I gave Desolation Rose a few spins yesterday and I really liked it. What do you guys think about that album, and how would you rank it to their other albums?
It is easily my least favorite. I like it, but I don't love it. Recent listens of all of their albums reinforced my belief that every other studio album is (at the very least) quite a bit better, IMO.
There are some glorious melodies on that album, but they are often surrounded by ones that feel like they missed the mark. The middle section of Tower One is killer, but the first and last few minutes all leave me kind of cold. The Resurrected Jesus sounds like classic TFK in those verses, but then the chorus falls kind of flat and takes a lot of the air out of the song.
To me, the best songs from those sessions were on the bonus disc, but I do not factor in bonus stuff when determining how good a record is. I judge only the proper album.