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74 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Record, March 8, 2000
Did you ever buy one of those albums that, after owning it for a few weeks, you realize you haven't even heard 3/4 of the songs yet? Reason being, at least in the case of albums like "This Is A Long Drive...", you've gotton so much enjoyment out of just the first few songs you haven't felt a need to listen to the rest of the material yet. These are The Great Records, and I can count the number that I've listened to on one hand. In all honesty, "Dramamine", "Breakthrough", and "Custom Concern" (tracks 1, 2, and 3) were on constant repeat in my car CD player for over a week before I even thought about listening to anything else, and even though I've moved on to the rest of the album since then, I think these three epitomize everything fascinating and wonderful about Modest Mouse. Moving from the trance-inducing "Dramamine" to the gleefully psychotic "Breakthrough" to the yearning country twang of "Custom Concern" is a disarmingly impressive flex of musical range, and these kids pull it off almost flawlessly. Given the quality of "This Is A Long Drive...", it's suprising that Modest Mouse didn't find critical success until the release of it's follow-up "The Lonesome Crowded West". It's possible that because of this, "This Is A Long Drive..." has been excluded from indie-rock fans' "must buy" lists. Well put it on there mister, because you must buy this album.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful Roaming, Isolated, and Neurotic Sound, May 10, 2004
Modest Mouse changed my life. Well, that may be a bit of a hyperbole, but I am truly grateful to have been introduced to this band. I have never been a fan of avant-garde/indie rock; my music taste has typically been one of hip-hop, electronic, trip-hop, classic rock, jazz, and classical. This band was introduced to me by a friend, and initially I couldn't stand them (Isaac Brock's whiny voice). However, a few songs would play on random mode in iTunes, and I slowly grew accustomed to them. Modest Mouse rocks. This is probably one of the most appropriately titled albums I have encountered in a while. It really manages to give you the feeling that you're out on an open road without anything substantial to think about. And that's not a bad thing. It's a distant and wandering sound. Long Drive can sound incredibly neurotic, with their twangy and chaotic guitar rhythms along with Brock's unstable voice. But the genius of MM is that the neurotic sound all falls together and manages to make sense, beautiful sense. Long Drive isn't nearly as polished or accessible as The Moon and Antarctica or Good News for People Who Love Bad News, but in no way does that discount the greatness of Long Drive. I recommend this album without any real reservations. But as one should do with any music, listen to this album without projecting any preconceived notions about what good music should sound like.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breakthrough, May 10, 2004
To put it simply this cd surprised me. Upon knowing of the band for almost 6 years I decided to purchase The Lonesome Crowded West earlier this year on somewhat of a whim. The cd blew me away, it monopolized my cd player for a good part of two weeks before I could intergrade anything else into rotation. Growing quite fond of that cd I figured I would wade a bit deeper into Modest Mouse knowing they were a multifaceted and very unique band as opposed to the impression i first got, which was that they were good but just good playing loud songs such as my first exposure to them (s*** luck being that first song). So in my search for another Modest Mouse cd I picked this one for people say this is more close akin to the lonesome crowded west then later attempts. I still didn't believe that it could reach the standard TLCR had previously set but I bought it anyway. I was blown away by how diverse the emotion on this album truly is, listening to this album is like taking a trip through the human emotion with indie guitars, multi textured songs, eclectic song topics and quite possibly the most infectious quirky and less than mainstream vocalist since the days of the pixies, violent femmes and Dinosaur Jr. just to name a few. Every track on this album is no doubt easy to listen to and flows with the whole mood of the album, but stand out tracks are as follows 2,3,5,6,7,11,13,14,15,16, which is more than 75% of the album I'm aware but those are the tracks I find myself flipping to when not listening to it in its entirety. Over all this album is a great place to start if your getting into Modest Mouse, steer clear of good news for people who love bad news. This album will prove to you how great this band truly is and just how diverse music can be when its not being manufactured in the mainstream molds that most bands come out of these days. Sure they are mainstream now and have changed their sound some to fit in with their mainstream contemporaries/rivals, but they were once an amazing, somewhat bizarre, but none the less catchy indie rock band. Enjoy.
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