Good Morning Spider (studio album)
by Sparklehorse

From cestuneblague 05/30/2023 23:39 | #297307

Don't scrape your knee when it touches the sky

Good album.

Favorite tracks: Pig, Hundreds Of Sparrows

B+

From Brad1770 02/28/2019 02:48 | #232753

Album number 2 from the Mark Linkous project Sparklehorse is a beautiful Lo-Fi indi-rock masterpiece

The background to its release goes back to 1996 when Linkous was left unconscious for 14 hours with his legs pinned under him following a seemingly unintentional drug over dose and as a result was hospitalised for a long period of time , had to use a wheelchair for six months as well as receive dialysis for acute kidney failure. Linkous has stated in interviews much of 'Good Morning Spiders' material had been written prior to the accident however the incidence did influence the sombre tone of the album as well as the track "St. Mary", which is dedicated to the nurses at the hospital where Linkous recuperated

The album itself is 17 tracks long however 3 of those tracks are short-ish sound bites ("Good Morning Spider" 1:09 / "Box of Stars Pt1" 1:34 and "Box of Stars Pt2" 0:51). There are 5 uptempo almost rocking tracks ("Sick of Goodbye's" , "Chaos of the Galaxy/Happy Man" , "Maria's Little Elbows" , "Cruel Sun" and "Ghost of His Smile") which are all fantastic . The remaining 9 tracks are sad lo-fi numbers each truly gorgeous in their own way

I can't recommend this album more highly

Note: as I write this in 2019 this album is NOT available on any of the major music steaming services , and the Youtube versions are either incomplete or poor quality so I would highly recommend grabbing a CD version while you can still get a copy . I got a cheapish one off EBay but it wasn't easy

From luigybetis 11/23/2018 15:38 | #225548

As good as his first effort, this is ridiculously good. 8.7/10.

From sageamagoo 06/27/2013 02:35 | #79920

I love this album. Browsing through random songs one day, I came across Saint Mary and loved it. Then I checked out the rest of the album... and was blown away.

The album's fusion of slow, exquisite, melodious thinker's ballads and punk or rock-oriented songs keeps the album wholly engaging from beginning to end.

[EDIT: TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER] Out of the four core Mark Linkous records, this was both the easiest to get into, and the one that stuck with me the most. Usually those two don't corollate, and I'm so glad this has remained such an enjoyable experience. Vivadixie... is every bit its equal, so listen to that too if you liked this!

From drivebytornado 03/02/2013 05:12 | #66642

The follow-up to 1996's excellent Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot isn't much of a dropoff.

This is an album that sounds great on the headphones. I spent many an afternoon at the office using this to drown out the noise.

THE Sparklehorse album. Rest in peace, Mark Linkous. You brought some beautiful work to this world.

Subtle and exquisitely beautiful music. Redefines electro-pop.