Mountain Battles

Mountain Battles
Studio album by The Breeders
Released 7 April 2008 (UK)
8 April 2008 (US)
Recorded Electrical Audio, Chicago;
Stagg Street Studio, Van Nuys;
Manny's Studio, Los Angeles;
Refraze Recording Studio, Dayton;
as well as basement recordings
Genre Alternative pop-rock[1]
Length 36:42
Label 4AD
The Breeders chronology
Title TK
(2002)		 Mountain Battles
(2008)		 Fate to Fatal (EP)
(2009)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
BBC(favorable)[2]
NME(8/10)[3]
Pitchfork Media(7.5/10)[4]
Rolling Stone(3.5/5)[5]
Spin(4/5)[6]
The Stranger[7]
Uncut(favorable)[8]

Mountain Battles is the fourth studio album by the American band The Breeders, released in April 2008. The album was gradually recorded in a number of different locales by engineers including Steve Albini, Erika Larson, Manny Nieto and Ben Mumphrey.

Song development and recording

The Breeders released their previous album, Title TK, in 2002.[9] The group's line-up currently consisted of Kim Deal, her twin sister Kelley Deal, Richard Presley, Mando Lopez, and Jose Medeles;[10] at the time, the group was based in Los Angeles.[9][11] That year, the Deals began demoing songs for the band's next album,[9][12] including "Regalame Esta Noche" and "No Way".[12] Meanwhile, the group went on tour in the United States and Europe.[13] The Deal sisters continued demoing songs the following year.[9] In 2004, Kim Deal's previous band, Pixies, embarked on a reunion tour,[13][14] and Kelley also traveled with the group.[15] While on the tour, the sisters worked on "Walk It Off"[9][12]—footage of them going through the song is included on the Pixies' loudQuietloud DVD.[15] Around this time, Kim and Kelley moved from Los Angeles back to their hometown of Dayton, Ohio,[11] and continued working on new compositions there,[16] including "Bang On" and "Night of Joy", which came about in the spring of 2007.[12] When developing the songs for Mountain Battles, both sisters collaborated on the arrangements.[15][17] Only Kim, who wrote the lyrics, received songwriting credits,[15] although Kelley was accorded some royalties.[15]

During the period of 2002 to 2007—concurrently with the Deals' writing and demoing—the Breeders attended sessions with a number of engineers to record the album.[18] These comprised sessions at Electrical Audio in Chicago with Steve Albini, and recording in Los Angeles and Dayton locations with engineers including Erika Larsen, Manny Nieto, and Ben Mumphrey.[19] By this time, Presley had left the group to sell luxury cars,[18] so the Breeders consisted of the Deal twins, Lopez, and Medeles.[18][19]

Track listing

All tracks written by Kim Deal, except where noted. 

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Overglazed"   2:15
2."Bang On"   2:03
3."Night of Joy"   3:26
4."We're Gonna Rise"   3:53
5."German Studies"   2:16
6."Spark"   2:39
7."Istanbul"   2:58
8."Walk It Off"   2:46
9."Regalame Esta Noche"  Roberto Cantoral2:52
10."Here No More"   2:39
11."No Way"   2:33
12."It's the Love"  The Tasties2:28
13."Mountain Battles"   3:54

The Japanese release contains the following bonus track:[19]

No.TitleLength
14."German Demonstration"  1:36

Personnel

The Mountain Battles liner notes list the following personnel who helped make the album; the liner notes do not mention which instruments the Deal sisters, Lopez, and Medeles played.[19]

Musicians

Engineering and mastering

Art design

Charts

Chart (2008) Position
Belgian Album Chart 63[20]
French Album Chart 100[21]
UK Album Chart 46[22]
US Billboard 200 98[23]

Notes

References

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