The simplest way to put it is I think it contains their best songs. 'Sleep the Clock Around', 'Dirty Dream Number Two', 'The Boy With The Arab Strap', 'The Rollercoaster Ride' etc., are all fantastic songs and seem to stick with me more than the songs on other their albums. It has more variety on offer than Tigermilk and Sinister, it was the first album to feature songs from Isobel Campbell and Stevie Jackson so it feels like more of a band effort and it has a bigger, more widescreen sound than their previous two albums.

I love them! My favorite album is life pursuit, followed by dear catastrophe waitress/sinister (tie) then...the rest haha I haven't listened to the others a ton but I do like what I've heard

apparently everyone in Scotland is spoon fed Belle and Sebastian growing up so they have to love them..

I agree with you about Camera Obscura.Their style are very much alike.

Listening to Belle and Sebastian usually sends me into a terribly crippling depression with hideous feelings of helplessness and despair. I like them though.

I own ten Belle and Sebastian albums and there's something to like in each one of them. I'm surprised that B&S has never done very well in the United States. Their first three albums, Tigermilk, If You're Feeling Sinister and The Boy With the Arab Strap never broke into the Billboard Top 200 in the USA. Here's how the rest of their albums ranked in sales in the USA.

2000- Fold Your Hands and Walk Like A Peasant reached #80 on the Billboard chart.

2002- Storytelling reached #150 on the Billboard chart.

2003- Dear Catastrophe Waitress reached #87 on the Billboard chart.

2006- The Life Pursuit reached #65 on the Billboard chart.

2012- Write About Love reached #15 on the Billboard chart.

By B&S standards of American success, Write About Love is a real breakthrough album that almost got them in the Billboard Top Ten. Americans aren't terribly opened minded about quirky indie bands from the UK.

Part of the problem is that Belle and Sebastian doesn't tour the United States very often because Stuart Murdoch suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and it severely limits the band's ability to do a longer schedule of live performances. I don't understand why they've never played SNL which is perhaps the best American television show to gain a wider audience in the United States.

Stuart only suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome in his mid-20s. When he recovered he had a huge rush of creativity, formed Belle and Sebastian and released three albums and four EPs of material in the space of three years.

I think B&S have a relatively strong cult following in the US, mainly from appearing on soundtracks such as Juno. In fact I think they're more popular in the US at the moment than over on this side of the pond.