my own list, great job! | cb123
10.07.12 | pretty decent ranking, great list for an incredible band, one of my favourites to, although i love all eternals deck a bit more than most because it was the first i heard of them and has that special spot | auberginedreams
10.07.12 | i like marduk t-shirt mens room incident off of 11, that might might be my favorite song i've heard from this band. | Aids
10.07.12 | for some reason, instead of listening to The Mountain Goats while I made this, I listened to the new Muse album. It fucking sucks. now listening to The Sunset Tree to forget the trauma. | Sirob
10.07.12 | made me want to go listen to Dance Music | Spare
10.07.12 | no children makes me fucking cry like a fuckwit | Treeman
10.07.12 | i like this band | Jash
10.07.12 | Hahahahaha yeah new Muse sucks. I wish I liked this band more, just hasn't clicked yet. I feel like I could really like them a lot though | Aids
10.07.12 | second best band man get on board | Aids
10.07.12 | "no children makes me fucking cry like a fuckwit"
1237 | SeaAnemone
10.09.12 | have you heard the Tallahassee cover album yet? | ThunderNeutral21
10.09.12 | 1
4
2
3 | mryrtmrnfoxxxy
09.04.13 | finally jamming 4 |
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