Ghosts of the Great Highway

Ghosts of the Great Highway
Studio album by Sun Kil Moon
Released November 4, 2003
February 6, 2007 (re-issue)
Genre Alternative rock, indie folk
Length 58:12 (album)
21:15 (bonus disc)
Language English
Label Jetset Records
Caldo Verde Records
Producer Mark Kozelek
Sun Kil Moon chronology

Ghosts of the Great Highway
(2003)
Tiny Cities
(2005)

Ghosts of the Great Highway is the 2003 debut album by San Francisco quartet Sun Kil Moon, led by Red House Painters' founder Mark Kozelek, who composed all of the lyrics and music on this album. The other members are Anthony Koutsos (former drummer for Red House Painters), Geoff Stanfield, and Tim Mooney.

Three of the album's songs are named after boxers, following on from "Find Me, Ruben Olivares" from Kozelek's debut solo EP Rock 'n' Roll Singer. The band name is also a pun on the Korean boxer Sung-Kil Moon. The opening number is named after Judas Priest guitarist, Glenn Tipton.

Ghosts of the Great Highway was re-issued as a double CD on February 6, 2007 on Kozelek's own label, Caldo Verde Records. The second disc features 6 bonus tracks, including two versions of Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere," and the instrumental track "Arrival," which was originally recorded for the movie The Girl Next Door. The songs "Carry Me Ohio" and "Lily and Parrots" were featured in the film Shopgirl, where Kozelek also co-starred.

The song "Carry Me Ohio" was listed at #462 on Pitchfork Media's Top 500 Songs of the 2000s list.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 84/100[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]
Pitchfork Media (8.3/10)[4]
Rolling Stone [5]
The A.V. Club (A-)[6]
PopMatters (9/10)[7]

Upon its release, Ghosts of the Great Highway received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 84, based on 18 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim."[2]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Mark Kozelek, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "Glenn Tipton"   4:16
2. "Carry Me Ohio"   6:21
3. "Salvador Sanchez"   6:29
4. "Last Tide"   2:55
5. "Floating"   3:19
6. "Gentle Moon"   5:18
7. "Lily and Parrots"   4:18
8. "Duk Koo Kim"   14:32
9. "Sí, Paloma"   5:32
10. "Pancho Villa"   5:12
Double 12" vinyl bonus track
No. Title Length
11. "Gentle Moon" (Acoustic) 4:57
2007 re-issue bonus disc
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Somewhere"  Leonard Bernstein 2:13
2. "Carry Me Ohio" (Alternate Version)  5:24
3. "Salvador Sanchez" (Acoustic)  4:14
4. "The Arrival"    2:28
5. "Somewhere" (Version 2)Bernstein 2:15
6. "Gentle Moon" (Live Radio Recording)  4:41

Singles

References

External links