| 2.5 average |
| Against Me! Black Crosses |
| White Crosses sucks in my opinion, a huge stray from the Against Me! we all knew belting out "Baby, I'm An Anarchist", but the Black Crosses reissue comes with some gems. The acoustic versions of many of the songs are worth a listen, but maybe that's just because I'm a sucker for remembering a time when Against Me! played good old folk punk. Otherwise, hearing other versions of the songs are fun, but the album overall is a huge disappointment. |
| Rise Against Appeal to Reason |
| The Mountain Goats Taboo VI: The Homecoming |
| Not the best off of John Darnielle's enormous catalog, but worth a listen no doubt considering it is his first official release. He said himself he never thought anyone save his close friends would hear it, so it shouldn't really represent his work, but it's a must have for a Mountain Goats collector/megafan. John once said "I'd like to offer this note of caution to those who like the later stuff and are trying to get their hands on my first efforts: you probably won't like it much, and if you pay an inflated price for it, you'll probably feel cheated. Having said that, if you still feel inclined to hunt it down, I do hope that you enjoy it on its own meager terms. It means well and didn't want to hurt anyone. Except for maybe that one guy. I hate that guy." He also mentioned how the next release, The Hound Chronicles, should be where someone should start if they really want to hear the real first tMG and the first songs that influenced the rest of his work. |
