Yeah, absolutely on par with those first 3 albums. Robs Alien the goat, as mentioned, but Let's Play Clowns is a stonker, way overlooked in their catalogue.
Am I the only one who thinks they kinda blew their load on that EP, leaving Menos el Oso good but not amazing? There's a grooviness and melodic element missing from much of the LP, which is why POI is my favorite full length.
I think MEO peters out a bit towards the end, but I still think it’s a great album. With that said, POI is definitely my favorite from them
My holy trinity is They Make Beer Commercials Like This, Menos el Oso, and Planet of Ice. 2004-2007 was peak Minus The Bear
Planet of Ice sounds a little generic to me. Like you can really hear their influences in some of the songs as opposed to how new and exciting albums like HRP or MEO sound. To me, that's when it started to go downhill with them. Still good, but not special IMO.
I think Planet of Ice is their most concise album from start to finish. Arguably their strongest album and possibly my favorite from them if you ask me
If I had a gun to my head and had to choose only one song of theirs to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be "Dr. L'Ling"
Planet Of Ice is the one for me. They took everything they were building in those first releases and all but perfected it while tightening up the songwriting and adding in that slight proggy element that elevated the whole thing.