Written by musicalkaratekid on 24.09.2011 at 20:59

Possibly their weakest album(due to the vocals-way too melodic for my liking) but this is still a great mastodon album.

Weakest album = 9.

I feel like after this "The Hunter" is a huge letdown. I was hoping for more epic songs like The Czar and The Last Baron. I like the direction this album takes.

Written by tea[m]ster on 17.02.2012 at 01:00

I feel like after this "The Hunter" is a huge letdown. I was hoping for more epic songs like The Czar and The Last Baron. I like the direction this album takes.

I wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. "The Hunter" is decent but patchy. I actually think "Crack" is better than both "The Hunter" and "Blood Mountain" as it happens!

My favorite album of theirs', they went in a somewhat varying direction after this album which I can respect. After an album this good I wasn't really expecting anything as good, this album will most likely be the peak of their careers.

Very proggy.

Oh genius!

Written by Guest on 04.11.2012 at 15:43

HAahah I don't even get why this has a higher rating than leviathan. Leviathan is miles away from this. This should be around 8.0 and leviathan 8.9 at least.

I agree... but it's easier to digest for casual listeners, which makes up the majority of mastodon fans, by far

Sweet jesus on a candle stick, this is still as awesome as when i first heard it.

One of the best albums ever made.

Flawless album. I somewhat disliked it first but now it turned out to be one of my favourite albums.

Written by musicalkaratekid on 28.02.2012 at 23:22

You probably haven't noticed that i recently changed my rating from a 9 to a 6-i gave it a deeper listen. And my last comment didn't necessarily say that this was definitvely their 'weakest', just 'possibly' their weakest, giving off the idea that it may or may not be. As for your last sentence, that's a bit over-the-top isn't it? I mean, i can take sarcasm as much as any other person, but basically saying that I'm stupid ('Quite a genius,aren't you?') for saying that one of mastodon's albums may or may not be their weakest is a bit,well...obscure. Apart from that, do have a good life. Try not to piss too many people off.

So... a deeper listen makes you drop it from a 9 to a 6? Really? Are you voting on first listens? 'Cause if you are, you might want to stop. If your rating can be wildly different than the rating you give it on your first listen, I don't think your first listen is accurate enough to give out ratings. You should probably re-listen to all the other hundreds of albums you've rated and change them by 3 or 4 points, too.

Really, you should stop being so influenced by the comments that people are giving you. If you liked the album enough on a first listen to give it a 9 (which is really damn good, something you should only give to great albums), I don't see how you can drop it to anything less than a 7 after a deeper listen.

A band having a weakest album doesn't mean much. If you rated the weakest a 9, that just means that a band has a lot strong material for their weakest album to still be really good. The weakest album of a band doesn't necessarily mean that it's a weak album when compared to other albums from other bands.

You can rate, say, four albums a 9 and have one be the weakest. For example: If I rate them like this, 8.6, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.4, they all round to a 9 rating, but the one with 8.6 is still technically the weakest.

I'm considering rating this down an 8 after more listens if my feelings change, but there's no way I can drop it down to 5 or 6 or anything like that. That's an extreme change to make, something that could only happen if my perception was drastically altered by the introduction of some vastly new information that totally rearranges my musical perspective--which is very unlikely to happen.

Written by Jaeryd on 03.04.2013 at 18:50

Written by musicalkaratekid on 28.02.2012 at 23:22

You probably haven't noticed that i recently changed my rating from a 9 to a 6-i gave it a deeper listen. And my last comment didn't necessarily say that this was definitvely their 'weakest', just 'possibly' their weakest, giving off the idea that it may or may not be. As for your last sentence, that's a bit over-the-top isn't it? I mean, i can take sarcasm as much as any other person, but basically saying that I'm stupid ('Quite a genius,aren't you?') for saying that one of mastodon's albums may or may not be their weakest is a bit,well...obscure. Apart from that, do have a good life. Try not to piss too many people off.

So... a deeper listen makes you drop it from a 9 to a 6? Really? Are you voting on first listens? 'Cause if you are, you might want to stop. If your rating can be wildly different than the rating you give it on your first listen, I don't think your first listen is accurate enough to give out ratings. You should probably re-listen to all the other hundreds of albums you've rated and change them by 3 or 4 points, too.

Really, you should stop being so influenced by the comments that people are giving you. If you liked the album enough on a first listen to give it a 9 (which is really damn good, something you should only give to great albums), I don't see how you can drop it to anything less than a 7 after a deeper listen.

A band having a weakest album doesn't mean much. If you rated the weakest a 9, that just means that a band has a lot strong material for their weakest album to still be really good. The weakest album of a band doesn't necessarily mean that it's a weak album when compared to other albums from other bands.

You can rate, say, four albums a 9 and have one be the weakest. For example: If I rate them like this, 8.6, 9.0, 9.1, and 9.4, they all round to a 9 rating, but the one with 8.6 is still technically the weakest.

I'm considering rating this down an 8 after more listens if my feelings change, but there's no way I can drop it down to 5 or 6 or anything like that. That's an extreme change to make, something that could only happen if my perception was drastically altered by the introduction of some vastly new information that totally rearranges my musical perspective--which is very unlikely to happen.

Why did you feel the need to type all of this out? I'll admit I haven't read all of what you've written because it seems to me like a waste of time.

Written by musicalkaratekid on 04.04.2013 at 15:05

Why did you feel the need to type all of this out? I'll admit I haven't read all of what you've written because it seems to me like a waste of time.

tl;dr version: You should stop voting on first listens, because obviously you don't vote accurately enough on a first listen if you're going to drop your rating from 9 to 6.

Written by Jaeryd on 04.04.2013 at 17:50

Written by musicalkaratekid on 04.04.2013 at 15:05

Why did you feel the need to type all of this out? I'll admit I haven't read all of what you've written because it seems to me like a waste of time.

tl;dr version: You should stop voting on first listens, because obviously you don't vote accurately enough on a first listen if you're going to drop your rating from 9 to 6.

I've been dropping this rating gradually over time. OK, so there's no proof, but I don't feel like I have to justify my ratings to someone who cares so much about arguing over how to "rate" a Mastodon album properly.

It's Spring. Enjoy the sunshine.

Written by musicalkaratekid on 04.04.2013 at 18:00

I've been dropping this rating gradually over time. OK, so there's no proof, but I don't feel like I have to justify my ratings to someone who cares so much about arguing over how to "rate" a Mastodon album properly.

It's Spring. Enjoy the sunshine.

Hey, you can do whatever you want. I wasn't demanding that you do anything, I was just giving you some advice--even if it was unwanted.

And it's not about the Mastodon album. I just think it's strange that your vote changed so drastically... and the only reason why I think it's important is because I like to look at your votes (and other people with a similar taste to my own) because you've listened to a ton of albums. I like to see if other people with a like-mind have similar opinions on the albums I've listened to.

Written by Jaeryd on 04.04.2013 at 18:11

Written by musicalkaratekid on 04.04.2013 at 18:00

I've been dropping this rating gradually over time. OK, so there's no proof, but I don't feel like I have to justify my ratings to someone who cares so much about arguing over how to "rate" a Mastodon album properly.

It's Spring. Enjoy the sunshine.

Hey, you can do whatever you want. I wasn't demanding that you do anything, I was just giving you some advice--even if it was unwanted.

And it's not about the Mastodon album. I just think it's strange that your vote changed so drastically... and the only reason why I think it's important is because I like to look at your votes (and other people with a similar taste to my own) because you've listened to a ton of albums. I like to see if other people with a like-mind have similar opinions on the albums I've listened to.

Well this is the only album page to my knowledge where a user has replied to my comment purely to give "advice" on how to rate albums properly. I first rated this a 9 back in 2011, and then after a few more weeks of listening to the album a few more times, it went down to an 8/7, then I finally gave it a 6 after making up my mind as to whether or not it deserves that rating. It's not like I said "actually this album isn't good at all. It deserves a 6". I just listened to it again a few more times and came to a definite rating. OK, I admit the 9 I first gave it was after one full listen, but I do that all the time! That doesn't mean I drop ratings just for other users' benefits.

Written by musicalkaratekid on 04.04.2013 at 18:33

Well this is the only album page to my knowledge where a user has replied to my comment purely to give "advice" on how to rate albums properly. I first rated this a 9 back in 2011, and then after a few more weeks of listening to the album a few more times, it went down to an 8/7, then I finally gave it a 6 after making up my mind as to whether or not it deserves that rating. It's not like I said "actually this album isn't good at all. It deserves a 6". I just listened to it again a few more times and came to a definite rating. OK, I admit the 9 I first gave it was after one full listen, but I do that all the time! That doesn't mean I drop ratings just for other users' benefits.

Well, everyone else likes to complain about other people's ratings, too. I'm not the first. Others like to say "So, you think there's a problem with this album but you rate it a 10?" or "So you think this album is amazing but you rate it a 5?"
...Usually they're talking about Bad English and his ratings, but you get the idea.

I'm not the first to give you advice anyway, as Boxcar Willy's comment was a subtle advisory statement about rating the album (to quote "Weakest album = 9") which seemed to affect you enough to make you want to reply to him--so that way he knew that the weakest album was actually 6. Seeing as how the comments seem to affect you so much, I thought I'd take a crack at it and see if I could get you to reconsider, or at least find out why you could change your mind to something so different.

Anyway, like I said, you do what you want. Honestly--and I do admit--it should really be none of my business, and I'm just making this a much bigger deal than it should be.

Written by Jaeryd on 04.04.2013 at 18:50

Written by musicalkaratekid on 04.04.2013 at 18:33

Well this is the only album page to my knowledge where a user has replied to my comment purely to give "advice" on how to rate albums properly. I first rated this a 9 back in 2011, and then after a few more weeks of listening to the album a few more times, it went down to an 8/7, then I finally gave it a 6 after making up my mind as to whether or not it deserves that rating. It's not like I said "actually this album isn't good at all. It deserves a 6". I just listened to it again a few more times and came to a definite rating. OK, I admit the 9 I first gave it was after one full listen, but I do that all the time! That doesn't mean I drop ratings just for other users' benefits.

Well, everyone else likes to complain about other people's ratings, too. I'm not the first. Others like to say "So, you think there's a problem with this album but you rate it a 10?" or "So you think this album is amazing but you rate it a 5?"
...Usually they're talking about Bad English and his ratings, but you get the idea.

I'm not the first to give you advice anyway, as Boxcar Willy's comment was a subtle advisory statement about rating the album (to quote "Weakest album = 9") which seemed to affect you enough to make you want to reply to him--so that way he knew that the weakest album was actually 6. Seeing as how the comments seem to affect you so much, I thought I'd take a crack at it and see if I could get you to reconsider, or at least find out why you could change your mind to something so different.

Anyway, like I said, you do what you want. Honestly--and I do admit--it should really be none of my business, and I'm just making this a much bigger deal than it should be.

I'm being completely honest here-I hate people replying to my comments, whether it's them agreeing with what I have to say or not. But I also think it's rude not to reply to those comments and instead leave them hanging around. That's the way it's always been with me and metal storm. It's got absolutely nothing to do with how comments affect me. Also, I don't really care if I offend Box Car Willy or you by saying this, but giving users "advice" on here is probably just a waste of time. Very few people even read this "advice", let alone consider it so that it would affect the way they rate albums in the future.

One of the musical highlights of the past few years was seeing this album played live in early 2010, from start to finish, in order. They nailed it.

Oh boy, when I listened to this for the first time. That was a real journey.

Had a Mastodon-a-thon today, and I can say for sure now that this is the only record of theirs I legitimately enjoy.

Four and a half years later and it still sounds as amazing as the first time I heard it. Too bad the shirt I bought around the same time with this album cover on it doesn't look that great anymore...

Written by Zap on 04.10.2013 at 15:58

Four and a half years later and it still sounds as amazing as the first time I heard it. Too bad the shirt I bought around the same time with this album cover on it doesn't look that great anymore...

hahaha, yeah, my t-shirt is looking a bit worn as well. The day after I bought it (at their show in Sydney), my baby daughter spewed all over it!

Written by Ace Frawley on 05.10.2013 at 11:06


hahaha, yeah, my t-shirt is looking a bit worn as well. The day after I bought it (at their show in Sydney), my baby daughter spewed all over it!

Haha, that's unfortunate At least I still got to wear a brand-new-looking shirt for a while.
Mine is just looking worn because I wore it so much. Because I love this band/album.

This is nearly the best and oddest progressive album that bunch of red necks can release and its fucking great \m/

Rednecks? I'd probably go with hippie or stoner to be honest...

Mastodon didn't let me to do my things today because of this album

Written by Troy Killjoy on 13.09.2014 at 18:06

Rednecks? I'd probably go with hippie or stoner to be honest...

they dont look like ordinary musicians and what do you think about the album ?

Written by _deepblack on 30.09.2014 at 00:48

Written by Troy Killjoy on 13.09.2014 at 18:06

Rednecks? I'd probably go with hippie or stoner to be honest...

they dont look like ordinary musicians ...

They look like your typical stoner musicans to be honest. Roadburn is full of people that look like them. Both musicians and crowd.

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 30.09.2014 at 01:21

Written by _deepblack on 30.09.2014 at 00:48

Written by Troy Killjoy on 13.09.2014 at 18:06

Rednecks? I'd probably go with hippie or stoner to be honest...

they dont look like ordinary musicians ...

They look like your typical stoner musicans to be honest. Roadburn is full of people that look like them. Both musicians and crowd.

i dont know i never had chance to see it for my self but maybe your right