We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
by Modest Mouse
  • Record Label: Sony
  • Release Date: Mar 20, 2007
User Score
8.6

Universal acclaim- based on 256 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 226 out of 256
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 256
  3. Negative: 12 out of 256

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  1. MattD.
    Mar 20, 2007
    2
    Bad album. The jams sound really silly, and his strained vocals make them worse. It's like they just decided to throw this together and hope for the best.
  2. BrianS
    Mar 18, 2007
    2
    This is not a Modest Mouse album. This band is dead to me.
  3. noonenobody
    Mar 16, 2007
    2
    none
  4. dang
    Mar 17, 2007
    2
    are you people crazy? this album is terrible. it's a bunch of attempts at another float on, and none of them are anywhere near as good. it has a few good tracks though.
  5. Seeds13
    Mar 18, 2007
    3
    This album frankly sounds awful and very unsatisfying compared to Modest Mouse's prior work. However, I can see this one having a great benefit if you are looking for a headache. For some reason, Modest Mouse continues to crank up the bass and stray away from creativity and the poignancy that made them great in the first place. The shock upon first hearing this album can be compared This album frankly sounds awful and very unsatisfying compared to Modest Mouse's prior work. However, I can see this one having a great benefit if you are looking for a headache. For some reason, Modest Mouse continues to crank up the bass and stray away from creativity and the poignancy that made them great in the first place. The shock upon first hearing this album can be compared to that of first hearing the Dave Matthews Band tribute to selling out several years back. But M.M. did come away with a couple of decent songs in Fire It Up and Fly Trapped In A Jar. These two don't feel entirely soulless and perhaps are the only ones with directions from the band's past. I will say that Modest Mouse is looking ahead, but in a way that is not befitting. Why have they now taken a dark path away from the things that made them so pure and original. It's of course the path of the industry and the money. I think I am going to go scalp my ticket of interest for the neo-Modest Mouse.… Expand
  6. StephanieA
    Mar 21, 2007
    2
    what is isaac brock complaining about? the lyrics are terrible. theyve completely sold out.
  7. james
    Mar 22, 2007
    3
    just listen to the moon and antartica.
  8. samh
    Mar 22, 2007
    3
    another uninspiring album from these guys. loved everything they did up to and including moon and antarctica.

Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Most Discussed Album of 2007
56
#56 Most Shared Album of 2007

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 33 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 38
  3. Negative: 0 out of 38
  1. Blender
    90
    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]
  2. Under The Radar
    90
    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]
  3. Rolling Stone
    70
    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.
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