Review 1 of 19

tezkag72 writes:

5of 5 Stars

Oh my god this album is awesome. Kind of a weak start with "March into the Sea" but I can listen to this all the way through without wanting to skip a song.

Anyone who says Modest Mouse are sellouts, I respect them for their point of view but far disagree with them. First of all, this album and the older albums like Moon & Antartica are simply different albums. Every Modest Mouse album is good in a different way. Second of all, have you heard some of the lyrics in this album? Far from sellout, if you ask me

"Someday you will die, and somehow something's going to steal your carbon"
-Parting of the Sensory

The lyrics in these songs are incredibly original, ingenious, and well thought out. Since it was the first Modest Mouse album I heard, I recommend it for people who have never heard the band, as well as general lo-fi indie rock fans.

My favorites on this album are "Dashboard", "Parting of the Sensory", "Little Motel", and "Spitting Venom".

May 11, 2008 15:18:51

Review 2 of 19

andinovagino writes:

5of 5 Stars

"We Were Dead..." is Modest Mouses masterpiece, and the best album released by anyone in rock music (or hip hop, or pop, or folk, etc.) post Y2K! I've been listening to this almost daily for the better part of two years and it gets better everytime. Must own for anyone who likes music beyond pop. This is the most creative body of work that works that the modern music industry has released since Beck's "Odelay" or Radiohead's "OK Computer"

Best Song: Parting of the Sensory
Most Likable Song: Missed the Boat
Funkiest Grooves: Education, Steam Engenius
Best Lyrics: March Into the Sea
Most Adventurous Track: Fly Trapped in a Jar

Mar 26, 2008 13:30:30

Review 3 of 19

THEmotown writes:

5of 5 Stars

For the true fans of Modest Mouse, the ones who remember The Moon And Antartica word-for-word, the mood and success of this album comes to us as a relief... we were right all along! This band held strong the thier haunted/fun house instrumentality with a small acddition of a bigger sound. Isaac Brock, lead vocals (David Byrne and Frank Black's long lost love child) maintains his strong convictions in his bold, shakey, broken pieces lyrics. "Fly Tapped in a Box" is a great example of the freaky-free yelling feeling this band evokes from it's fans. "Fire it Up" will become the new anthem for Indie kids getting out of a bad day. But, the fist song really introduces new fans to what Modest Mouse is made of. "March into the Sea" and let me know what you think.

May 21, 2007 06:15:54

Review 4 of 19

vinylrecord7 writes:

4of 5 Stars

alot of the lyrics here are in other songs i have herd by the band, thats the reason i gave it 4 out of 5 stars. other than that i absolutelt LOVE it Modest Mosue is timeless and makes me feel every emotion possible, which is what a good band should do.

Apr 27, 2007 15:29:03

Review 5 of 19

5432OneCapricorn writes:

Not Rated

Christgau's RS review misses the boat figuratively. How is the
song with most mass appeal overlooked while helping the
work fall off the online and dept stores shelves en masse as
Billboard reports come in. Dashboard and Missed the Boat
have platinum indie rock flash deserving of the harshest
critic's attention. Apparently not here. Released a slim 3
weeks earlier than Bright Eye's white hot Cassadaga, Modest
Mouse should feel a pyric victory as the sales spotlight goes
double duty. Each artist/group has the attention of everbody.
In Little Motel, i sense Modest Mouse found a place to stay in
Cassadaga.
Seattle, WA.

Apr 14, 2007 21:21:08

Review 6 of 19

akguitarist6 writes:

5of 5 Stars

this cd is, quite frankly, awesome. Every song is amazing and the
ones with James Mercer will blow your mind. Mercer and Issac
Brock's voices seem to be made to be with each other and with
the addition of Smith's guitarist Johnny Marr and amazing cd
comes together. Definitly a must-buy.

Apr 7, 2007 15:52:08

Review 7 of 19

KrIsTeNxGeE writes:

3of 5 Stars

Its got some pretty good songs and an awesome album name. They always come up with the weiredst stuff but thats what makes them stick out. I give this album 3 1/2 Stars!

Mar 25, 2007 14:43:35

Review 8 of 19

neeley5420 writes:

5of 5 Stars

Sometimes it seems that critics just really don't listen to the cd; like in the case of "We We're Dead Before the Ship Even Sank." This entire cd is about the state of the union, if you will. "We Were Dead...", loosely uses a metaphor of a ship and sea as the U.S. and the world. The captain, the president, starting to make sense now.

Start with the first track, "March Into Sea", the furious lyrics and music set the tone, "And if you think you know enough/to know you know, we've had enough/and if you think you don't, you probably will." I would say this is a direct statement to the leader of the free world. In fact in some cases the refrences, while cleverly hidden, can sound downright threatening. "No, you're not invisible inside your car." Even if you didn't really concentrate on the album as I suspect is the case at Rolling Stone, even looking only at the track list hints to the listener about the context of the entire album.

Tracks such as "Parting of the Sensory" are as direct as can be. "Who the hell made you the boss (Bush)/ We placed all our chips (troops) in all the right spots/ but still lost/ any shithead who had ever walked/ could have done a much finer job/ ah fuck it I guess we lost." Pretty clear huh? "Spitting Venom" is another track that is very straight foreward with its Texas twang and first person delivery of President Bush, "Well we were spitting venom at most everyone we know/ if the damned gave us a roadmap then we'd know just where to go./ So let it drop, let it all drop." A metaphor fo war. Later he plays a whining child-like Bush, "I don't know who kept track/ I didn't know there was a score/ but it looks like you're the winner/ and i ain't gonna play no more/ it's over, game over." Also, "Steam Engenius" is probably the most direct attack at the executive branch on the album. I actually could just type all of the lyrics to the song to make my point but here's just a few lines. "You cheered as I was split in half/ a mechanical sacrificial calf for you (puppet)/ all for you" "Stasis is what you got/ like a rickshaw bieng pulled around by another rickshaw."

Yet another track directed at the prez is "Education." "Hardley education all them books I didn't read/ they just sat there on my shelf/ lookin' much smarter than me." The next track "Little Motel" is a beautiful ballad about Bush's isolation as he lays in bed in the White House. This song also has an almost threatening harmonious hook to it, "That's why it's nice to be by yourself/ cause that's what I'm waiting for/ that's what I'm waiting for aren't I."

Songs like "We've Got Everything" and "People as Places as People" have more abstract views but still deliver meaning. In "People..." the lyrics "Well we were the people we wanted to know/ and we were the places we wanted to go," is as dead-on of a description of how ignorant Americans feel, as one can make. Like I really want to go to Europe and have the cashier at McDonald's speaking English to me.

Two of the absolute most important songs to tha album "Missed the Boat" and "Fly Trapped in a Jar," speak directly to the listener about how, without beating around the bush (npi), America has screwed itself. Some of my favorite lyrics on the album are the marching, chanting lyrics of "Fly..." "Well I hadn't really noticed/ but the people really noticed/ that they really didn't want us around/ so we all just opened up our mouths and wallets to this town/ here we go sir."

It would be easy to go on and on about the political context of "We Were Dead...", but for space sake i'll wrap this review up. I would say there really isn't a weak song on the album, even the single "Dashboard" has a catchy uniqueness to it that helps to deliver the point of the album. This is definately a concept album that i feel should be listened to in its entirety while reading the lyrics, to fully appreciate the art.

Mar 24, 2007 21:43:44