Customer Reviews

Heretic Pride (Dig)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After a highly produced sound on his last album, John Darnielle strips down and returns to a grittier sound. This is the first album since "Coroner's Gambit" to lack an obvious central theme, but the charm and introspection of John's lyrics are not lost. John's characters are back, and doing what they know best. They join cults, are accused of being heretics, they huddle in cars together. Each song is its own little story and you truly feel for the characters.

I have been playing this album nonstop since it arrived in the mail last week. The orchestration/instrumentation is absolutely beautiful. It's very raw sounding, which i missed dearly on the last album "Get Lonely". I disagree with the reviewer that claims the instrumentation is a departure from their previous work. On the contrary, this album sounds more like previous albums such as "The Sunset Tree" and "Tallahassee". Songs such as "Sax Rohmer #1" and "Heretic Pride" have that familiar furious, frenetic driving rhythm which characterizes so much of the Mountain Goats work.

John's lyrics are as beautiful and instrospective as ever. I'd recommend this album to anyone.

The Mountain Goats' latest venture is a phenomenal piece of pop art that rarely fails to impress. It's less autobiographical and personal than some of Darnielle's later work, like The Sunset Tree, but it's so full of well-versed accoustic melodies and pop/folk singalongs that it's not a bad thing. after the initial obsession with catchier songs like "Heretic Pride", you'll find yourself litening to the moodier songs over and over again (Lovecraft in Brooklyn is a gem).

If you've ever finished listening to songs like "This Year" or "No Children" and wished the energy would continue for a few more songs, this album will satisfy and refresh you. Heretic Pride is full of energy and brilliantly balanced. Darnielle seems to have loosened his grasp on the spotlight and let other instruments and musicians play a greater role in adding to this albums collage of sound. The Mountain Goats sound more like a full group than ever before. While Heretic Pride is far from the rough intimate sound of the Goats in their lo-fi era, it is beautiful and energizing in its own right and one of their most solid albums to date.

Wow. This has been the only album in my CD player since I picked it up. I keep finding new favorite tracks to obsess about. So far, I've been fixated on "Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident," "Autoclave," "In the Craters of the Moon," and "Lovecraft in Brooklyn," certain that each was my new favorite Mountain Goat song. When the album Get Lonely came out I was disappointed. I wondered if John Darnielle might have finally tapped out the creative vein he'd been mining for over a dozen albums. Every artist has to face that crisis eventually--after you release over three hundred songs like the Goat's have, it seems almost inevitable that eventually you start repeating yourself, or begin to parody your own work, or else veer so wildly from your roots into new territory that your old fans barely recognize you.

Yet, with Heretic Pride, John has managed to evolve, creating a sound that is different from what he's done before, yet still firmly rooted in the elements that make the Goat's so great--the unbeatable lyrics and the rawness and urgency of the music. The production values here are nothing like his low-fi days, but if you listen to the emotion on a song like "Craters of the Moon," you can hear something approaching panic driving the music, a fiery energy that sounds as if John must shout out the words now, as if his life depends on you listening to his vital message. I'm probably doing myself permanent hearing damage whenever I listen to "Lovecraft in Brooklyn," because I can't listen to the last lyric rush without cranking the volume in my car to the max, to better match the frantic tone of John's apocalyptic vision. This album is the next step in the evolution of the Mountain Goats, and quite possibly the first shot in a Mountain Goat revolution that will earn this band the wider following that it deserves.

So the Mountain Goats are still in the game with John Darnielle still in the lead as one of the GREATEST songwriters ever.
If you are an old school fan of TMG's, then you probably will not like this album. It still lacks the raw power of acoustimatic/tape music with the simplicity of just guitar and vocals, but also, if you were turned off by the slowness of "Get Lonely", then do not fret, this album brings back some of the great driving riffs that we have all come to know and love.
I recommend this album on vinyl over cd, but I recommend almost any album on vinyl instead of cd.
I place this album within his top 5 releases.
Strong Points:
The opening track, Saw Rohmer #1 sets the pace for the album, good strong beats and the closing track (Not counting the bonus tracks that are available online), "Michael Myers Resplendent" starts slow, but really closes the album beautifully.
Low Points:
The songs "New Zion" (Do not get me wrong, I like the track, but it is a low point of the album) and "Craters of the Moon" are the weakest songs, but are in the middle chunk of the album so they kind of slide by nicely as well.
This is also the first album with an official drummer, Jon Wurster, who recorded and is touring with them now.

In the end, check it out for sure if you like good alt/indie rock. If you miss the folk/tape music styles of the older TMG's, then you might want to pass.

Singer-songwriter John Darnielle's folk-rock project Mountain Goats has been a mainstay of the lo-fi scene since 1991, but it wasn't until their last release, Get Lonely, that he started receiving mainstream attention. Unlike that record's nihilistic, depressing attitude, however, Heretic Pride is a welcome breath of exquisitely produced, introspective indie rock.

First, however, one must overcome Darnielle's unique voice: an odd cross between Neutral Milk Hotel and Chris Carrabba, a rather terrifying combination. On songs like "Autoclave" it is tuneful and melodic, complementing the acoustic instrumentation well, but on ones like the title track, it can take an off-putting turn towards high-pitched and whiny.

The production, however, is what truly elevates the album. From the graceful strings of "San Bernardino" to the vibrant percussion on "In The Craters On The Moon," each track sounds fleshed-out and musically rich.

The New Yorker once called Darnielle "America's best non-hip-hop lyricists." Now coupled with an amazing production team and far less morbid subjects, Mountain Goats seem ready for even greater success.

This album is spectacular from beginning to end. Beautiful melodies with stunning arrangements. The lyrics are pure brilliance. I can not say enough good things about this album.

Standout Tracks:
Sax Rohmer #1
Heretic Pride
Autoclave
So Desparate
How to Embrace a Swamp Creature

After listening to one of the tracks @ a friend's house, I ordered the CD. It's a delightful disc: varied, unpredictable & unique. With song titles like "Marduk T-Shirt Men's Room Incident" & "How to Embrace a Swamp Creature," there is a unique creative vision guiding the project. "I'm ready for my close-up today; Too long I've let my self-respect stand in my way," John Darnielle sings on the strangely wonderful closing track "Michael Myers Resplendent." "Sax Rohmer #1" that opens the set may be the best track with an addictively throbbing rhythm guitar and a wildly unique lyric, "Sailors straggle back; Their nights out on the town; Hopeless urchins from the city gather around; Spies from imperial China wash in with the tide; Every battle heads toward surrender on both sides; And I am coming home to you." The title track has a sputter-rhythm with Darnielle's lyric a bit on the cutting side, "And I feel so proud when the reckoning arrives." "Heretic Pride" is a vibrant disc that deepens with repeated plays. Enjoy!

...is better than most people's best albums. And that's what this is: John D. doing basically what we've come to expect from him, repeating himself from time to time, but occasionally still hitting the perfect feeling (my favorite: the quick juxtaposition in "Autoclave" of a throne perched atop a pile of human skulls and the theme from "Cheers." Brilliant.). I personally am not into the production values...you sort of imagine him in a studio, with headphones, singing into one of those expensive microphones with screens, and suddenly he's not your fricking-genius buddy in his living room down the street any more. But here's the thing: as the Mountain Goats turns into a pop band, it reminds me more and more of the Cure. Could anyone interest Robert Smith in doing a cover album? That'd be hot.

So buy this immediately. But don't buy it used! He works hard, give the man his money.