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Avg: 4.0 (278 ratings)
- Date Released: February 3, 2004
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: 4AD
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We Say...
Strings! Drums! A professional recording studio! Over the previous few Mountain Goats releases, John Darnielle transformed his virtually one-man "group" into a (nearly) conventional recording outfit. Despite these modest concessions — most of the earlier albums were Darnielle alone with his guitar recorded on a boombox — the Mountain Goats still retain the gritty, hyperactive edge that makes each album an entrancing voyage to the psychoanalyst's couch. Producer John Vanderslice adds the extra textures that allow some songs to achieve tenderness ("Your Belgian Things"), moody spy-flick menace ("Mole") and flat-out rock ("Palmcorder Yajna') without losing Darnielle's personal angst in the process. This angst is a key ingredient. No matter how manic or calm the music, Darnielle sings in a voice that simply frets about everything, his vocals rising in a nasal panic as nefarious elements — men with chains waiting in an alley or insects climbing invisibly behind the walls — conspire against him. These songs are brilliantly haunted by a Murphy's Law that both threatens and entertains.
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They Say...
If possible, the Mountain Goats' We Shall All Be Healed is an even bigger, lusher-sounding work than Tallahassee, the group's 4AD debut and the debut of their more polished production style. Whether or not this approach is somehow less authentic or more invasive than the ultra lo-fi sound of John Darnielle and company's earlier albums is up for debate, but, as with Tallahassee, it's a choice that works well for this particular set of songs. In fact, the lush strings and pianos that grace the album only make Darnielle's relentlessly strummed guitars and unadorned vocals sound even more strikingly plain. On Tallahassee, the Mountain Goats used their newfound polish to emphasize the album's decaying Southern gothic romance; We Shall All Be Healed sounds bright and crisp, burning with righteous anger that is fueled by Darnielle's sardonic humor. Beginning with "Slow West Vultures"' rapid-fire acoustic guitars and snippets of forced laughter and shattering glass, the album makes full use of its widescreen production; "Linda Blair Was Born Innocent" is searching and sad, using touches of Americana without sounding hidebound to that sound. As with all of his Mountain Goats work, We Shall All Be Healed has a passion lacking in a lot of music that is much louder. Darnielle's high, insistent voice, punctuated by his relentless strumming, is particularly intense on the talky, funny "Palmcorder Yajna." The oddly rousing "The Young Thousands" manages to be atmospheric and direct at the same time, and on "Home Again Garden Grove" Darnielle sounds like a veteran returning home. The album's softer songs retain that intensity: "All Up the Seething Coast" is quiet and mostly spoken word, but it recalls the calm before the storm more than the coffeehouse. "Cotton" is a sad and lovely song "for the people who tell their families they're sorry for things that they can't and won't be sorry for," and the cryptically lovely "Your Belgian Things" allows the listener to piece together a tumultuous story from Darnielle's recollections: "I can see you in my sleep/Playing the points for all you're worth/Walking gingerly across/The bruised earth." As musically and lyrically accomplished as We Shall All Be Healed is, it's not quite as gripping or rich as the best of the Mountain Goats' earlier work or Tallahassee, but that's relative; on its own terms, the album is still profoundly smart and profoundly emotional.
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| 01. |  |
Slow West Vultures |
2:42 |
|
| 02. | |
Palmcorder Yajna |
4:08 |
|
| 03. | |
Linda Blair Was Born Innocent |
2:46 |
|
| 04. | |
Letter From Belgium |
3:11 |
|
| 05. | |
The Young Thousands |
4:34 |
|
| 06. | |
Your Belgian Things |
3:49 |
|
| 07. | |
Mole |
4:33 |
|
| 08. | |
Home Again Garden Grove |
3:15 |
|
| 09. | |
All Up The Seething Coast |
3:45 |
|
| 10. | |
Quito |
2:03 |
|
| 11. | |
Cotton |
3:25 |
|
| 12. | |
Against Pollution |
3:43 |
|
| 13. | |
Pigs That Ran Straightaway Into The Water, Triumph Of |
2:53 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 44:47 Total Length
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Credits
- Peter Hughes - Bass // Peter Hughes - Guitar (Electric) // Peter Hughes - Vocals (Background) // Peter Hughes - Group Member // Christopher McGuire - Drums // Christopher McGuire - Group Member // John Vanderslice - Vocals (Background) // John Vanderslice - Engineer // The Mountain Goats - Group // Franklin Bruno - Organ // Franklin Bruno - Piano // Franklin Bruno - Group Member // John Darnielle - Guitar // John Darnielle - Vocals // John Darnielle - Group Member // Scott Solter - Engineer // Scott Solter - Engineer // Scott Solter - Dulcimer (Hammer) // Scott Solter - Dulcimer (Hammer) // Brandon Eggleston - Assistant // Nora Danielson - Violin // Nora Danielson - Group Member
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