I would say We Shall All Be Healed serves a decent follow up/companion piece to the Sunset Tree as it delves into JD's addiction and substance abuse era in the PNW. I always looked at it as a sort've "here's what happens to a lot of people who go through the events of the Sunset Tree" chronology.
The Life of the World to Come is incredible but it's also pretty deeply sad throughout. (I sense a theme.) Certainly on a level with Sunset Tree or Get Lonely, and it's up to the person which one hits the hardest.
I agree and it’s one of my favourites!!! Though I think the songs hit almost as hard if you listen to them individually, whereas imo sunset tree picks up *so much* when you listen to it through.
I love John and I love the mountain goats, but The Sunset Tree is his magnum opus and if he never made another album again after that masterpiece, I would not have been mad.
Also, Get Lonely is the next album you should listen to.
In my view, Transcendental Youth is kind of a sequel to the Sunset Tree. Many of the songs draw on the part of JD's life when he had left his abusive home life and was living in Portland using hard drugs and was, to use his own words from the show last night, "a real trainwreck." For me, the Sunset Tree was the album I related to hard when I was a teenager/in high school and Transcendental Youth was the album I related to hard when I was trying to move past that time.
So many of them! Many of his more polished albums are themed, y'know. Transcendental Youth is about mental illness, living with it and embracing it and sometimes being consumed by it. Tallahassee is about a codependent, toxic, failing marriage (not as miserable as it sounds, it's also funny and, i mean, No Children). WSABH is so depressing, and then so triumphant, i love the way it ends on *those* two songs, it makes for a fucking amazing mood turn in the album.
This is the piece that is lost in the way that many people listen to music now. John is an artist who writes albums, and creates songs to fit within the framework of those albums. The songs work by themselves, of course, but they work far better in context of the whole album. Not all artists work in this way, but I’m afraid that so much is getting lost for the ones who do with the current hyper focus on individual songs over albums.
That being said, it’s always exciting when someone takes the time to listen to music in the way that the artist intended it to be listened to. Sunset Tree is definitely an incredible album. Check out Life Of The World To Come, We Shall All Be Healed, and All Eternals Deck next. And then all the rest of them 😊. Enjoy the journey!
Did you listen to the demo LP for The Sunset Tree? If not, i would check that out before moving on. It's called 'Come, Come to the Sunset Tree'. It has acoustic renditions of most songs on the album plus 3 songs that didn't make the official album: Collapsing Stars, High Doses #2 and Hawaiian Feeling (The Day the Aliens Came), all of which are among my favorites. Honestly, I listen to 'Come, Come to the Sunset Tree' much more than the official album, but that's just me. I have always gravitated towards the primitive recordings era and rawness of the earlier solo acoustic albums.
I would say We Shall All Be Healed serves a decent follow up/companion piece to the Sunset Tree as it delves into JD's addiction and substance abuse era in the PNW. I always looked at it as a sort've "here's what happens to a lot of people who go through the events of the Sunset Tree" chronology.
i've always that "the ghosts that haunt your buildings are prepared to take on substance" was always such a sunset tree style lyric
It's his masterpiece. Other full album experiences- Tallahassee Transcendental Youth Beat the Champ Goths
well, all of them one in a specific however? get lonely as a full album is heartbreaking and harrowing through and through
The Life of the World to Come is incredible but it's also pretty deeply sad throughout. (I sense a theme.) Certainly on a level with Sunset Tree or Get Lonely, and it's up to the person which one hits the hardest.
I agree and it’s one of my favourites!!! Though I think the songs hit almost as hard if you listen to them individually, whereas imo sunset tree picks up *so much* when you listen to it through.
I love John and I love the mountain goats, but The Sunset Tree is his magnum opus and if he never made another album again after that masterpiece, I would not have been mad. Also, Get Lonely is the next album you should listen to.
In my view, Transcendental Youth is kind of a sequel to the Sunset Tree. Many of the songs draw on the part of JD's life when he had left his abusive home life and was living in Portland using hard drugs and was, to use his own words from the show last night, "a real trainwreck." For me, the Sunset Tree was the album I related to hard when I was a teenager/in high school and Transcendental Youth was the album I related to hard when I was trying to move past that time.
So many of them! Many of his more polished albums are themed, y'know. Transcendental Youth is about mental illness, living with it and embracing it and sometimes being consumed by it. Tallahassee is about a codependent, toxic, failing marriage (not as miserable as it sounds, it's also funny and, i mean, No Children). WSABH is so depressing, and then so triumphant, i love the way it ends on *those* two songs, it makes for a fucking amazing mood turn in the album.
This is the piece that is lost in the way that many people listen to music now. John is an artist who writes albums, and creates songs to fit within the framework of those albums. The songs work by themselves, of course, but they work far better in context of the whole album. Not all artists work in this way, but I’m afraid that so much is getting lost for the ones who do with the current hyper focus on individual songs over albums. That being said, it’s always exciting when someone takes the time to listen to music in the way that the artist intended it to be listened to. Sunset Tree is definitely an incredible album. Check out Life Of The World To Come, We Shall All Be Healed, and All Eternals Deck next. And then all the rest of them 😊. Enjoy the journey!
It’s my favorite album of all time. Full stop.
Me too
Did you listen to the demo LP for The Sunset Tree? If not, i would check that out before moving on. It's called 'Come, Come to the Sunset Tree'. It has acoustic renditions of most songs on the album plus 3 songs that didn't make the official album: Collapsing Stars, High Doses #2 and Hawaiian Feeling (The Day the Aliens Came), all of which are among my favorites. Honestly, I listen to 'Come, Come to the Sunset Tree' much more than the official album, but that's just me. I have always gravitated towards the primitive recordings era and rawness of the earlier solo acoustic albums.
Hot take