We Shall All Be Healed - Reception

Reception

"We Shall All Be Healed" was generally liked by critics. The critics look at this album song by song leading to a difference of opinion on the different direction The Mountain Goats have taken in the albums creation. With a new production style and a band playing alongside John Darnielle comes the criticism on how this changes the heart of the music. Some of the critics see this as less authentic to the sound of The Mountain Goats used in earlier albums and states that the band is not used that effectively in the first place. While other critics say that the change leads to a clearer and more simple sound that adds to John Darnielle's voice creating a more in depth album. Another criticism of the album is that the album offers nothing new in the growth of the Mountain Goats, that many of the songs have the same rythmic and lyrical feeling as past albums. The critics argues that because of this lack of innovation within the work that the overall album falls short of expectations but is still enjoyable. This leads to the analysis of the songs themselves where "The Young Thousands" and "Cotton" are singled out as being some of the stronger compositions. "The Young Thousands" is singled out because of its uplifting and powerful tone throughout the song while "Cotton" is discussed because of the beat used and the lyrics.