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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
by Modest Mouse


8.6

based on 38 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 207 votes
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Rate this album

Official Artist Site

'We Were Dead,' the Isaac Brock-led band's follow-up to its breakthrough 2004 hit 'Good News for People Who Love Bad News,' is their first release to feature their newest member, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr. The Shins' James Mercer guests on three tracks.

LABEL:	Sony
RELEASE DATE:	20 March 2007
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Indie, Rock

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Entertainment Weekly

This 14-track-strong album is very much good news for people who loved Good News for People Who Love Bad News.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Easier than ever to grasp, yet still constantly, joyously vexing, We Were Dead is another terrific set from a band that couldn't make something dull even if drowning were the only other option.

Tiny Mix Tapes

Music dignitaries and primordial fans will be contented. If they’re smart, they’ll rejoice.

Blender

Is there another "Float On"? It scarcely matters: 10 years into their career, Modest Mouse have stumbled into their best album yet. [Mar 2007, p.137]

Under The Radar

Not just an album that revisits the dancey guitar-pop that made "Float On" an unlikely #1 hit, but sharpens and emboldens it for their most accessible album to date. [#16, p.93]

Delusions of Adequacy

It’s a sincere album that is as friendly and rewarding as any of their previous works.

Austin Chronicle

We Were Dead sounds like Modest Mouse, only better.

Q Magazine

A fantastic voyage. [May 2007, p.128]

Alternative Press

Much of We Were Dead feels like a culmination of the sound that Modest Mouse have spent the last decade or so honing. [May 2007, p.145]

Uncut

[The album] adds a newfound sang-froid to their quiet/loud approach. [May 2007, p.100]

Mojo

A winner. [May 2007, p.106]

Billboard

There's more melody than usual to be found here. [24 Mar 2007]

The Guardian

The Modest Mouse frontman has the kind of overbearing personality that seems to bring out the best in Marr: their collaboration on the band's fifth album is thrilling.

musicOMH.com

This is a band working at the very top of their game, and this album is a beautiful, brilliant beast.

Hartford Courant

It's a successful experiment... largely because the differences between Marr and Mouse turn out to be more harmonious than anyone could have expected.

Spin

While Brock's pop instincts have never been more refined, his jitteriness has never run more rampant. [Apr 2007, p.85]

ShakingThrough.net

Clearly, what we’re dealing with here isn’t a new Modest Mouse, but one with a few new, calculated tricks.

Pitchfork

Another solid (if not necessarily great) record.

Los Angeles Times

At 62 minutes, this album feels self-indulgent, and some of the 14 songs leave little impression.

Almost Cool

In the end, it's not as excellent as their early work, but still pretty entertaining.

Playlouder

This could be Modest Mouse's finest hour were it not a little long - the nuances are occasionally rather swamped by the effort of listening to the hour-long record through.

NOW Magazine

The album as a whole does drag on, and the songs aren't as immediately grabby as those on their last disc, but We Were Dead is more interesting and varied than Good News.

Boston Globe

If "We Were Dead . . ." is a little much to take in all at once, the sheer mass of the tunes becomes easier to manage over repeated listens.

Drowned In Sound

In fairness, We Were Dead... excites almost as much as it frustrates; the problem lying not so much in its commercial aspirations per se as an occasional inability to integrate them into a satisfying whole. That, and there’s too much shouting. And it’s way too long.

New Musical Express

Both Marr and MM mainman Isaac Brock have a weakness for bombast that can make them sound like Snow Patrol playing Gogol Bordello, but the album heaves with vim and variety.

Slant Magazine

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank is a really good, if not necessarily phenomenal, rock record.

Dot Music

The problem is, there's simply too much record here.

The New York Times

The results are enthralling, even when they seem to be thrashing at coherence. [19 Mar 2007]

Rolling Stone

Like everything the band has released since signing with Epic in the teeth of a millennial panic, it's louder and somewhat less twisty than the group's indie output.

Amazon.com

We Were Dead... is denser than its predecessor with tunes that seem willfully harder to penetrate.

Lost At Sea

A disproportionate amount of the album's tracks sound like a commercialized knockoff of previous songs, past highlights revisited after a process of radio ready distillation.

Prefix Magazine

It's exhausting.

Hot Press

There are some excellent moments.

PopMatters

While it is, at times, a challenging listen, there are enough catchy moments to prompt enough listens for the thing to grow on you.

All Music Guide

Too often it seems as if Modest Mouse plays it safe on We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

Village Voice

Imagine the cheerful fatalism of "Float On" without the hooks, which is bizarre: Hooks would seem to be Marr's specialty.

Stylus Magazine

Brock’s idiosyncratic worldview, so much a part of what made Modest Mouse special to begin with, has left the building.

cokemachineglow

It’s inoffensive, painfully so, with the smell of something run through focus groups from the get go, written and produced by committee to sell the greatest number of copies.

The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 207 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Vince K gave it an8:
Love the first 6 songs. Rest of the album is good too, but kinda blended together for me. My favorite by far is the last minute of Parting of the Sensory...fiddle-tastic!!!!!!!!

Ross P. gave it a9:
well gee, an album that is too long? omg, thats the worst complaint about an album i could ever conceive! those people must be sacked. ok i have to say this isn't an album of epic tracks, it is an epic album, the title completely suits the lyrical context. I have never chose to listen to one song of this album by itself, always the album as a whole and thats where my joy lies. The emotion swells, alas depressing sentimental misgivings is not something i ever dwell on, but in such a poetic delivery, with so much heart, deserves a nod of respect. Something that deserves at least 3 listens thru, and from there you will want to listen again and again.

JC F. gave it a10:
This album is perfect, so many shades ... I like it a lot

G_do gave it a9:
I expected some more Johnny Marr signature in the guitar sound, but it's a great record. Everything sounds so fresh and lively. Not all songs are really great and I think it was even better when 2 or 3 tracks were not included , but the finest moments are simply damn brilliant.

Vid M gave it an8:
Solid.

John G gave it a10:
its great when all of your friends argue over what the best song is.

Alex P. gave it a10:
Amazing. It's almost as good as anything they've done. Brock is an irreverent screaming genius. He's never boring and never pretentious. This album is excellent all the way through. My special faves are March into the Sea, Florida, Parting of the Sensory, Fly Trapped in a Jar and Spitting Venom. Marr is a nice addition. He and Brock obviously hit it off well musically. I saw them live on May 6th and was absolutely blown away.

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse

We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
by Modest Mouse