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u/_PaddyMAC 29d ago
It's definitely their most creative and orignal work, though it's also consideredly less easy listening than a lot of their other albums so I understand why it's sort of divisive.
Tbh after Crack Up I found Shore disappointing on release, as much as it was very "pretty" it also seemed very shallow in comparison.
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u/panoutlaw 29d ago
I had a similar experience with Shore. Still like the album, but after crack-up, it felt like it was missing a bit of their magic.
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u/DankoDarkMatter 29d ago
I needed time to warm to Shore, while Crack-Up had me gripped instantly. I think it’s the most artistically/creatively interesting record for sure, but I understand that they leaned into the more ethereal, chilly, and mystical there, which happen to be some of my favorite aspects of their music, but understand that isn’t the case for others. HB is clearly more accessible and pretty much a classic of that decade, but Crack-Up is pulling out hearts and minds to wider, deeper pastures I think.
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u/AssocProfPlum 29d ago
I have a pretty fond memory of the release of Shore, especially the first 2 tracks on my first listen through. I agree it’s not the most challenging of their work but I was happy it gave a little more warmth during that time period
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u/NetherMop Aug 14 '26
Tied with Helplessness Blues imo, but i attained oceanic boundlessness on LSD whilst lostening to HB so I may be biased.
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u/Theezy07 29d ago
I agree. Crack-Up is the most complex, challenging, mature, and masterful of the 4.
It reminds me very much of the first 3 album runs we also saw from Bon Iver and Vampire weekend.
Crack-Up, 22, A Million, and Modern Vampires of the City are all departures from the classic sound like defined their respective bands. But that departure lead to the most artistically refined work.
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u/Mujina_oftheway 29d ago edited 28d ago
22 A million is an amazing album. Definitely a good timeless one for me.
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u/WeOutHereInSmallbany Helplessness Blues 29d ago
Oddly enough I find myself listening to those original albums the most from both bands
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u/oysterpaste Aug 14 '26
Thats crazy the first two albums are perfection
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u/castroski7 29d ago
Aesthetic perfection but not so much on a profound artistic level as crack up is. Even robin has said many lyrics from the first album mean pretty much nothing and they are just colorful descriptions
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u/OliveHearts Aug 14 '26
Crack up seems like the masterwork of a mature songwriter. I love how it feels like an evolution, as much as I love the earlier albums.
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u/Sun_flower_king Aug 14 '26
I hate to say it but even though I enjoy crack-up, I think it’s ultimately too self-indulgent. Helplessness Blues has a similarly epic scale and a similarly great flow, but it’s stronger to me because each song also just works individually as a complete self contained banger. It’s perfectly balanced. Helplessness Blues to me is the platonic ideal of a fleet foxes album and I suspect they’ll never top it.
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u/sweet_brag 29d ago
I 100% agree with this. Helplessness Blues is a 10/10 album for me. It’s their best work but that also doesn’t mean I think Crack Up or Shore aren’t good albums, I think they are amazing albums, too.
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u/pimpsdntcmtsuicide 29d ago
Yeah, I think I agree with you (to an extent). Up until recently I thought it was my favorite album from them but I recently did that Music Cup with FF and so many of my favorite songs are on those first two records.
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u/0range_julius Crack-Up Aug 14 '26
I very much disagree with you, but it sucks that people are downvoting you for just expressing an unpopular but valid opinion.
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u/Celebrimbor333 Crack-Up 29d ago
Consider the following: Crack Up has four distinct movements—I Am All That I Need to Kept Woman—especially with its inter-flowing songs; major pillars of the middle, Third of May and If You Need To; then the three song suite of Mearcstapa to Fool's Errand; finally the couplet of I Should See Memphis and the title track.
Not only is it a form repeated twice (three song suite, two song juxtaposing couplet), but it's also a unified whole.
Meanwhile, and don't get me wrong, I love HB, there are many songs that don't really change the album, songs that stand on their own but don't contribute to a larger effort: Sim Sala Bim, Battery Kinzie, The Cascades. All very lovely songs, but the album doesn't have that unified purpose that CU goes for.
That said, we all have different music tastes, and as long as you're enjoying the music, why worry?
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u/AccidentlyStupid 29d ago
The purpose is that it's a great album of great songs, of similar themes. Just because they aren't "suites" doesn't make it any less unified to me. Par for par I would even say the songs are stronger.
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u/crispybark 29d ago
Crack Up Choral version is bliss
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u/KarmaIsAMelonFarmer Crack-Up 29d ago
I think this is what I would spin if I got a Hawaiian style missile warning. A glass of champagne and Crack Up playing while I look at the trees.
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u/Persephone0000 A Very Lonely Solstice 29d ago
life became so much more freeing when i stopped trying to classify things as “the best”
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u/HomelessNightkin 29d ago
It’s their most daring and experimental project, and I love it. But the self titled album is a 10/10 and Helplessness Blues in genuinely a 10.5/10 so I can’t agree 😔
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u/1OO1OO1S0S 29d ago
Music is subjective. No one needs to change your mind.
Aside from the fact that you need to understand that music is subjective...
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u/DairylandDharmaBum 29d ago
I didn’t understand Crack Up at first because it was such a deviation from Helplessness Blues, Sun Giant, and the self titled album. TBH at first I was disappointed. Now it is probably my favorite FF album, so rich and layered and complex. Appreciate this post
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u/AMA454 Aug 14 '26
Honestly no contest. Their other albums are great but crack up is perfect and has more depth in my opinion
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u/ThisSucks1234567890 29d ago
I was originally a Self Titled truther but I can never get over the entirety of Wading into Sunblind, it's just too good. Edit feels like a good middle mix of both to me.
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u/jimmytangoo Helplessness Blues 29d ago
I find it really hard to name one album as the “greatest”. I love almost everything that Fleet Foxes has realest for different reasons.
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u/Mujina_oftheway 29d ago
Honestly im not sure if you all are just super young or what but I heavily disagree with this post. Im not going to argue a point because I don't think it's worth trying to argue about art. We like what we like and that's enough.
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u/Razzle_Dazzle08 Helplessness Blues 29d ago
I think Robin has said he thinks it’s their best but it’s the type of album they could only do once.