Ghosts of the Great Highway

Sun Kil Moon | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 4, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jet Set Records
• ASIN: B0000DIZSW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (68 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,865 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #61 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Dream Pop

Editorial Reviews

Magnet

When songs are this transporting, you can only hope they'll last forever.

(3.5 stars) Turns despair into a kind of elemental beauty.

(8.3) A modest win for great music everywhere.

Product Description

Where it's the gorgeous string trio underpinning "Last Tide," the melancholy epic "Duk Koo Kim," the unexpected driving rhythms of "Lily and Parrots," or the compelling personal reminiscences of "Floating," the material both expands and refines Kozelek's trademark sound. The songs on Ghosts of the Great Highway concern themselves more than ever with matters of life and death, without ever forgetting the inherent magic of a pretty melody or a gripping beat.

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

154 of 157 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Album of the Year, November 5, 2003

By 

Stephen Silberman "writer, Wired Magazine" (SF, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghosts of the Great Highway (Audio CD)

With his early '90s band, the Red House Painters, San Francisco's Mark Kozelek struck a chord of disquiet and bohemian poignancy that made that band the darling of the scribbling-poems-to-the-pretty-barista-who-will-never-know-my-name set. With lovely, unadorned melodies and Kozelek's angst-ridden tributes to disillusionment, the Red House Painters influenced a score of later bands who lacked his rich melodic imagination and incisive lyrics -- Low is a good example -- resulting in Kozelek himself being typecast as the maestro of "mopecore." Then he did something unforgivable in the minds of some of his fans: he evolved.

Without rehashing the epic travails and record-biz nightmares that caused RHP's fine album "Old Ramon" to be delayed in release for years after it was finished, the good news is that "Ghosts of the Great Highway" not only continues the evolutionary path Kozelek took on later RHP work like "Songs for a Blue Guitar" and his solo album "Rock and Roll Singer," it's a masterpiece on its own terms, and the most magnificent rock album of 2003.

If you thought they didn't make albums like Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" anymore, cue up "Ghosts of the Great Highway," and marvel over the fact that Kozelek and company are able to cross-pollinate folk, country, punk, and psychedelic influences without sounding the least bit retro, stealing the purifying flame of Crazy Horse meltdowns like "Cortez the Killer" while sounding like no one but themselves. If you're a Nick Drake fan warming your hands over the ashes of "Pink Moon," consider the fact that at least one song on this album, "Duk Koo Kim," is as beautiful and otherwordly as anything in Drake's oeuvre (particularly the acoustic version, released on a limited edition EP last year), and consider the possibility that Kozelek is as unfairly ignored and marginalized in our time as Drake was in his.

"Glenn Tipton," "Duk Koo Kim," "Carry Me Ohio" and "Gentle Moon" are all instant classics, full of heart, understated grace, and authentic yearning, while avoiding the art-school sentimentality of Kozelek's early work. "Duk Koo Kim" is especially worthy of note, reinvented here as a 14-minute folk-punk-psychedelic apocalypse, with backwards guitars, Portuguese guitars, and bells swirling around Kozelek's aching voice. (I can't praise this track enough, other than to say that if I was a very bright teenager with a set of headphones and a bong, I'd probably decide to become a musician after hearing this song alone.) It's one of the most terrifying love songs ever written, as emotionally naked as the songs on Joni Mitchell's "Blue." (Like several of the songs on this album, "Duk Koo Kim" is the tale of a hero who died young -- in this case, a Korean boxer killed in the ring.) The only misstep on the record is Kozelek's formula-grunge treatment of his gorgeous tune "Lily and Parrots," which appeared as a hidden acoustic track on his "White Christmas Live."

At his best, Kozelek writes and sings like an oracle, and plays feedback-drenched electric guitar with as much intensity as his punk and heavy metal heroes while never descending into mere chaos and noise. If you're a music critic or record reviewer (I happen to be an editor of Wired magazine, and have no connection to Kozelek), entertain the notion that instead of hyping the latest skinny-tie buzz band that no one will care about in 3 years, you might consider running a piece on Kozelek and this album. If you're a music fan who enjoys Wilco, Iron and Wine, and other forward-looking traditionally-influenced bands, give this a listen. It's far beyond what almost everyone is doing these days.

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant, Haunting Album (slightly enhanced by the bonus CD), February 11, 2007

By 

Stephen Silberman "writer, Wired Magazine" (SF, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghosts of the Great Highway (Bonus CD) (Reis) (Audio CD)

Since this package is a rerelease with bonus material -- and since the original release now appears to be out of print -- I'll reiterate my original review below with a paragraph at the end about the bonus tracks.

Album of the Year, 2003

With his early '90s band, the Red House Painters, San Francisco's Mark Kozelek struck a chord of disquiet and bohemian poignancy that made that band the darling of the scribbling-poems-to-the-pretty-barista-who-will-never-know-my-name set. With lovely, unadorned melodies and Kozelek's angst-ridden tributes to disillusionment, the Red House Painters influenced a score of later bands who lacked his rich melodic imagination and incisive lyrics -- Low is a good example -- resulting in Kozelek himself being typecast as the maestro of "mopecore." Then he did something unforgivable in the minds of some of his fans: he evolved.

Without rehashing the epic travails and record-biz nightmares that caused RHP's fine album "Old Ramon" to be delayed in release for years after it was finished, the good news is that "Ghosts of the Great Highway" not only continues the evolutionary path Kozelek took on later RHP work like "Songs for a Blue Guitar" and his solo album "Rock and Roll Singer," it's a masterpiece on its own terms, and the most magnificent rock album of 2003.

If you thought they didn't make albums like Neil Young's "Everybody Knows This is Nowhere" anymore, cue up "Ghosts of the Great Highway," and marvel over the fact that Kozelek and company are able to cross-pollinate folk, country, punk, and psychedelic influences without sounding the least bit retro, stealing the purifying flame of Crazy Horse meltdowns like "Cortez the Killer" while sounding like no one but themselves. If you're a Nick Drake fan warming your hands over the ashes of "Pink Moon," consider the fact that at least one song on this album, "Duk Koo Kim," is as beautiful and otherwordly as anything in Drake's oeuvre (particularly the acoustic version, released on a limited edition EP last year), and consider the possibility that Kozelek is as unfairly ignored and marginalized in our time as Drake was in his.

"Glenn Tipton," "Duk Koo Kim," "Carry Me Ohio" and "Gentle Moon" are all instant classics, full of heart, understated grace, and authentic yearning, while avoiding the art-school sentimentality of Kozelek's early work. "Duk Koo Kim" is especially worthy of note, reinvented here as a 14-minute folk-punk-psychedelic apocalypse, with backwards guitars, Portuguese guitars, and bells swirling around Kozelek's aching voice. (I can't praise this track enough, other than to say that if I was a very bright teenager with a set of headphones and a bong, I'd probably decide to become a musician after hearing this song alone.) It's one of the most terrifying love songs ever written, as emotionally naked as the songs on Joni Mitchell's "Blue." (Like several of the songs on this album, "Duk Koo Kim" is the tale of a hero who died young -- in this case, a Korean boxer killed in the ring.) The only misstep on the record is Kozelek's formula-grunge treatment of his gorgeous tune "Lily and Parrots," which appeared as a hidden acoustic track on his "White Christmas Live."

At his best, Kozelek writes and sings like an oracle, and plays feedback-drenched electric guitar with as much intensity as his punk and heavy metal heroes while never descending into mere chaos and noise. If you're a music critic or record reviewer (I happen to be an editor of Wired magazine, and have no connection to Kozelek), entertain the notion that instead of hyping the latest skinny-tie buzz band that no one will care about in 3 years, you might consider running a piece on Kozelek and this album. If you're a music fan who enjoys Wilco, Iron and Wine, and other forward-looking traditionally-influenced bands, give this a listen. It's far beyond what almost everyone is doing these days.

"Ghosts" disc two, 2007

Hearing these bonus tracks (two brilliant, one fine, and two only mediocre), I suggest that what Kozelek should have done was to release "Ghosts" originally with the instrumental "Arrival" inserted somewhere in the running order, and finishing with either version of "Somewhere." Kozelek's reinvention of West Side Story's yearning love song is profound, heart-wrenching, and gorgeous. (The yearning is even more poignant knowing that the song's composers, Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein, were gay and bisexual respectively, but the feelings expressed are universal.) "Somewhere" would have been an emotionally devastating capper to a magnificent album; at least we have it now. I prefer the slightly punchier second take, which employs the same Portuguese guitar-like instrument as "Duk Koo Kim" on the original album, but the string arrangement on the first version is also lovely. The straightforward folky reading of "Salvador Sanchez" is fine; the other two bonus tracks are merely competent. In my dreams, Kozelek would also have supplemented this bonus disc with the astounding double-tracked acoustic version of "Duk Koo Kim" that appeared only on a vinyl EP -- it's one of the true masterpieces of his career, and is now in danger of being a "lost" track available only to connoisseurs. But enough second-guessing. This is a great album, now made slightly greater.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All hope for music is not lost..., January 3, 2004

By 

A. Patel (Motown, MI, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ghosts of the Great Highway (Audio CD)

Truly brilliant piece of work from M. Kozelek. From the get-go, the beautifully crafted melodies hit you. And of course, his seemingly effortless lyrics can make the most mundane of topics appear uplifting and redeeming. As a member of "gen X", I must say Mark always knows how to drop little tidbits from our youth into his lyrics. Anyone catch the reference to Glenn Tipton and KK Downing, Judas Priest's dueling guitarists, in the opening track?!

His lilting voice during the chorus of "Gentle Moon" makes that little chill go down your spine. And "Duk Koo Kim" is a wonderful meandering epic referring to the Korean boxer (the one whose death made Howard Cosell quit covering boxing), and lost love/life. And yes, I am a sucker for when Mark plugs in the guitars and cranks it up a bit, as he does on "Lily and Parrots".

Along with Manitoba's 'Up In Flames', Pernice Brothers' 'Yours, Mine and Ours' and Sufjan Stevens' 'Greetings From Michigan', this is a MUST-have CD for 2003.

Download all the Britney Spears you want, but support these artists!!