Sleepytime Gorilla Museum songs ranked
I've been jamming these guys a lot recently and realised that it's often incredibly hard to differentiate the quality of their songs beyond the three vague tiers of GIMMICKY/VAGUE/IRRITATING, GOOD and FANTASTIC - their albums are dense, relatively consistent and usually bereft of highlight songs. And so, here's a shot at an overall ranking to prove it can be done. Not to mention that the band are fantastic and deserve more attention here. |
| 33 |  | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
Sunflower |
| 32 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
The Minature |
| 31 |  | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
Formicary |
| 30 |  | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
The 17-Year Cicada |
| 29 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
Cockroach |
| 28 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
The Putrid Refrain |
| 27 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
What Shall We Do Without Us? |
| 26 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
More Time |
| 25 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
Ablutions |
| 24 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
The Creature |
| 23 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
The Stain - whilst it verges on being one of their more tedious tracks, The Stain has a few kickass grooves that just about keep it animated. That said, its spareness is starting to grow on me, so who knows where it could end up given time. |
| 22 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
Salt Crown |
| 21 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
Puppet Show - in some ways this is the quintessential SGM song, but it comes across more as a specimen than an epitome and has always struck me as somewhat formulaic. |
| 20 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
Bring Back the Apocalypse - starting off as a pseudo-interlude with a very cool frenzied undercurrent that eventually spirals into a fist-pumping off-kilter mantra, this is a very nice example of a transitional song that stands strong on its own. |
| 19 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
1997 (Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's...) - SGM's parody rock song is hilarious and actually pretty groovy, but it relies a little too much on its irony to have much further impact. |
| 18 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
Helpless Corpses Enactment - the inevitable James Joyce track is quite possibly the heaviest caper in this band of heavy caper's career. It's predictably manic and somewhat overbearing but makes for a pretty enjoyable listen. |
| 17 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
The Widening Eye |
| 16 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
Ambugaton - fantastic jam, great structure and a stellar lyric. Ambugaton plays it a little safe, but gets everything more or less right. |
| 15 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
Ossuary |
| 14 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
Flinch |
| 13 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
FC: The Freedom Club - Fans might give me a hard time for ranking this outside the top 10 but I've always found the menacing build of the first half to be far superior to the chaos of the second. SGM have always been somewhat challenged when it comes to crafting successful climaxes, and this song demonstrates that clearly. It's still one of their finer moments though, capturing their apocalyptic side very convincingly. |
| 12 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
Sleep Is Wrong |
| 11 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
The Only Dance |
| 10 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
The Donkey-Headed Adversary of Mankind Opens the Discussion |
| 9 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
Phthisis - the GROOVES and RHYTHMS and MENACE are SO DAMN GOOD here. Sure, it's less ambitious or bizarre than the majority of their other tracks, but Phthisis is badass beyond belief. |
| 8 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
Hymn to the Morning Star |
| 7 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
Babydoctor |
| 6 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
The Companions |
| 5 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
The Greenless Wreath - the hidden gem of their discography: this song stretches out the harrowing, repetitive dimensions of their sound out to their full extent and the result is devastatingly sorrowful. It's not an easy listen and takes a while to absorb, but this unrelenting dirge is a surprisingly honest offering from a band notoriously prone to gimmickry. |
| 4 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
Powerless |
| 3 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Of Natural History
Gunday's Child |
| 2 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Grand Opening and Closing
Sleepytime |
| 1 | | Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
Angle of Repose - picking an overall winner was tough, given how little there is to set most of these songs apart, but Angle of Repose ticks all the boxes and more. The lyrics, atmosphere and progression is quintessentially SGM, but there's something about the focus and menace here that edges it out over their other work. The climax is absolutely fantastic and Carla's vocal performance is a force to be reckoned with. |
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