Transcendental Youth
Studio album by
the Mountain Goats
ReleasedOctober 2, 2012
Recorded2012
GenreIndie rock
Length39:10
LabelMerge
ProducerBrandon Eggleston
The Mountain Goats chronology
All Eternals Deck
(2011) 		Transcendental Youth
(2012) 		Beat the Champ
(2015)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.5/10[1]
Metacritic81/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Alternative Press[4]
American Songwriter[5]
The A.V. ClubB+[6]
MSN Music (Expert Witness)A[7]
NME7/10[8]
Pitchfork7.8/10[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Spin8/10[11]
Uncut8/10[12]

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.[13] The album is loosely unified around a group of people living in Washington state.[13] At least one character is confirmed to be recurring from All Hail West Texas, an earlier album.[13]

Several songs were performed in concert with a capella quartet Anonymous 4 and featured arrangements by long-time friend Owen Pallett.[14][15] However, Anonymous 4 and Owen Pallett do not appear on the official studio album. This is the first Mountain Goats album to prominently feature a horn section, contributed and arranged by fellow musician Matthew E. White, who opened for the band on their 2012 tour.[16]

The first 1,000 preorders of the album came with a bonus 7",[17] containing demos for the songs "Steal Smoked Fish" on Side A, and "In the Shadow of the Western Hills," which was originally written for the album, on Side B.

Track listing

First reported by John Darnielle on July 9, 2012, the track list is:[18]

No.TitleLength
1."Amy AKA Spent Gladiator 1"2:27
2."Lakeside View Apartments Suite"3:58
3."Cry for Judas"3:13
4."Harlem Roulette"3:23
5."White Cedar"3:05
6."Until I Am Whole"2:49
7."Night Light"3:59
8."The Diaz Brothers"2:46
9."Counterfeit Florida Plates"2:23
10."In Memory of Satan"4:01
11."Spent Gladiator 2"2:52
12."Transcendental Youth"4:10
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Steal Smoked Fish Alternate Take (piano version)"3:44
14."Tomorrow (from the musical "Annie")"3:33
Deluxe edition bonus 7"
No.TitleLength
1."Steal Smoked Fish (guitar version)"3:14
2."In the Shadow of the Western Hills"2:35

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ^ "Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  2. ^ "Reviews for Transcendental Youth by The Mountain Goats". Metacritic. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  3. ^ Thomas, Fred. "Transcendental Youth – The Mountain Goats". AllMusic. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  4. ^ "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". Alternative Press (292): 92. November 2012.
  5. ^ Weiss, Dan (October 8, 2012). "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". American Songwriter. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  6. ^ Wild, Matt (October 2, 2012). "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". The A.V. Club. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (November 6, 2012). "The Mountain Goats/Ned Sublette". MSN Music. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  8. ^ Murphy, Kurt (October 12, 2012). "The Mountain Goats – 'Transcendental Youth'". NME. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  9. ^ Zoladz, Lindsay (October 2, 2012). "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  10. ^ Rosen, Jody (October 5, 2012). "Transcendental Youth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 17, 2019.
  11. ^ Harris, Keith (October 4, 2012). "The Mountain Goats, 'Transcendental Youth' (Merge)". Spin. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  12. ^ "The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth". Uncut (186): 79. November 2012.
  13. ^ a b c Swiatecki, Chad. Mountain Goats' John Darnielle Discusses the 'Satan Record'. Rolling Stone, January 20, 2012.
  14. ^ Hudson, Alex. John Darnielle to Unveil New Mountain Goats Project with Some Help from Owen Pallett. Exclaim.ca, November 16, 2011.
  15. ^ Darnielle, John (November 27, 2011). "Twitter post". Twitter.com. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  16. ^ Hilleary, Mike (July 31, 2012). "The Mountain Goats Announce Tour". Under the Radar. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
  17. ^ Darnielle, John (2012-07-25), "Cry for Judas". Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  18. ^ "Just Under 1,000 Words About Our New Album". The Mountain Goats. July 9, 2012. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved May 23, 2013.
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