I stand by my (controversial?) opinion that ILAV is thier weakest. Its not bad by any means, but it feels like proto-Manchester Orchestra while I think the rest of their discography is more fully realized even if Cope sounds like a lawnmower.
METN is far and away their best in my eyes, but Black Mile is pretty easily my number 2. ILAV is fantastic, but I agree that at times it sounds a little weak compared to what they’d do next.
LAVLAC and SM are my faves, METN is good but I overplayed it when I was younger and I think some of it isn’t all that great now but the highs are real high. Cope is lackluster and ABMTTS is boring.
I’ve always felt like METN started and ended strong, but the middle is real boring aside from I Can Feel a Hot One.
He had $100 and lost it and freaked out. But it wasn't really about the $100, it was about all the other stress and stuff that he couldn't handle in the moment.
I think they’re all solid songs (aside from 100 Dollars), but it just so happens that almost all of my most preferred songs come from the stretch of Only One to Pride or the last two
I'll grant that the first 4 tracks are really immediate and "In My Teeth" and "100 Dollars" are probably the 2 weakest songs on the album (though, personally, I love "100 Dollars"). But then you go into "I Can Feel a Hot One" and the way the last 4 tracks just build on each other to that epic, climactic ending.
The METN/14 Years of Excellence is my favourite MO era. It’s still raw and in your face at times, it’s only heavy which quiet moments even more powerful, it’s intense but at moments playful, it sounds great production wise, and it’s was band cementing their place in the music world by building off ILAV, and MO really felt in control of their own career.
Need a live album from this band. Their live performances blow their recorded material out of the water, especially on songs from their first couple albums. They absolutely let it rip when they play I Can Barely Breathe and Pride live
Weakest as a whole, but I Can Barely Breathe, Where Have You Been, and Colly Strings are three of their strongest songs.