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]

Background

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]

Release

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.

Track listing

All tracks are written by John Darnielle

No.TitleLength
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
Sentries in the Ambush EP (special edition bonus 7")
No.TitleLength
13."Sentries in the Ambush"2:48
14."Divided Sky Lane"3:38

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic77/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Consequence of SoundB−[12]
The Guardian[13]
Pitchfork7.4/10 [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]

Personnel

  • John Darnielle – vocals, piano, lyrics, composition
  • Peter Hughes – bass
  • Jon Wurster – drums, percussion
  • Matt Douglas – woodwinds, guitars, vocals
  • Thom Gill – guitars
  • Johnny Spence – organ, Memorymoog, piano, Wurlitzer, synth
  • Bram Gielen – guitars, piano, synth
  • Owen Pallett – piano, organ, guitar, production
  • Dan Dugmore – pedal steel
  • Robert Bailey – vocal arrangements, vocals
  • Everett Drake – vocals
  • Jason Eskridge – vocals
  • Michael Mishaw – vocals
  • The Macedonian Radio Symphonic Orchestra – strings
    • strings arranged by Owen Pallett, conducted by Oleg Kondratenko, engineered by Giorgi Hristovski with Atanas Babaleski
  • Matt Ross-Spang – engineering
  • Shani Gandhi – mixing
  • Brent Lambert – mastering
  • Elton D'Souza – artwork
  • Daniel Murphy – design

Charts

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

References

  1. ^ "In League with Dragons". Bandcamp. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Kreps, Daniel (January 28, 2019). "Mountain Goats Create 'Dragon Noir' Genre With New Album 'In League With Dragons'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Bote, Joshua (January 28, 2019). "The Mountain Goats Announces Dungeons & Dragons-Inspired Album". NPR. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  4. ^ Schatz, Lake (January 28, 2019). "The Mountain Goats announce new album, In League with Dragons, share 'Younger': Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  5. ^ Geslani, Michelle (May 15, 2017). "The Mountain Goats release new album Goths: Stream". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  6. ^ Lindsay, Cam (May 17, 2017). "John Darnielle Lived the Teenage Goth Life I Never Did". Vice. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  7. ^ Sacher, Andrew (June 5, 2017). "The Mountain Goats announce fall tour dates". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  8. ^ Martin, Clare. "The Mountain Goats Will Bloody up Your Day with Their New Single "Cadaver Sniffing Dog"". Paste. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  9. ^ "I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats Season 2". I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats. Nightvale Presents. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  10. ^ a b In League with Dragons by The Mountain Goats, retrieved June 8, 2019
  11. ^ "In League with Dragons - The Mountain Goats | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  12. ^ Clark, Tyler (April 24, 2019). "The Mountain Goats Prove Adept Dungeon Masters on In League with Dragons". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  13. ^ Hann, Michael (April 26, 2019). "Mountain Goats: In League With Dragons review – deliciously detailed indie rock". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  14. ^ "The Mountain Goats: In League With Dragons". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  15. ^ Dolan, Jon (April 26, 2019). "Review: Mountain Goats Conjure Sad Wizards and Other Fading Heroes on 'In League With Dragons'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  16. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Digital Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. May 6, 2019. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 4, 2019.
  18. ^ "The Mountain Goats Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  19. ^ "The Mountain Goats Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  20. ^ "The Mountain Goats Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  21. ^ "The Mountain Goats Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_League_with_Dragons
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