It might take a while to finally click, but fuck me, when it clicks, it CLICKS. Easily one of my all time favorites.

I agree with most of the comments here. Listened to it once, and I can tell it is very difficult to appreciate it first. But I really just love the vocals on Oh Comely. Lyricaly beautiful.. but must take time to appreciante the instruments more.

The most curious musical instrument arrangement meets the largest of lung capacities singing out the most surreal lyrics in the best thing you could ever do on top of the simplest and rawest guitar chord progressions to have ever existed, with occasionally the dirtiest, grimiest distortion. I love this album!!

Oh my goodness gracious, dis one guuuddd. I don't know what else to say that hasn't been said before, but I'll say stuff anyways. This album sounds like it was recorded with potatoes, but they're the best potatoes on the land. Honestly though, if you have a great record player set up, I would say to listen to this album on vinyl, cause it is by far the best version of it. I love how distorted some songs get, yet how simple everything feels. All the songs are such classics, and it feels like the most consistent album I've ever heard. "King of Carrot Flowers Pt 1,2 and 3" the title track, "Two Headed Boy Pt 1 & 2", "Holland 1945", "Oh Comely", "Ghost", they're all so frickin good. It's such a shame that Jeff Magnum didn't really do anything else after this, considering this came out in 1998. Although there was an EP in 2011 called 'Ferris Wheel On Fire' which is great. It's a nice little treat for someone looking for more, but it's mostly a Jeff Magnum solo project. To put it simply, this album is one of the most important indie folk/alt. folk albums ever made, and screams 'classic'.

Can someone tell me how the F..K is this band here?

The only album in my top 100 that was discovered only once I had explored this website. There are other albums that I’ve been blown away by too but this one rises above them all to now sit amongst albums that have way more personal history for me. I’m really taken by it’s raw, impassioned, stripped back, poetic, acoustic, fringe dwelling aesthetic. If I’d bought it on release there’s no doubt it would be ranked higher but there’s time...

At first, Jeff Mangum's vocals have a cool and loose indie rock and folk feel, but as the album progresses you get occassionally surprised with the range he reaches. He will sing from the very top of his lungs to notes that might seem beyond his capabalities, being on the borderline of singing out of tune. He also does with a rawness that is only equalled by the instruments that accompany it. This adds a very unique character to the album, making it outstanding.

The lyrics are nothing short of hypnotizing and beautiful, and they flow like a river through the music. Every line has something memorable and quotable to offer. There's definitely genius songwriting all across this album.

Brilliant Album 9.5/10

They’ve got more energy than most folk revivals. I can’t be mad at this.
But it’s abso-fucking-lutely overrated. It’s easy to fool people into thinking your music is much better with simple tricks like: use a shitload of instruments (which says more about the size of their wallet than the size of their imagination) or combining genres while the whole doesn’t surpass the sum of the parts (when you mix genres, it shouldn’t be so clear). But not as overrated as Arcade Fire, whose superior is clearly this album.

I enjoy the vocals and songwriting a lot, but at times a bit too Thom York-y. The folk punk songs interest me most, but they’re as I said also too obvious a mix of those two genres. They sometimes have interesting ideas, like when they extend a tone and make it a organ point for the next (part of the) song, but it’s like those comedians who make you go “ha, clever” but they don’t really make you laugh.
A 9/10 album should blow my socks off more. On this album it’s just all too clear.

I kept delaying listening to this album for years for no apparent reason, I finally listened to it a couple of days ago, I won't lie it was kinda weird to listen to stuff like "I love you Jesus", don't care what the reason was, that whole track just didn't do it for me like the rest, other than that it was a wholeheartedly beautiful album,one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard especially in terms of lyrics and concept, it was truly an interesting surreal experience in my life, my favorite track is definitely the King Of Carrot Flowers Pt 1 probably cause I can relate to it on a personal level

I am of the opinion that if you don’t understand why this is #17 you need to keep listening over again until you do. Took me 4-5 times through before I stopped hating it.