The Sunset Tree

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.

I've noted elsewhere in this list that I'm a Mountain Goats fan going way back to the relatively obscure lo-fi, home recording days. This kicks off with kind of a slow start but after hitting its stride on track 3 it's one banger after another. As always Darnielle's voice is the weaker link (though it fits the purpose and is sort of a low key masterclass in making the best of what you've got), and I'm willing to forgive a lot for lyrics I love - and I love his lyrics. A good one.

The Sunset Tree is one of the many great albums of The Mountain Goats. Full of folky songs that often sound quite optimistic. The somewhat squeaky voice of John Darnielle produces lyrics that are cynical, dark, but often very much to the point. This album does not contain one of their best songs, though the overall level of the compositions is impressive.

This album is lyrically a fucked up and beautiful creation. I need like 15 more relistens to really get with it.

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) ---- 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 ---- 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) ---- 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 !

I was listening to this sad millennial white boy music and paused briefly to investigate what my cat was meowing about. She just wanted a tickle under her chin - something readily available from me, and gratefully provided - but after fussing the murderous little beast I sat down again, absently neglecting to resume the music. After a good few minutes, I remembered that I had been listening to an album, but I found that I actually preferred the silence of not playing it. That should probably say everything that can be said about how I feel about this. It's a DNF and instead I'm going to play some William Onyeabor.

I do love the Mountain Goats, and this is the perfect album for listening to on New Year’s Eve. “This Year” is now my mantra as I head into a year full of promise but likely to be worse than the last… *sigh*

Heh. Just had a signed copy of the 20th anniversary edition come in the post. It contains No Children, a song that struck me deeper in the dark parts of my soul than possibly any song ever. And it may not even be the best song on the album.

One of my all time favorites. I could have given this a 5 without a fresh listen, but I listened to it again because I like it so much. I’ve probably listened to it, oh, 50 times. Up the Wolves is the best track. It’s my favorite MG song of all time second only to No Children.

A more uptempo and fleshed out Mountain Goats LP. I'm not usually a singer-songwriter fan, but this band makes me smile – it was nice to hear the characteristically tongue-in-cheek yet genuine lyricism of their prior work set against some quicker, meatier instrumentals.

Good lyrical content here. I'm not a fan of this style of music. It's just not enough to keep me engaged. I'm glad I heard it though.

I really rather enjoyed this. Gave They Might Be Giants vocals vibes.

I didn’t know Dan did 1001 albums. Congrats buddy on finishing

Folk rock. Me ha gustado. Un 4.

Pretty good

Snoozer

Beautiful, but derivative. Charming, but unoriginal. Consistent, but lacking variety.

Not really singing as such but spoken word? The music is good- strings and rocky moments. I'm suprised not to have heard of them- maybe a transatlantic blocker in place. Still, they're ok but nothing special in my book.

He does sound like a goat 2