The Mountain Goats - We Shall All Be Healed (2004) [FLAC]

  Released: 2004
  Duration: 44:45
  Genre: Pop/Rock
  Style: Indie Rock
  Codec: FLAC
  Bit Rate: ~ 900 kbps
  Bits Per Sample: 16
  Sample Rate: 44,100 Hz

  01 Slow West Vultures
  02 Palmcorder Yajna
  03 Linda Blair Was Born Innocent
  04 Letter from Belgium
  05 The Young Thousands
  06 Your Belgian Things
  07 Mole
  08 Home Again Garden Grove
  09 All up the Seething Coast
  10 Quito
  11 Cotton
  12 Against Pollution
  13 Triumph of Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water

  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 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.