Beat the Champ

Beat the Champ
Studio album by the Mountain Goats
Released April 3, 2015 AustraliaNew Zealand
April 7, 2015 United StatesCanada
April 13, 2015 European Union
Recorded 2014
Genre Indie rock, Alternative
Length 45:51
Label Merge Records
Producer Brandon Eggleston
the Mountain Goats chronology

Transcendental Youth
(2012)		 Beat the Champ
(2015)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 78% (21 reviews)[1]
Review scores
Source Rating
Rolling Stone Australia [2]
The Line Of Best Fit [3]
Alternative Press
The A.V. Club B[4]
Consequence of Sound B[5]
Pitchfork Media [6]
Los Angeles Times [7]
Exclaim! 8/10[8]

Beat the Champ is the 15th studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 7th, 2015, by Merge Records. The album's focus is on professional wrestling, though band member John Darnielle has stated that several of its songs are "really more about death and difficult-to-navigate interior spaces than wrestling."[9]

The album was announced by Merge on January 20th, 2015, after which the second track, "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero," was released for streaming on the label's SoundCloud page.[10] Shortly afterwards it became available for pre-order, where the large number of orders caused the site to crash.

The second single, and sixth track of the album, titled "Heel Turn 2" was released on Merge Records' SoundCloud page on February 28, 2015. The following day, it officially premiered on an episode of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale.[11]

Reception

The album was positively reviewed by critics, gaining 78/100 points on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[1] Several critics praised Beat the Champ for providing an accessible interpretation of professional wrestling, such that listeners not interested in the sport could still enjoy the album.[2][7] Writing for Exclaim!, Jer Fairall called the record "yet another highlight in a career overflowing with them," in large part due to the group's "sonic adventurousness, matched with Darnielle's singular presence as a storyteller and a songwriter."[8]

Track listing

Beat the Champ
No. Title Length
1. "Southwestern Territory"   4:14
2. "The Legend of Chavo Guerrero"   3:00
3. "Foreign Object"   2:51
4. "Animal Mask"   2:54
5. "Choked Out"   1:42
6. "Heel Turn 2"   5:58
7. "Fire Editorial"   3:22
8. "Stabbed to Death Outside San Juan"   3:48
9. "Werewolf Gimmick"   2:34
10. "Luna"   3:27
11. "Unmasked!"   3:28
12. "The Ballad of Bull Ramos"   2:53
13. "Hair Match"   5:40
Total length:
 45:51

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Beat the Champ". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-04-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://rollingstoneaus.com/reviews/post/the-mountain-goats-beat-the-champ/1381
  3. ↑ http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/mountain-goats
  4. ↑ http://www.avclub.com/review/mountain-goats-latest-takes-tuneful-moving-look-pr-217238/
  5. ↑ http://consequenceofsound.net/2015/04/album-review-the-mountain-goats-beat-the-champ/
  6. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20381-beat-the-champ/
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-mountain-goats-beat-the-champ-pop-review-20150406-column.html
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Fairall, Jer (April 7, 2015). "The Mountain Goats - Beat the Champ". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  9. ↑ http://www.mountain-goats.com/archives/2015/01/the-cream-of-th.html
  10. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/news/58158-mountain-goats-announce-pro-wrestling-themed-lp-beat-the-champ-share-the-legend-of-chavo-guerrero/
  11. ↑ http://pitchfork.com/news/58677-the-mountain-goats-share-heel-turn-2/

External Links