The Mountain Goats Album: “All Eternals Deck”

Odd that this only has three and a half stars. This is the first album I've encountered by these guys (this guy?), but the lyrics are the greatest thing I've heard since I was a 16 year old kid listening night after night to Pavement's "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain." The guy really is America's Best Living Non-Hiphop Lyricist, as the New Yorker dubbed him-- usually I would be skeptical, but Jesus, some of his lines are unbelievable. The track that really got me hooked was the second one, with its line about "the rooms with the heat lamps, where the snakes are born." Such a wonderful image; like "Suzanne" or "Stop Breathing" I wouldn't put any money on what the song means exactly, but it is full of mystery and conjures up its own complete world in just a couple of verses.

The music is growing on me, and in fact it gets better with every listen. Like Bob Dylan said in response to an interviewer who criticized his voice, if you listen you'll hear all the right notes. The bare bones instrumentation, to my mind, adds to things, since what we hear are more the forms of songs that could be performed by many other artists, with different arrangements and points of emphasis, much like Dylan's songs were. I detect a Warren Zevon influence in places, though I could be wrong.

Anyway, it's sad that more people aren't listening to this, and that some of those who have listened to it are giving it mediocre reviews.

On the surface it could be easy to take a dismissive attitude towards this album. This album which is the 13th proper studio album is just another album of articulate songwriting which affects you on an emotional level. What is remarkable is that John Darnielle continues to consistently release albums full of articulate songs which affect you on an emotional level. It is all too easy to take his genius for granted. He continues to be one of greatest living lyricist and he has the knack musically to just do enough to get the message across. A definite gem of an album.

I got the vinyl version of this and I must say, it is beautifully mastered and pressed. The sound is pristine. I would recommend spending the extra bucks for the vinyl instead of the CD if you have a turntable.

I bought this I think because I couldn't decipher anything about the music contained therein by the packaging, and I love a mystery! I am very glad I bought this record. It has since gone into my regular heavy rotation. I personally think all the songs are fantastic, but they do cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. But wow, is this just a great record. "Age Of Kings" is one of the most haunting songs I've heard in recent memory. The lyrics are very clever and the recording quality is fantastic. This is one of the nicest sounding rock albums I've heard in a long time. I've forced this on everyone I know, and I find I'm getting about the same reactions that I got when I first found out about Ween. Opinions are almost split evenly down the middle between skepticism and high praise. I have a suspicion that this CD will very slowly gain a following and be held in high regard the older it gets. It just sounds like it's going to age well.

Is it for everybody? Who knows? But I have it within arms reach since I bought it.

Folk music from a scary future. Think Hunger Games, Fema Camps, and Revolution (TV series). Frankly, it took a second listen before the album began to reveal its perspective and treasures. By the second listen, I got it, personal and strong. Sad references to States and movie stars that no longer exist, if they are even remembered in the future. The violence is referenced, the jungle overgrowth, the eventual return to Feudalism, it's all here in a beautiful, original album. "Bang the small rocks on the big ones till the small ones are sharp and clean. Catch something,kill something." This is a very special album of great beauty and challenge. A message from a future we must not permit to happen. Audiophiles, you will want to turn up the subwoofer(s) a tiny bit and play this one over and over.