i just bought the Sunset Tree. I like. I also understand there are several fanatics on this board...so where do i go from here?

ive only ever heard tallahassee, but it was very, very good.

From my experience, nothing is like Sunset Tree, simply due to production value. For me, All Hail west Texas, Tallahassee, Coroner's Gambit and We Shall All Be Healed pretty much provide the same things, although I would say Tallahassee is the next best, and Gambit isnt far behind.

Sunset Tree is by far my favorite, and was my #3 of last year.

this is my fav

mountain goats - we shall all be healed

I like the older stuff better, more because the songs had more energy and were generally more clever and funny.

A good one to get is the Protein Source of the Future comp. It compiles a lot of his early cassette stuff and is really, really solid. Very lo fi, though.

[emusic plug here]

true dat.

Pretty much everything is good. I would go with All Hail West Texas next, personally. We Shall All Be Healed and Tallahassee are the two other 4AD albums that have studio production. The rest is all very lo-fi.

All Hail West Texas is great, and I really love the Beautiful Rat Sunset EP, if only for "New Star Song"

I just listened to Sunset Tree for the first time a few days ago, and was revolted by how stiff and calculated it all sounds now

i just love the whirring sound of the boombox on the lo-fi recordings. i don't like the full on studio stuff as much

Give it a chance. It's definitely a grower. I didn't like it much at first, and now I think it might be my favorite Mountain Goats album. Also, if you like the more lo-fi stuff, there was a special edition of it called "O Come, O Come to the Sunset Tree," or something like that. It's got some extra songs and is basically just Darnielle and a guitar without all the fancy production. I don't have it, but some people have told me it's better than the studio version.

I think this was only put out on vinyl, each copy with handmade "artwork" (splotches of spraypaint in some cases) by Darnielle. A friend of mine got two of them but refused to sell the extra one to me. I think he sold it on eBay for a decent amount.

Anyway, I haven't heard it, but I don't think the songs on Sunset Tree are all that great, production aside. Listening to it (the studio version) now, though, just to be sure.

Paging Postmersh....

there's no such thing as a bad Mountain Goats album. Since you've started with Sunset, might as well just go backward in order of releases, that way you can gradually hear a de-evolution of theMGs sound.