At this point, Pale Horses is definitively my favorite album of theirs. Just such a monumental, effective project that never gets old to me. Besides it’s all crazy! at the bottom and [A->B] right above it, I could really accept any ranking of the rest. Kinda like keeping Foxes as my #2 because it was my favorite for years and is so personally important, but any of the rest could take a turn at that second spot on the right day, lol.
it’s all crazy is an album i love and hold in the same tier as my favorite albums of theirs (pretty much that one and everything that came after it is a 9/10 or higher to me). I also feel like it’s such a crucial album to this band’s DNA. I never really liked AB Life, and CFUTF and Brother Sister are both great but each have a number of skips for me as i get older (though arguably higher highs as well).
This I agree with, but that doesn’t make it an enjoyable full album listen for me. Wasn’t at the time, and isn’t in retrospect. Funny enough, I remembering being hyped for the lead single more than my friend group, but then I was the only one who didn’t like that album. I’d remember the album more fondly if it were an EP, an experiment stripped of their defining features up to that point, increasing the tools in their belt for what I see as a much stronger trio of full lengths.
I love It's All Crazy with all my heart and I don't care who knows. But this band hasn't made a bad album.
Finally getting around to Vol 1. So awesome to have this on streaming. Ricky’s Drum parts / tones and Aaron’s vocals are second to none live. The Untitled songs sound amazing. Didn’t catch them after they released the last record. The banter after Wendy and Betsy is peak Aaron.
I've probably said it in here before, but I'm a very odd MWY fan. I don't love any of their albums other than [Untitled] LP and EP, but I consider the totality of that project one of my favorite albums ever. I've attempted all their other albums at one point or another, but nothing has stuck. I'm going to try and use the live album as a way to dive into the back catalog and see if anything starts clicking this time around.
Agreed on both fronts but I think it's all Crazy has aged surprisingly well tbh. Maybe it does have to do with being far removed from any expectations back during that album cycle after B,S and the trajectory they were on, but I think it's got some heavy hitters. King Beetle always comes to mind and that song levels me every single time I listen to it.
Taken together, the Untitled LP and EP represent a distillation of sounds they exercised on other albums. I'd say the heavier elements come through well on Pale Horses and Foxes, and the more melodic on Brother, Sister, Ten Stories, and It's All Crazy. So much to appreciate throughout their career.
I’m less into Messes of Men, Dryness/Rain, Market Dimly Lit, Sun/Moon. Great lyrics in all of them, but not my favorites instrumentally. It’s also possible I’ve just listened to the album 5,000 times.
In the last year I went from respecting The Sun and the Moon, but not really feeling drawn to listening outside of album playthroughs, to it being easily a top 5 mwY song for me. Probably my favorite on that record at this point.
I'm so looking forward to whichever live volume has the "Messes of Men" with the "Memphis Will Be Laid To Rest" outro. I've watched it on YouTube so many times, lol.
The lines of “The sun & the moon are my father’s eyes” & “call me outside I’ll come running down” from Disaster Tourism drone on in my head constantly anytime I remember that they exist.
Listened to both pods with aaron. He sounds like he’s in a very healthy and happy place. Great to have a new MWY release and extended conversations from Aaron. can you imagine sitting in for one of his classes?
Revisiting the Untitled ep & lp this morning. I have gotten a lot less plays then their other albums because its so dense, but they are a pretty incredible capstone on this era of the band. Love that the ep is all singing with softer musical parts and then the album is a journey. Bethlehem & Kristy are two of their best indie-esque songs. 2,459 into Wendy and Betsy is one of their best pockets on any record. It feels like it has the most depth, clearest through line start to finish, and perfect dynamics. Amazing release to leave us with. Woah I hadn’t realized this record came out in 2018. Wild its coming up on 7 years without new music. Still feels very much like a new album to me.
Such a good album to end on. It took them 3 albums to reach the perfection of Brother, Sister, then sort of a left turn, and then 3 albums again to reach the perfection of Untitled. If they ever come back, I hope they make 3 albums haha also I still can't listen to Kristy without thinking of 6th Avenue Heartache