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Originally posted by Gopher:

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Originally posted by DCFan:
I disagree with the LCW and Long Drive comparison. I'm a huge Modest Mouse fan....I love their entire catalog. However, I think Long Drive is what you would expect for a debut...raw, experimental, even a little unsure. The Lonesome Crowded West is much more mature overall, and it's instrumentation reflects that...it actually made Modest Mouse become a little more accessible. It's also much more ambitious in combining various influences/genres/sounds. I think Long Drive actually sounds a little punk-ish, whereas The Lonesome Crowded West sounds like the title...cosmic, introspective, etc....basially, on Long Drive, Brock sounds (both in the music and vocals/lyrics) just pissed off. On the Lonesome Crowded West, he was better at channeling his anger and feelings.

yeah but how is the actual instrumentation different? the guitars sound the same. both have their share of raw-rock: shit luck and doin the cockroach vs tundra-desert and exit does not exist. also, both have their share of sentimental or more mature sounding songs: talking shit and dramamine vs trailer trash and bankrupt on selling. and you cant tell me that songs like ionizes and atomizes or mechanical birds arent as cosmic/introspective as heart cooks brain and styrofoam boots. overall i agree to some extent that LCW is a bit more polished, but generally i would say they have similar instrumentation, especially as compared to M&A, GNFPWLBN, and to a lesser extent, BNOOS. anyway, i am talking more about actual instrumentation and nothing else here.


No offense of course, just healthy debate from one mm fan to another. they are my favorite band by far.

i mean, i agree with you that a lot of the instrumentation is the same...but i think that's not so much a product of writing in the same form and style as a product of brock's writing and playing style. everything they've done has the brock characteristic style. i try to look at the progression from Long Drive to Moon and Antarctica...The LCW was definitely a middle between those two. Every record has gotten a little more polished and a sound and style have gotten more defined. Even instrumentation and style in M&A are similar to the earlier albums. Yes, you could argue M&A is more of a conceptual album than the earlier albums, but i guess i just think you can notice the progression from the Long Drive to M&A and see the differences and changes taking place. All three are different, but the progression is where you see those differences.

Easily my favorite band ever though...

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Originally posted by Gopher:
"a nautical balalaika carnival romp" sounds to me kind of like GNFPWLBN. So i guess we can expect something similar sounding. not that there is anything wrong with that, of course. LCW had the same instrumentation and sound-ography (if i may) as Long Drive.

Whatever that means, it sounds eclectic like Good News was. I was kind of hoping for a thematic album, like M&A. But, very few bands these days bother going through the trouble of making a cohesive album. Especially on a major label, it's easier to churn out a bunch of unrelated, single-worthy tunes. To be honest, I'll take whatever they give though. The only variable will be how much time I spend listening to it. I listen to LCW, M&A, and some songs from Everywhere/Long Drive/Good News at least some time during the week.

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Easily my favorite band ever though...

Amen to that!

And now the album is pushed back to 2007.

So much for hoping it makes my top 3.

Are you serious? Where'd you hear that?

Wikipedia:
"The album was believed to be set for release on December 19, 2006 but in an e-mail sent to members of Modest Mouse's e-mail list on October 6, 2006, it says "The forthcoming record, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, is set for release early next year..."

So anyone have anything to say about We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank?

I like it a lot but I'm still fairly new to Modest Mouse's music. With that, I have a startling confession to make. I am one of the fans they got after Float On came out. As much as I love the two newest albums, I really do try to seek out as much of their older music as possible. (via download. We Were Dead is the only CD of theirs I own so far)

Good News is and probably will remain my favorite MM album. We Were Dead is a good 'un, though.

what about Sad Sappy Sucker

i think the best modest mouse album is the moon and antarctica. isaac still had that esoteric meandering quality to his songwriting, and this album successfully married it to fantastic production-work on every song. lonesome crowded west is a close second, if only because the production isn't quite as intriguing, to my sensibilities anyway.

I haven't really sat down and listened to "We Were Dead..." the way I probably should, but I've heard pretty much all of it (or a lot of it) in friends' cars and things. Can't say I'm crazy about it. Like a lot of people have said it seems like they play it safe in a way. It does sound like a natural progression from the last album and to a lesser extant the one before that, and I admire them for growing and aging. I'd rather them make a mediocre album like this one than try to rehash old glory. But nothing about it struck out at me the way the Mouse usta. Maybe I just outgrew them, I have a hard time listening to most of their music after playing it all so much.

But if you don't know me/it's not obvious I voted TM&A as well. Lyrically it's Brock's most thematic, most consistent, most heavy. The instrumentation is spacey and fits the lyrics and singing well, it's got a real Pink Floyd kind of vibe I think. As criticized as the "pacing/middle section" part is, I always thought it was a gradual and acceptable bridge between the first and last parts and was never distracted by it. It's at a point now though where just reading the lyrics or thinking about them is more powerful than hearing the actual songs, maybe it's a relic of 16 year old me or maybe my ideas of production have dated the album some or probably I just played it too much. But I think if anyone like me heard it the first time today it would be the greatest.

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e best modest mouse album is the moon and antarctica.

I would tend to agree, however, I think the top 6 or 7 songs from Good News are the best top tier they've ever released.

Bukowski and The Good Times are Killing Me are probably my 2 favorite off that album, although The World at Large is great also.

Yeah. Modest Mouse still makes good songs. But they haven't made a good Album since Moon and Antarctica.

Well.... okay. Good News was pretty solid for me for several months so I guess it was good too. But they haven't done it since then.

This isn't even close. Clearly "The Moon and Antarctica" is their best record. Some of the things that Brock says on that record make my mind melt and really put me in my place.

F.I., "everyone's afraid in their own lives...if you could be anything you wanted to be, you'd be disappointed, am i right"

Yeah, I agree Moses. The cool thing about Isaac's lyrics, particularly on The Moon and Antarctica is that the words go beyond just being clever plays on words and actually have a really deep meaning.

I'm afraid often times on the new album they seem to just remain as clever word play.

this is a long drive..... hands down
with lonesome crowded west coming in a close 2nd

i dont like what they've been doing much at all since the moon & antartica & only liked a few songs off that though.

With each release the fly closer and closer to mediocrity.

I think both the Lonesome Crowded West and The Moon and Antarctica were both amazing relases, and very good for road-trips!

Though I don't like the songs on it as much as some other releases, The Moon and Antarctica is probably the most consistent album of Modest Mouse' career.

Lonesome Crowded West. Every time. It's not even close.

I agree that with the poll results which states that listeners like "the moon and antartica." that album definitely was awesome, but "good news..." had such a style and variety of songs that innovated modest mouse. But in my opinion, "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" is the BEST album ever. I can't stop listening to it. It never gets old.

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I agree that with the poll results which states that listeners like "the moon and antartica." that album definitely was awesome, but "good news..." had such a style and variety of songs that innovated modest mouse. But in my opinion, "We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank" is the BEST album ever. I can't stop listening to it. It never gets old.

Thank you. I almost feel guilty liking "We Were Dead" the most, but it's such a great album. I don't LOVE every song on it, but I don't think there's a song I truly dislike on it. One thing I'm sure plenty of you have noticed is the somewhat clearer sound in their 1-2 newest albums, probably due to the band having a larger budget in recent years. I personally like that aspect of their new stuff, but that's just me.

As for the older albums, I like "This is a Long Drive" and "Lonesome Crowded West" a lot, probably the latter a bit more. One of my favorite older songs is "Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset." I don't know why, it seems to stand out.

The best Modest Mouse album is CLEARLY Good News for People Who Love Bad News.