The Sunset Tree is the ninth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 26, 2005 by 4AD. The album's songs revolve around the house John Darnielle grew up in and the people who lived there, including his mother, sister, stepfather, friends, and enemies. The Sunset Tree received notable acclaim from critics, and was instrumental in introducing the Mountain Goats to a wider, mainstream audience. A prominent review of The Sunset Tree in The New York Times called the album 'extraordinary', and The New Yorker's rock critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, pronounced Darnielle as 'America's best non-hip-hop lyricist' in an essay in May 2005.
In October 2025, more than twenty years after the album's release, Paste named The Sunset Tree the 50th greatest album of the 21st Century, in their list of 'The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far'.
I remember saying on the other Mountain Goats album that this is the album that should have been submitted. Good to know someone has submitted it.
A top album for me and I've been listening to it for over a decade. Love it.
My personal rating: 5/5
My rating relative to the list: 5/5
Should this have been included on the original list? Yes.
John Danielle reminiscing about his childhood and teenage years, plagued by an abusive stepfather and consequent early alcohol and drug problems, sure yields to quite a few striking lyrics during the course of this LP. The thing is, I would lie if I said I consider each and every song from *The Sunset Tree* compelling on a purely musical standpoint, contrary to what happens in *All Hail West Texas*.
It's odd because that other The Mountain Goats album is just Darnielle playing the guitar and singing on an old tape recorder, and yet the tracklist there feels livelier and more dynamic. Not that the musicians playing with John on today's suggestion are doing a bad job. It's just that a lot of the songs feel incomplete somehow.
There are exceptions, of course, like "This Year" (great chorus there), "Lion's Teeth" (a revenge fantasy ending in a frustrating stalemate, nicely served by the driven instrumentation), and "Pale Green Things" (a very moving barebones closer, where Darnielle files the case of his old abuser at last, when he learns about his death). But let's face it, apart from those examples, there are not enough memorable cuts in that record that would make me return to it.
Thanks for the suggestion, though. It's nice that I know more about Darnielle's artistry now, as it's nice that I know more about his life story as well. This record is way more "confessional" than *All Hail West Texas*, which is goofier and more sarcastic in tone, generally speaking. It's great that Darnielle can use his songwriting skills to reach some catharsis, so I perfectly understand why some fans would fawn over this album. It's just that I can't "sense" the catharsis in the music itself. Not saying it's not there. Just saying it's out of my own reach.
2.5/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, rounded up to 3.
7.5/10 for more general purposes (5 + 2.5)
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Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465
Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288
Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336
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Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 64
Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 82
Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 156 (including this one)
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Emile... Je viens de lire ta dernière réponse. Je vais essayer de trouver le temps de rédiger la mienne pendant la période des fêtes. D'ici-là, ben joyeux Noël et bonne année aussi !
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