This is the sort of record to which I've never caught myself saying "No, I don't think I'm in the mood for that right now". Having been born a couple years before this album, and only discovering it a few years ago, it's difficult for me to really understand this album in terms of sheer progression, innovation, and genre-creation. (Though I do recognize that it exceeds in those three areas).
For me, it's the sound itself that is so captivating. This is an album commonly considered to be exemplary of "Math-Rock" and yet you find natural, pulsating, and rhythmic songs, as opposed to the abrasiveness and conscious-unpredictability that typically either makes or breaks other albums of the genre. And the lyrics are surreal and terrifying, "...like swimming underwater in the darkness, like walking through an empty house, speaking to an imaginary audience, being watched from outside by no one".
Lastly, the ending of the album, the climax of 'Good Morning, Captain', is among the most stirring and passionate sounds I've ever heard. Genuine angst, true raw emotion, something most bands strive for but often fall short.
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