release date: Jun. 13, 2000
format: cd (2004 remaster)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
producer: Brian Dec (2004 reproduced by Simon Askew)
label: Epic Records / Sony - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "3rd Planet" - 2. "Gravity Rides Everything" - 3. "Dark Center of the Universe" - 6. "A Different City" - 14. "Life Like Weeds"
3rd studio album by Modest Mouse and the band's first on Epic Records is not much different from the predecessor The Lonesome Crowded West from 1997 released on Up Records, except from being slightly more muddy and / or subdued.
The album was not the first I came across by the band - in fact I only sought it out upon hearing Good News for People Who Love Bad News from 2004, and I have had my trouble in finding the greatness in this acclaimed album. It has it moments, undoubtedly, but it hasn't really found its way to my playlist that often. But I occasionally keep returning. I generally find it like the second coming of the '97 album - only less appealing - and find it hard to hear the three year time span that separate the two albums.
The original album consists of 15 tracks. It was reissued in an expanded and remastered version in 2004 containing 4 bonus tracks taken from a BBC Radio 1 session.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Melody Maker 3,5 / 5 stars ]
