Why is Mitski’s Be the Cowboy on my best 1,000 albums ever list?
What’s difficult to define and describe becomes essential to why I’m drawn to it.
Some stats & info about Mitski – Be the Cowboy
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Rock, Rock Music, Indie Rock, Singer Songwriter, Pop, Pop Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 4.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Be the Cowboy released? 2018
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #842 out of 1,000
Mitski’s Be the Cowboy on Spotify
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective take on what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.
What does Mitski’s Be the Cowboy mean to me? What does it make me feel? Why is it exciting or compelling?
It’s what is difficult to define and describe about Be the Cowboy that is essential to why I’m drawn to it. “Washing Machine Heart,” the best song – a spectacular song – on the album is a great example.
First of all, incredible song title that every alt rock band from the ‘90s should be super jealous that they never grabbed first. I love it’s synth-y electronic pulse meshed with gorgeous vocals from Mitski Miyawaki and a slightly odd melody that becomes deeply catchy and compelling.
“Geyser,” Be the Cowboy’s opening track, has a “welcome to the album” feel, slow and strange and alluring – including a feedback-y glitchy scratch – and builds to a powerful culmination over the course of only a few minutes.
After a few listens, I realized that some of Be the Cowboy’s songs have a Breeders-y influence that I really like: odd, bold choices in terms of chord progressions, lyrics, and overall production that pay off really well when pulled off correctly. “Why Didn’t You Stop Me?” is a great example of where the payoff is pretty damned good.
“Pink in the Night” is a softer, almost ethereal-feeling song that balances out some of the edge and indie rock vibes on other parts of the album nicely.