Manchester Orchestra - A Black Mile to the Surface (July 28, 2017) Album • Page 161

Echoing what others have said but the sequence of The Alien, The Sunshine, and The Grocery is something else. I've been a Manchester Orchestra fan for a while but this is the first album of theirs I've really loved.

 

same situation for days until right now and it jumped from there to Philly so I wouldn't be worried

 

So I'm assuming the father worked at the Homestake gold mine in Lead, SD, but I'm wondering if the mine has a greater importance to the story. Considering it get mentioned in other songs besides the gold and the album name is probably referencing the fact that it was the deepest gold mine at well over a mile in depth.
Also assuming The Moth is about the dad becoming a miserable person because he works down in the mine and he's obsessed with the light, and he's been trying to climb out of the darkness.
Then in Lead, SD the son decides he doesn't want to start a family in such a shitty place and turn out like his father. Maybe in The Alien he moves to Georgia, but with the subsequent horrible things that happen later in the album he figures out it doesn't matter where he goes he can't outrun his family demons. They are cursed by their ancestry

 

OK the grocery is just ridiculous

 

I have about 5 more tracks but, in my opinion, this is undoubtedly their best work since Everything to Nothing. I would classify Manchester Orchestra as a band a really enjoy, not one I love, but this is top tier.

 

I've thought all of these things as we'll great work. Did you read my posts from Saturday?

 

AOTY

 

I too am worried

 

I'm on vacation and have little service sorry for double posts and I'm also drinking

 

No I was at the lake all day with no reception. Did you have some more theories? I'll go back and check them out.

 

I had a lot.... i was posting way too much and it was almost all free thought but some of it made sense.. i think

 

I hope they play at least half of this album live.

 

Just got my ticket to see them at Terminal 5 in a couple of months

 

Damn this album is good.

lowkey think this is their most solid album

 

One of my favorite vocal performances of all time

 

Amen

 

This is easily the best MO album, and that's coming from someone who adores METN

 

In love with this.

The Maze is like Deer, but on steroids.

 

The Grocery is unreal. I would pay the price of admission just to see that song live

 

Remember on Friday when I said The Maze is the best MO song ever written? I'm not backing away from that opinion, but the Grocery could be tied with it.

Honestly this album could have been The Maze 6 times in the A side then the Grocerh 6 times on the B side and it would've been my AOTY

 

I've certainly never gushed about a MO album like this. It's just so damn solid. The Gold was the only track I was pretty meh on but that's growing on me too now

 

The Grocery is the one song where I think it's good, and the last third is great. But I'm seeing so many people say it's probably their best song ever and that surprises me.

I for sure like it a lot more than the first time or two I listened though.

 

I mean just the way The Alien/The Sunshine/The Grocery are sequenced is amazing. The Sunshine might be my fav atm

 

Look up Lead, SD on Wikipedia. Home of the most productive gold mine in US history.

I think "the mine" is both a literal setting for the story of this record and an allegory for self-reflection, intense internal dialogue with oneself, & the perils of overthinking. Phrases like "going down a rabbit hole" & "analysis-paralysis" come to mind a lot for me when I listen to this record.

Hell, the whole thing could also be a homage to the Brand New lyrics:

"some men die under the mountain just looking for gold
Some die looking for a hand to hold"

 

Add me to the list of beat to hell Gold bundles :(
Thankfully everything inside was mostly fine, so I'm not going to mess with asking for a replacement, but.... kind of crazy that this seems to be a thing.