{{Short description|2005 studio album by The Mountain Goats}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = The Sunset Tree | type = studio | artist = the Mountain Goats | cover = themountaingoatsthesunsettreealbumcover.jpg | border = yes | alt = | released = April 26, 2005 | recorded = November 4, 2004 – November 15, 2004 | venue = | studio = Prairie Sun, Cotati, California | genre = Folk rock | length = 39:20 | label = 4AD | producer = John Vanderslice | prev_title = We Shall All Be Healed | prev_year = 2004 | next_title = Get Lonely | next_year = 2006 }}
'''''The Sunset Tree''''' is the ninth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released on April 26, 2005 by 4AD. The album's songs revolve around the house John Darnielle grew up in and the people who lived there, including his mother, sister, stepfather, friends, and enemies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://4ad.com/artists/themountaingoats|title=The Mountain Goats|publisher=4AD|accessdate=October 24, 2014}}</ref> ''The Sunset Tree'' received notable acclaim from critics, and was instrumental in introducing the Mountain Goats to a wider, mainstream audience. A prominent review of ''The Sunset Tree'' in ''The New York Times'' called the album 'extraordinary',<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanneh |first1=Kelefa |title=New CD's |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/25/arts/music/new-cds.html?searchResultPosition=86 |access-date=24 November 2025 |work=The New York Times |date=25 April 2005}}</ref> and ''The New Yorker'''s rock critic, Sasha Frere-Jones, pronounced Darnielle as 'America's best non-hip-hop lyricist' in an essay in May 2005.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Frere-Jones |first1=Sasha |title=The Declaimers |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/05/16/the-declaimers |access-date=24 November 2025 |work=The New Yorker |date=9 May 2005}}</ref> In October 2025, more than twenty years after the album's release, ''Paste'' named ''The Sunset Tree'' the 50th greatest album of the 21st Century, in their list of 'The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far'.<ref>{{cite web |title=The 250 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century So Far: 50-1 |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/greatest-albums/the-250-greatest-albums-of-the-21st-century-so-far-part-5 |website=Paste |date=17 October 2025 |access-date=24 November 2025}}</ref>
==Background and themes== Whereas the Mountain Goats' previous album ''We Shall All Be Healed'' explored Darnielle's late teenage and early young adult years involved with other methamphetamine users,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kylebarbour.org/tmg/wsabh.html|title=The Annotated Mountain Goats: We All Shall Be Healed|publisher=KyleBarbour.org|accessdate=24 October 2014}}</ref> on ''The Sunset Tree'' Darnielle looks further back to focus on his childhood and high school years, and domestic violence emerges as a central recurring theme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nerve.com/screeningroom/music/mountaingoats|title=Private Dancer|publisher=Nerve|date=May 10, 2005|accessdate=October 24, 2014|last=Calhoun|first=Ada}}</ref> The album title refers to a scene in Samuel Butler's ''The Way of All Flesh''<ref name="Pitchfork"/> in which the character Theobald beats his son Ernest for being unable to pronounce a hard C when singing a hymn. The hymn, "The Tyrolese Evening Hymn", begins with the lines "Come, come, come, Come to the sunset tree."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/ref/collection/sheetmusic/id/27703 | title=The Tyrolese Evening Hymn. A Favorite Ballad, Written by MRS. Hemans, Composed and Arranged by Miss Browne. :: Playmakers Repertory Company Playbills }}</ref> {{wikisource|Poems of Felicia Hemans in Forget Me Not, 1828/Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants|'Evening Song of the Tyrolese Peasants'<br>by Felicia Hemans}}
In the album's liner notes, Darnielle writes: : :"Made possible by my stepfather, Mike Noonan (1940–2004): may the peace which eluded you in life be yours now :Dedicated to any young men and women anywhere who live with people who abuse them, with the following good news: :''you are going to make it out of there alive'' :''you will live to tell your story'' :''never lose hope''"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themountaingoats.net/music/sunset.html|title=The Sunset Tree|publisher=TheMountainGoats.net|accessdate=October 24, 2014}}</ref>
Many lyrics reference Darnielle's abusive childhood, especially in the songs "This Year", "Dance Music", and "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod". While the album's subject matter is often somber, dealing with Darnielle's longing for escape and feelings of powerlessness, many songs feature upbeat tempos and energetic arrangements that contrast with their lyrical content. The album also explores related themes of adolescent romance, substance abuse, and the coping mechanisms of youth navigating traumatic circumstances. The emotional arc builds toward the song "Lion's Teeth", which Darnielle has described as a "revenge fantasy" in an introduction to a live performance of the song.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/tmg2007-01-02|title=Mountain Goats Live at Club Capitol on 2007-01-02 (January 2, 2007)|date=2 January 2007|publisher=Internet Archive|accessdate=October 24, 2014}}</ref>
The album concludes with the two final songs "Love Love Love", in which Darnielle notes the virtue and folly of doing things for reasons of love, and "Pale Green Things", in which he recalls a time his stepfather took him out to watch horses at a racetrack. Darnielle closes the song and the album with a lyric about his sister calling him to inform him of his stepfather's death.
==Reception== {{Music ratings | MC = 83/100<ref name="Meta">{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-sunset-tree/the-mountain-goats|title=Reviews for The Sunset Tree by The Mountain Goats|publisher=Metacritic|accessdate=April 5, 2016}}</ref> | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-sunset-tree-mw0000450781|title=The Sunset Tree – The Mountain Goats|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=April 5, 2016|last=Monger|first=James Christopher}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Blender'' | rev2Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree|journal=Blender|issue=36|date=May 2005|page=121}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Entertainment Weekly'' | rev3Score = B<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2005/05/09/mountain-goats|title=The Sunset Tree|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=May 9, 2005|accessdate=June 9, 2016|last=Browne|first=David|author-link=David Browne (journalist)|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118120239/http://ew.com/article/2005/05/09/mountain-goats/|archivedate=January 18, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev4 = ''The Irish Times'' | rev4Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/rock-pop-1.434457|title=The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree (4AD)|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=April 22, 2005|accessdate=April 5, 2016|last=Crawley|first=Peter}}</ref> | rev5 = ''Mojo'' | rev5Score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree|journal=Mojo|issue=139|date=June 2005|page=109}}</ref> | rev6 = ''NME'' | rev6Score = 6/10<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree|journal=NME|date=April 30, 2005|page=64}}</ref> | rev7 = ''Pitchfork'' | rev7Score = 7.2/10<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5456-the-sunset-tree/|title=The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree|work=Pitchfork|date=April 24, 2005|accessdate=April 5, 2016|last=Stosuy|first=Brandon}}</ref> | rev8 = ''Rolling Stone'' | rev8Score= {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/themountaingoats/albums/album/7180700/review/7371291|title=The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=June 16, 2005|accessdate=April 5, 2016|last=Sheffield|first=Rob|author-link=Rob Sheffield|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080220043247/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/themountaingoats/albums/album/7180700/review/7371291|archivedate=February 20, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev9 = ''Spin'' | rev9Score = B+<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U1mdDlPSC9YC&pg=PA110|title=Breakdown|journal=Spin|volume=21|issue=5|date=May 2005|accessdate=June 9, 2016|page=110}}</ref> | rev10 = ''Uncut'' | rev10Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Mountain Goats: The Sunset Tree|journal=Uncut|issue=97|date=June 2005|page=98}}</ref> }} ''The Sunset Tree'' has a metascore of 83 on Metacritic based on 28 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".<ref name="Meta"/> ''Pitchfork'' placed ''The Sunset Tree'' at number 102 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/5/|title=The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200–151|work=Pitchfork|date=September 28, 2009|accessdate=October 1, 2009|author=''Pitchfork'' staff|archive-date=February 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215202014/http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/5/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In 2010, the Art of Time Ensemble, featuring former Barenaked Ladies singer Steven Page, covered "Lion's Teeth" for their album ''A Singer Must Die''.
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_writing = John Darnielle | title1 = You or Your Memory | length1 = 2:15 | title2 = Broom People | length2 = 2:44 | title3 = This Year | length3 = 3:52 | title4 = Dilaudid | length4 = 2:10 | title5 = Dance Music | length5 = 1:57 | title6 = Dinu Lipatti's Bones | length6 = 3:18 | title7 = Up the Wolves | length7 = 3:27 | title8 = Lion's Teeth | length8 = 3:25 | title9 = Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod | length9 = 3:22 | title10 = Magpie | length10 = 2:00 | title11 = Song for Dennis Brown | length11 = 3:57 | title12 = Love Love Love | length12 = 2:48 | title13 = Pale Green Things | length13 = 4:19 | total_length = 39:20 }} {{Track listing | headline = ''Come, Come to the Sunset Tree'' - bonus limited edition demos LP | title1 = You or Your Memory | length1 = 2:30 | title2 = Up the Wolves | length2 = 3:43 | title3 = Dilaudid | length3 = 2:07 | title4 = Collapsing Stars | length4 = 2:21 | title5 = Dinu Lipatti's Bones | length5 = 2:30 | title6 = Love Love Love | length6 = 2:32 | title7 = High Doses #2 | length7 = 3:02 | title8 = Lions Teeth | length8 = 3:55 | title9 = This Year | length9 = 3:44 | title10 = Song for Dennis Brown | length10 = 3:01 | title11 = The Day The Aliens Came | length11 = 3:31 | total_length = 32:56 }}
==Personnel== *John Darnielle – vocals, guitar *Peter Hughes – bass, backing vocals *Erik Friedlander – cello *Alex Decarville – drums *Franklin Bruno – piano *John Vanderslice – production *Scott Solter – engineering *Aaron Prellwitz – engineering *Timin Murray – engineering
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== * [https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/feature/-/562012/ "Listening Party"] - interview with John Darnielle about the release of ''The Sunset Tree'' * {{MusicBrainz release|mbid=da425314-ecc7-4db3-a296-90942f172b18|name =The Sunset Tree}} * {{MusicBrainz release|mbid=9977496d-f287-46a5-af49-3adc1cdf9747|name =Come, Come to the Sunset Tree}}
{{The Mountain Goats}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunset Tree, The}} Category:2005 albums Category:The Mountain Goats albums Category:4AD albums Category:2000s concept albums