Not sure if I should be surprised or expecting that the majority is a fan of We Were Dead.
I thought The Moon and Antarctica was that pinnacle point personally, but I can see your point. The style went in a different direction after the band finished Lonesome Crowded West (partly forcibly).

I know I'm in a minority here, but I still think Good News For People Who Love Bad News is their best album.

No worries, I'm right there with you... :)

Beginning of the end for me! Few good tracks, rest are mediocre.

Are there any tracks in particular you find significantly worse than their back catalog?

Yes. Float On, Dance Hall, This Devil's Workday, The View, Blame It On The Tetons, The Good Times Are Killing Me. A few others have grown on me, and generally I don't hate these as much as I used to, it's just that his singing/lyric style changed to something a bit less sincere, and were bordering on cringe-worthy. For what it's worth, I like Oceans Breathe Salty, Bury Me With It (best one), Bukowski and Black Cadillacs (though parts of that one bug me). Now I actually feel like giving the album a listen now one of these days.

I so looked forward to that album, too. I was on the mailing list, I pre-ordered, and my dreams were shot down. I guess the album art has meaning.

I couldn't even bear to listen to We Were Dead... more than once. There were a few decent tracks, but the rest were so bad and cringe-worthy it just wasn't worth it.

I guess it is different for someone like you who had been around throughout their career and worked your way through chronologically, obviously. I started with Good News when I was about 15 and have kind of jumped around since then. And it's not that I only like the new MM sound, because I don't. I couldn't stand We Were Dead either. If I had to pick my favorites albums it would be: Good News, then Sad Sappy Sucker, then Lonesome Crowded West, then The Moon & Antarctica. So I'm all over the place haha.

And you seem a little inconsistent with you likes/dislikes on that album. 'Float On' is their popiest song to date, but it's still a good pop song, just like 'Ocean Breathes Salty'. 'Dance Hall', 'Blame It on the Tetons', and 'The Good Times are Killing Me' are kinda silly but catchy nonetheless. And different. 'This Devil's Workday' is eccentric and I like the horns, even if it wasn't executed very well on that track. 'The View' is my favorite. The horn intro and 'The World at Large' are great. I also love 'One Chance'. I am gonna guess you like 'Bury Me with It' because it is in Brock's classic, grating voice? I guess I'm not as caught up in Brock's voice... :)

Yeah that might be why I like Bury Me With It. It's funny when I first got into Modest Mouse and before Good News came out, I put Brock on my top 5 vocalists list. But then look what I said above regarding the last two albums...it's a shame. But oh well there's plenty of other music out there for me to listen to.

And actually I discovered MM after The Moon & Antarctica came out, that was my first exposure. But then I went back and listened to and fell in love with much of the back catalog before Good News was released. It was still a shock, even with TM&A being my introduction. Here's how I rank them, BTW:

The Lonesome Crowded West
The Moon & Antarctica
This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About
Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Sad Sappy Sucker (been ages since I heard it though)
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

you need Building Nothing Out of Something!

i guess i'm the only one here who feels they've been consistently good through their entire career. to me, every album is good. sure they're all a bit different, but at the same time, it's impossible to hear a song by modest mouse and not know immediately who it is. that's their sound.

they are definitely different which makes them unique in an industry of copy cats

Oops, forgot to include that one...probably because it's a comp. I'd place it 4th, above Good News. Might even be a tie for 3rd.

Yes they are unique and you can tell it's them, that is definitely a great thing about them. But, it doesn't automatically make all their work likable for me.

I subconsciously avoided MM until very recently when I downloaded Antarctica, and ironically enough I logged on today to browse the thread and see where I might want to go next... So I just had to say, your list has made my evening.

Sweet. :D And don't forget to insert Building Nothing Out of Something in there above Good News..., as trance87 reminded me that I forgot to include it.

Excellent band. 'Little Motel' is one of my fave tunes of recent years. Really good at the recent 10 Year ATP just before Xmas also.

Breakthrough is the best song in the west :) Although most of their songs starting with B are amazing like Broke and Bankrupt on selling. CONSPIRACY!

To each his own, I suppose. I can't stand listening to more than 10 seconds of that song before yanking out some of my hair.

Building Nothing Out of Something may just be a comp, but it's incredible. One of my faves. I actually tried for weeks to design a t-shirt I liked based on that message ("build nothing out of something"), but I never finalized anything.

also: Black Cadillacs, Baby Blue Sedan, Bukowski, and Bury Me With It. thats four from Good News.

Baby Blue Sedan is from Good News? O rly? :P

They are playing the Pitchfork Music Festival this year, along with a reunited Pavement...

my ultimate modest mouse is ugly casanova...so special sounding...if only they'd play its entirety.

I really love Good News.... but don't know the rest of thier stuff. Where should I start, and what should I avoid?

You're not the first Modest Mouse fan to say that to me actually, that and 'Dashboard' are my 2 faves from 'We Were Dead....' and yet they seem to both be widely disliked by MM devotees in my experience.

'Little Motel' is just epic, nothing especially adventurous about it, radio-friendly even. I just think it suits them and it's an inspired chorus.

Ugly Casanova really is fantastic. I include that as a Modest Mouse album, even if it wasn't solely an Isaac Brock album. The guy from Califone is brilliant, but still.. a good number of those songs had already been written by Brock in the past.
You love Good News, so you could move forward in time to We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, but personally I don't recommend it.

I suggest that you listen to The Moon and Antarctica, I think that's definitely the next best step.
Eek. In my opinion, Dashboard isn't that bad (just like Float On isn't "that bad"), just too much voice whoring and non-Modest Mouse-ness. Little Motel does everything wrong for me, it's one of the only Modest Mouse songs that I can label "boring". If you've listened to Space Travel is Boring, I find that much more enticing (and I actually like the song, but it's still quite slow and empty; purposefully).

I honestly don't think they've released a bad album yet! Obviously though, that's just my opinion.

The Moon & Antarctica seems to be a fan favourite, along with Lonesome Crowded West. Their older stuff and newer stuff are both very different from each other! Good News... and We Were Dead... are both more pop albums, and are a lot easier to get into, though their older stuff has a bit more of an honest aggression to it that I personally find endearing. I started with them on Good News For People Who Love Bad News, then got The Moon & Antarctica, and then We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, and then moved backwards to their old stuff. It definitely helped me get into them easier, though for you it could be different! ^.^

Thanks for the input, I'll check them out soon :)

Hmm, I don't really see why so many people really like an admire this band. Then again I've only heard one album - Good News for People Who Love Bad News It wasn't bad, not great either. I should really listen to some of their other albums..

get Lonesome Crowded West. it will melt your face off.

And therein lies your answer. :D

For most beginner's Good News is the place to start IMO, but TheCunningStunt has fairly refined tastes so I would have to agree with trace and tell you to get a copy of Lonesome Crowded West...

I've only heard one of their album. The one with Johnny Marr and it was generally excelent!

Well I trust you both so I will take both your advice ;)

I think Good News might be a grower. First listen I was like yeah, not bad.

Refined tastes hmm, how so? I think my taste is pretty minimal, not very eclectic. I have totally dismissed at least 2 genres completely. Hip-hop and Progressive rock. How narrow minded of me. :(

As in you are not like my friend who wanted to hear some Modest Mouse so I gave him Good News. But his favorite band is Weezer and he listens to crap... :laughing:

I'm too excited for their headlining show at pitchofork music fest in chicago.

i am thinking about going mostly because they are playing.

His favourite band is Weezer? At least the blue album is listenable. I can beat that, my friend's favourite band is.. wait for it... Nickelback. I had a mini dispute with him on Facebook.

My status was kings of leon are recording their new album. more chav anthems yayyy.

He commented saying "how are kings of leon chavvy?"

(If you're American chavs are a British term for Scallys. people who like like this..
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_4JWtIEhnGL...00-R/chav2.jpg)

I explained that Kings Of Leon started making music that appeals to 13 year old girls and chavs.

He said I'm neither of them things.

I said well yeah but your favourite band is Nickelback. :laughing:

I have no idea what "chavs" or "scallys" are haha. :laughing:

Can anyone from the States help me out here? Is it like the British equivalent of a "bro"?

edit: and yeah, Weezer's first 2 albums along with 'Island in the Sun' are very listenable. Not the best way to describe him, but yeah his music tastes suck.

Weezer are terrible, as are their fans. At their gigs the fans look like their souls have been lost.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/8/125...50e8b3.jpg?v=0


One guy even yawning there. :laughing:

A chav and scalley, erm.. have you ever heard the Arctic Monkeys debut album? The people he usually talks about are chavs. Can't you tell the American equivalent from the picture? Scum, basically. But over here they dress really badly, trackies ('sweatpant' type things..) bad 'baseball caps' and they listen to really bad dance music and R&B.. hope that helps. :D

I love the culture clash between two people who speak the same language.

Ummm, we have many different types of people here but I can't think of a group that dresses poorly and listens to bad music. Athletes (jocks)? People from New Jersey?

Yes, I have heard the Arctic Monkeys debut. I just got back from their concert! :D

I asked my mate the American equivalent, he said trailer trash. But I don't know if I agree with it. There are some comparisons.Aren't jocks more like..

http://www.chucksconnection.com/grease/grease05.gif :laughing: or am I out of the times? When I say they dress badly, I mean they dress like absolute scum. Jocks wear what they wear ('sweatpants' and sports gear) because they're into sports don't they? The people in Britain just wear it because they actually think it looks good.

Well, the people Alex talks about! Girl chavs - the view from the afternoon. Another example of a girl chav - still take you home

"And I'm struggling
I can't see through your fake tan
Oh ya know it for a fact"
That everybody's eating outta your hand" more about tarty (whorey) girls on a night out them but meh.

"Dint ya see she were gorgeous,
She was beyond belief
But this lad at the side drinking a Smirnoff ice came and paid for her tropical Reef" guys drinking smirnoff ice over here = fail.

Riot Van - scummy kids that hang around in the street getting up to no good.