Yeah, the production on this album basically sucks ass. But in this case, it's really a non-issue; the songs themselves are so awesome that it is easy to see past the fact that this album sounds like it was recorded on an iPod while all of the guys were hung over. Though the re-recorded versions of "Turnstyles" and "The Old Timer's 2x4" are infinitely better than these versions, the album still has several stand-out tracks in "Ghost Stories", "Sixteen Hours", "Light Breathing", "106 South" and "Minute". This was where the Lawrence Arms crafted the template for the albums to follow, with Kelly and McCaughan trading off lead vocal duties between songs. While not nearly as polished as their later work, Ghost Stories offers plenty for fans of the band, and maybe fans of the more raw sound prevalent on Guided Tour of Chicago.
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