Mass Romantic is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock supergroup the New Pornographers, released on November 21, 2000 on Mint Records. The group's producer and bassist John Collins decided to refer to themselves as a super group. Rolling Stone also made comparisons to Big Star and Cheap Trick. "Letter from an Occupant", released on April 15, 2002, was the only single.
The New Pornographers went on their first tour to promote the album. The tour presented problems, including throat damage, broken-down buses, and having to take expensive cab rides.
| rev1 = AllMusic
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| rev2 = Alternative Press
| rev2score = 4/5
| rev3 = Entertainment Weekly
| rev3score = A
| rev4 = NME
| rev4score = 6/10
| rev5 = Now
| rev5score = 5/5
| rev6 = Pitchfork
| rev6score = 8.4/10
| rev7 = Rolling Stone
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| rev8 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide
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| rev9 = Spin
| rev9score = 8/10
| rev10 = The Village Voice
| rev10Score = A−
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Mass Romantic was well received in the band's native Canada, where it won a Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received a score of 87, indicating "universal acclaim".
Douglas Wolk of Rolling Stone described Mass Romantic as "a striking power-pop album, forty staggeringly catchy minutes of four-part harmonies and Wall of Sound production, exploding with energy and joy", Tyler Martin of Stylus Magazine felt that "too many misdirected ideas weigh this album down".
The album charted in several best of the year lists from various critics. Pitchfork rated it the ninth best album of 2001, stating, "Energetic, smooth, and masterfully executed, Mass Romantic is the catchiest thing to come out in ages." The site later placed Mass Romantic at number 91 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s. Magnet magazine included the album in its "20 Best Albums of 2001" list. In The Village Voices Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 2001, the album placed at number seventeen. In December 2007, Blender listed Mass Romantic as the 24th best indie rock album of all time. It is the second-highest Canadian album on the list behind Arcade Fire's Funeral, which was selected as the 6th best.
Track listing
All songs written and sung by Carl Newman, except where noted.
Personnel
- Bill Anderson – photography
- Dan Bejar – vocals, multi-instruments, korg synthesizer, pipe organ, wurlitzer
- David Carswell – producer
- Neko Case – vocals
- Davidian Chorley – saxophone (tracks 8, 11)
- John Collins – bass, producer, engineer
- Kurt Dahle – drums, vocals
- Carl Newman – vocals, korg synthesizer, pipe organ, wurlitzer
- Shannon Oksanen – photography
- Fisher Rose – drums (tracks 4, 6, 9, 12)
- Blaine Thurier – keyboards