| In League With Dragons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 26, 2019 | |||
| Recorded | 2018–2019 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock [1] | |||
| Length | 48:22 | |||
| Label | Merge | |||
| Producer | Owen Pallett | |||
| The Mountain Goats chronology | ||||
| ||||
In League With Dragons is the seventeenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 26, 2019, on Merge Records. [2] [3] Inspired by tabletop role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons , the album has been described as a "partial rock opera" with influences from noir literature. [2] [4]
Indie rock band the Mountain Goats released their 16th full-length studio album, Goths , on May 19, 2017, via Merge Records. [5] The album was inspired by John Darnielle's childhood enjoyment of gothic rock. [6] After supporting Jason Isbell on tour in June and July 2017, the Mountain Goats went on a North American headlining tour from September through December 2017 in support of Goths. [7]
The album was announced on January 28, 2019. The announcement was accompanied by a live streaming event on Facebook and Twitch, hosted by Wizards of the Coast. The band also released three singles from the album: "Younger", [3] "Cadaver Sniffing Dog", [8] and "Sicilian Crest". The release of "Sicilian Crest" was accompanied by an hour-long discussion about the making of the song by frontman John Darnielle and podcaster Joseph Fink, on the podcast I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats ; season two of the podcast will ultimately consist of a track-by-track discussion of each song on the album. [9]
The album was released on April 26, 2019, on Merge Records. Special editions of the album come with an additional 7-inch record, Sentries in the Ambush EP, featuring two non-album tracks.
All tracks are written by John Darnielle
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Done Bleeding" | 4:38 |
| 2. | "Younger" | 5:52 |
| 3. | "Passaic 1975" | 3:55 |
| 4. | "Clemency for the Wizard King" | 2:47 |
| 5. | "Possum by Night" | 2:59 |
| 6. | "In League with Dragons" | 3:11 |
| 7. | "Doc Gooden" | 4:19 |
| 8. | "Going Invisible 2" | 3:05 |
| 9. | "Waylon Jennings Live!" | 3:15 |
| 10. | "Cadaver Sniffing Dog" | 3:55 |
| 11. | "An Antidote for Strychnine" | 6:04 |
| 12. | "Sicilian Crest" | 4:22 |
| Total length: | 48:22 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Sentries in the Ambush" | 2:48 |
| 14. | "Divided Sky Lane" | 3:38 |
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 77/100 [10] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| Consequence of Sound | B− [12] |
| The Guardian | [13] |
| Pitchfork | 7.4/10 [14] |
| Rolling Stone |  [15] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77 (based on 14 reviews) indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Digital Albums (ARIA) [16] | 33 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC) [17] | 65 |
| US Billboard 200 [18] | 110 |
| US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [19] | 9 |
| US Folk Albums (Billboard) [20] | 5 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [21] | 16 |
The Mountain Goats are an American band formed in Claremont, California, by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. The band is currently based in Durham, North Carolina. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle, despite the plural moniker. Although he remains the core member of the band, he has worked with a variety of collaborators over time, including bassist and vocalist Peter Hughes, drummer Jon Wurster, multi-instrumentalist Matt Douglas, singer-songwriter Franklin Bruno, bassist and vocalist Rachel Ware, singer-songwriter/producer John Vanderslice, guitarist Kaki King, and multi-instrumentalist Annie Clark.
The Sunset Tree is the ninth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 26, 2005 by 4AD. The album's songs revolve around the house John Darnielle grew up in and the people who lived there, including his mother, sister, stepfather, friends, and enemies.
Michael James Owen Pallett-Plowright, known professionally as Owen Pallett, is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist. Under their former pseudonym Final Fantasy, Pallett won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds. Pallett is also known for their contributions to Arcade Fire, having toured with the band and been credited as an arranger and instrumentalist on each of their studio albums. In January 2014, Pallett and Arcade Fire member William Butler were nominated for Best Original Score at the 86th Academy Awards for their original score of the film Her (2013).
Tallahassee is the seventh studio album by the Mountain Goats. It was the band's second new album to be released in 2002, and it marked quite a few changes. After releasing records on small record labels such as Shrimper, Ajax, and Emperor Jones, Tallahassee was the first Mountain Goats album to be released on a widely known independent label, the British alternative rock label 4AD. It was also the first Mountain Goats album to have an official single released, for the song "See America Right."
We Shall All Be Healed is the eighth studio album by The Mountain Goats. The album focuses on semi-fictional accounts of band leader John Darnielle's years as a teenager, particularly his friends' and acquaintances' experiences in California and in Portland, Oregon, as methamphetamine addicts. As The Mountain Goats' official website puts it: "All of the songs on We Shall All Be Healed are based on people John used to know. Most of them are probably dead or in jail by now." Like Tallahassee, but unlike the rest of Darnielle's repertoire up to its release, We Shall All Be Healed was recorded with a full band in a recording studio, and produced by John Vanderslice, as opposed to The Mountain Goats' previous practice of recording at home on a boom box with, at most, one or two backup vocalists or a bassist. "Palmcorder Yajna", when played in concert, is often played with the backing of members of one or more of the opening acts on tour with The Mountain Goats. The song "Cotton" was featured in an episode of the television series Weeds.
Get Lonely is the tenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on August 22, 2006 on 4AD. It peaked at #193 on the Billboard top 200 album chart.
None Shall Pass is the fifth studio album by American hip hop artist Aesop Rock. It was released on Definitive Jux on August 28, 2007.
Heretic Pride is the eleventh studio album by the Mountain Goats, released in the UK on February 18, 2008, and in the US on February 19 by 4AD, their sixth album on the label. It is the first to feature the band's lineup of John Darnielle, Peter Hughes, and Jon Wurster. The album was produced by Scott Solter and John Vanderslice.
The Mountain Goats are an American, Durham, North Carolina–based band, led by American singer-songwriter John Darnielle. Darnielle began recording in 1991, and is known for his highly literate lyrics and his lo-fi recording style. The Mountain Goats' albums have featured a constantly changing line-up of musicians, with Darnielle the only constant; when performing live, the band commonly comprises only Darnielle backed by Peter Hughes on bass guitar and Jon Wurster playing drums. Their discography consists of 22 studio albums, four compilation albums, three live albums, ten demo albums, 18 solo extended plays, six collaborative extended plays, and 24 singles. In addition, three unreleased albums circulate amongst collectors.
The Life of the World to Come is the twelfth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on October 6, 2009. The third track, "Genesis 3:23", was released as a free download via the band's website on July 28. The album peaked at #110 on the Billboard Top 200 albums on its chart debut.
All Eternals Deck is the thirteenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on March 29, 2011 by Merge Records. "All Eternals Deck" refers to a fictional set of Tarot cards, the history and details of which are described in the album's liner notes.
Transcendental Youth is the fourteenth studio album by the Mountain Goats. The album focuses on outcasts, recluses, the mentally ill, and others struggling in ordinary society. The album is loosely unified around a group of people living in Washington state. At least one character is confirmed to be recurring from All Hail West Texas, an earlier album.
Beat the Champ is the fifteenth studio album by The Mountain Goats, released on April 7, 2015 on Merge Records. The release is a concept album on professional wrestling, though frontman John Darnielle has stated that several of its songs are "really more about death and difficult-to-navigate interior spaces than wrestling."
The Most Lamentable Tragedy is the fourth studio album by New Jersey punk rock band Titus Andronicus, released on July 28, 2015, through Merge Records. It is a rock opera in five acts that follows "Our Hero", a man who is visited by his doppelganger and goes through considerable life experiences and dream sequences, all acting as a metaphor for manic depression.
Goths is the sixteenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on May 19, 2017, on Merge Records. The band has stated that Goths was inspired by an adolescence listening to The Cure, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division, as well as hearing songs on the radio station KROQ-FM. The album also marked the band's first release as a four-piece outfit, having added touring member Matt Douglas (keyboards/woodwinds) as a permanent fixture of the band following the By, For, and About the Trees Southeastern Fall Tour that supported their previous record, Beat the Champ.
Sweet Southern Sugar is the eleventh studio album by American recording artist Kid Rock. It was released on November 3, 2017, by Broken Bow Records, Top Dog Records and BMG Rights Management. The album spawned four singles: "Po-Dunk", "Greatest Show on Earth", "Tennessee Mountain Top", and "American Rock 'n Roll", along with their music videos. Its lead single, "Po-Dunk", peaked at number 27 on the Hot Country Songs. "Greatest Show on Earth" peaked at number 16 on the Mainstream Rock chart and it was used as the main theme for WWE pay-per-view Survivor Series (2017). "Tennessee Mountain Top" peaked at number 36 on the Hot Country Songs. Sweet Southern Sugar is Kid Rock's first album since his self-titled 2003 album not to feature a title track, though the album's name comes from a lyric in "Tennessee Mountain Top". The album also features a cover of the Four Tops song "I Can't Help Myself ", titled "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch". The album's sixth track "Back to the Otherside" and tenth and final track "Grandpa's Jam" feature a return to the rapping vocals of Rock's earlier work.
Songs for Pierre Chuvin is the eighteenth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 10, 2020. It is the first album since 2002's All Hail West Texas to feature only the band's frontman, John Darnielle, as well as the first since then to be recorded entirely on a boombox. The album was first released on cassette and digital, with CD and vinyl releases following in 2021.
Getting Into Knives is the nineteenth studio album by indie folk band the Mountain Goats, released on October 23, 2020, through Merge Records. The album was recorded in March 2020 over six days at Sam Philips Recording in Memphis, in the same room where psychobilly band the Cramps tracked their 1980 debut album Songs the Lord Taught Us. Getting Into Knives was produced, engineered, and mixed by Matt Ross-Spang, who previously engineered In League with Dragons (2019). In addition to being available on streaming and download services, the album also saw physical release on CD, vinyl, and cassette.
Dark in Here is the 20th studio album by indie folk band the Mountain Goats, released June 25, 2021 through Merge Records. The album was recorded in March 2020, just one week after Getting Into Knives (2020), at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Dark in Here was produced by Matt Ross-Spang, who also produced Getting Into Knives and engineered In League with Dragons (2019). In addition to being available on streaming and download services, the album was released physically on CD and vinyl.
Bleed Out is the 21st studio album by indie folk band the Mountain Goats, released on August 19, 2022, through Merge Records. The album was written between December 2020 and January 2021, and recorded immediately following this at Betty's in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Bleed Out was produced by Alicia Bognanno of Bully. The album was preceded by the lead single "Training Montage".
