Listening to Mastodon - The Last Baron (thoughts and review) 

Just do the whole crack the skye album. Feels like a crime not to.

One of the best progressive metal albums imo. Not a single bad song on it The Czar is their best song

The Czar and Hearts Alive are both fantastic follow-ups to this song

I wish every time I heard this song, it was the first time. It's just beautiful, what a journey and full of surprises.

One of the finest metal record that exists.

"That's a lot going on" is a huge understatement especially seeing how small Brann's kit is. Brannctopus in full effect!

Man, their music is so rich. And so generous. This is Premium Metal.

i saw Mastodon support Tool back in 2006. good times

Crack the skye is the Lateralus of Mastodon Two of my favs

IMO Crack The Skye is Mastodon at their most sophisticated. It's just an amazing album from start to finish. I love it.

Love this song so much. Since you acknowledged me twice, I will thank you twice. Thanks! Thank you!

Brann Dailor has got to be one of the top 5 best drummers of all time. Love this band. I wish so bad they would come close enough to home to see them live.

Their 10th Anniversary tour for this album was amazing, sounded even better than the original tour. Was happy that I didn't miss it this summer. Every song on the album is a classic, and watching them perform it all, in order, was truly an experience. One of my favorite albums of all time.

Ahhhh, Mastadon, for me one of the most underated bands of recent times. Halloween from Once More Round the Sun is well worth a listen. The drummer is like nothing else I've heard, dropping sick fills in all over the place.

What's great is the guy doing most of the singing in this song is also the lead guitarist, so the guy is doing both things really well, the bassist is the guy who does the deeper and growly vocals. The drummer also does a lot of singing but isn't in this song, he's usually doing the cleaner vocals, so this band is full of incredible talent to play their instruments as well as they do but also all do singing as well.

You should really watch the making of series for this album, it's posted on the band's official RU-vid page. I think you will find it extremely fascinating.

Some of my fave Mastodon tracks are "Curl of the Burl", "Thickening" and "Oblivion". I really groove with their modern southern influence being from the south myself. Peace...

Mastodon are very special indeed! They're fearlessly creative and refreshingly prolific. They hooked me with 'Sea Beast' many moons ago and I've never looked back. I think a lot of fans consider Crack the Skye to be their masterpiece but there's some trippy and really creative stuff on The Hunter too. Looking forward to more of their reactions!

Thanks so much for this, Jim! I love this band so much and not a lot of music reaction channels give them a try. So thanks a lot!

I'd argue that Porcupine Tree is a much weirder bandname than Mastodon.

A dollop of Mastodon is always welcome on my plate. 🤘 High Road is a fave of mine.

Was really happy to see this one pop up on my suggestions. This is really their most amazing track. Then entire album blood mountain is a good starting place for this band, then you could go heavier with leviathan or more proggy with crack the skye.

Love this song/band...glad you are reviewing it!

The Czar, Sleeping Giant, and Oblivion would all be good reactions following this one. Hearts Alive is a fantastic song but quite far away in style.

My fave Mastodon album. Nice pick Jim!

Great video! Crack The Skye is my favorite album of all time. Like others have suggested, The Czar is a fantastic song. As a guitar player, that has one of my all-time favorite guitar solos on it.

For something a bit more technical/ridiculous of theirs I would suggest 'The Wolf Is Loose', some of the best drumming I've ever heard, every 4 bars there's a fill, it's insane.

So glad you decided to do Mastodon! :) awesome

About bloody time dude! That whole album is fantastic.

I knew at 11:17 you were in for a treat :). This is my favorite Mastodon album, and this song is my favorite. That transition at 11:17 is my favorite part, so much build up to it. RELEASE THE HOUNDS!

The main, Ozzy sounding vocals is the lead guitarist, Brent Hinds, the vocals that are more of a clear roar is the bassist, Troy Sanders. Drummer Bran Dailor also takes a large part of vocals.

Just popping by to say Mastodon's latest album drops in a fortnight or so (29th Oct) and might be worth exploring. It's called "Hushed & Grim". They've released a couple of singles from it already. The producer is David Bottrill of Lateralus fame, so I've got high hopes.

Finally a Mastodon reaction video that isn't Oblivion or Blood & Thunder. This must be one of my favorite songs from them, excellent reaction!

Their albums are usually concept albums and are best listened to start to finish. Crack the Skye is phenomenal, but my fav is probably The Hunter.

Great Reaction! You definitly feel the music!

Thanks, Jim! I started listening to Mastodon at the start of this year and now they are one of my favorite metal bands ever! It’s been a while since you’ve listened to some Karnivool, I’d recommend Sky Machine, Aeons, or Alpha Omega, they won’t disappoint!

Tread Lightly is an amazing Mastodon song, I think you'd dig it Jim!

Dry Bone Valley! It takes me to a psych trip everytime along with this song.

Used to be really into mastodon, great reaction Jim.

Most people like Crack the Skye more, but I think Blood Mountain is a much more solid prog album and even a little heavier.

This entire album is magnificent. I have been a mastodon fan since their first tour. Based on what I've seen of your videos I think you would probably enjoy this album (Crack the Skye) the most. Reactions aside do yourself a favor and give this a playthrough on your own time if nothing else. You will not be disappointed. Also the backstory behind this album is absolutely insane if you care to dig into it.

This is the album closer Jim... Check out the Middle masterful piece called "THE CZAR"

this was sooo enjoyable! My best friend showed me mastodon back in 2016, and now thay are all over my walls.

One of my favorite albums, Mastodon are phenomenal! This song is the perfect closer to a beautiful album.

I love that Mastodon can write beautiful music to zone out to like this song, as well as bone crushingly heavy 4-minute headbangers like March of the Fire Ants.

Hearts Alive by Mastodon should be your next 'Mastodon' choice. Their heavier side. Song from their second album called Leviathan from 2004. Metal orgy. Pendelous Skin or This Mortal Soil are also phenomenal.

Long time mastodon fan. At first I didnt care for crack the Skye, or emperor and sand but with multiple listens they grew on me to become more than just good albums they are examples of what really talented musicians are capable of.

Never heard this one before but it's a masterpiece. Love it!

love that you did this song. I went to see Tool in Manchester in 2006 i think it was, not knowing who the support act was, turned out to see Mastodon, hooked ever since. Toll were unreal to, amazing gig.

You could review any song off that album, or just do the whole thing at once. Welcome to the Mastodon rabbit hole, great review!

i love how every reaction to mastodon, and every friend i intro to mastodon always says reminds me of ozzie

Love this band, love this reaction.

Saw this whole album played back in June. Absolutely amazing.

I’d highly recommend digging deeper into Mastodon catalog. I’ve seen ‘em live 4 times now I think.. How about 1 song from each album (they’re all pretty different) & run a poll for us to pick which song?

Opeth - Burden Love your channel Jim

Ive listened to the album, one more trip round the sun, a lot! This is way different tho. I love this

Fantastic video man! I completely agree with your comments at the end. I saw the title and I knew you'd absolutely love this track! As a recommendation there's a Japanese band called Sigh, I highly recommend you check them out! It's very hard to explain what they're like... But loosley picture a mixture of Opeth, Frank Zappa and black metal... They're kinda insane and it's amazing! For songs by them I recommend either Scarlet Dream or Amnesia I know you'll have a blast with this one! :)

Goodness at 11:16

Hell-LOOOO again Jim, I like your description of how the music is put together. It's not _angular_ (which is something that I actually enjoy), but the "execution of their songwriting", which I think comes from interviews that they are HUGE Progressive Rock fans of the 70's. So they have been "taught" how to write pieces that are multi-faceted. As many of us were mentioning in your 10,000 subs video, there are those other reactors, like for instance Lost in Vegas, they NEED their "groove" to be a bit constant (probably because R&B/Hip-Hop is their personal expertise and fave music), but once things get multifaceted, has drastic transitions, they get a bit lost (no pun intended). They are slowly chipping away at that, but many of us see it part and parcel with this type of music. Its indicative of this type of Metal. When the transitions happened in the song, you reacted like I did, it was intriguing, it makes the track more interesting and challenging, but like you said, not over the top like many of the more technical bands do (which again, I love). That last guitar solo gave me goosebumps :). I don't own any of their albums, and I may have listened to 10+ songs that made an impact, but that was my 1st time hearing this track. I have been told by many to listen to various albums, and it seems that "Leviathan", "Blood Mountain", Crack the Sky" and "The Hunter" are the ones that stand out for me. I do usually go for the "deeper" cuts on an album, but the popular "Oblivion" is a fave because of the 2 vocals from Drummer Brann Dailor, and (the "Ozzy"-like voice) Bassist "Troy Sanders", and the slight transitions, it's also a song that sticks with you hours later because of the chorus. I suggest *Fates Warning* and *Arch/Matheos* (former vocalist of Fates, with its co-founder/guitarist) a lot because they come from the "Old School" of Metal, but are pioneers in Prog Metal, but they make it a style all their own. They are not Dream Theater (who were HUGELY inspired by them) or Between the Buried and Me or Haken or Plini, they have more in common with Rush, Kansas, Maiden and "themselves". As each album can be different from the one before, and have even touched on the more "melancholic" and ambient sections many many years before certain modern bands made it a niche. And, they can be epic, complex, melodic, sometimes even "commercial"/straight forward, or ALL in one. That is probably why they are not as popular as say, Queensryche and Dream Theater, or not even _known_ by the more "Djent" type bands and their fans. They definitely do not fit into the stereotypical box, much like Mastodon, they too are all over the place which is awesome. Again, for your second go with Fates, try "The Light and Shade of Things" with their current vocalist Ray Alder (for the past 28+ years). And for Arch/Matheos try "Wrath of the Universe" or "Kindred Spirits", and those are just a _few_ examples what they can sound like ;). - Thanks again for inviting us into your headphones \m/

Love the King Crimson moment in the middle part of the song. Fire.

love this album, i remember some of my friends hated it back then, its always been my fav of theirs

Brent Hinds wrote it, he's just absolutely brilliant as a musician. I met him in Memphis at Mastodon and Rwake at the New Daisy Theater around 2002. Dude had big ass dreadlocks and smelled like weed and BO.

Great reaction! You need some Enslaved, react to Hindsight! Cheers from Egypt \m/

2 singers... Hinds: Ozzy Sanders: Lemmy Fun Fact; they are also the guitarist and bassist respectively

Good choice sir!

I'm late to the party, but the comparison of Brent Hinds's vocals to Ozzy is excellent. I never noticed it before today, but with headphones on it's hard to not hear the resemblance. Great review, BTW.

3 of many of my favorite things about this track are the surf-guitar parts for the velocity of flying through space they evoke, then the angular downshift and rising during "I was standing, staring at the world..", and that absolutely monstrous and iconic riff and groove the track drops into 🖤🖤🖤 There might be something wrong with me, but I can't get enough of people reacting to The Last Baron, always puts a huge smile on my face when someone gushes about my all time favorite track from my favorite album of all time from my all time favorite band. ☺️☺️☺️

Great song. You should check out their track 'The Wolf Is Loose'. It's a shorter song but the drumming is incredible on it.

First few Mastodon albums are amazing. Haven't listened to much of their new stuff. Saw them in Nottingham supporting Tool on their 10,000 days tour. Was an epic gig, back when you could smoke at concerts. Had to have the spliffs out. Lines of charlie on the sly. Good times been young :) Back to my suggestions. The Faceless - Autothiest Movement part 1 to 3 Dream Theater - Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence disk two (its like 1 continuous song so you might need to sort something out with the 30 minute recording time on ya camera. Or split the video into 2 I suppose.) Cradle of Filth - Lord Abortion Carcass - Heartwork Thanks again Jim 👍

I wish i could like this video every time you said something ive been saying for years like "They're creativity is out of this world" or "He's sort of like a Lemmy with more melody, or a slightly more naisly Ozzy". It would have a billion likes. But it will get there.

Best Song 2000 Years EVER

Spot on with the Lemmy comparison.

My favourite Mastodon song. And off my favourite of their records. They really did something special with that one, I have to remind my self that was a collaboration between a group of people because it's so cohesive

I actually played this CD yesterday for the first time in ages because I was in a metal mood and out of the blue your reaction appeared this morning.That insane middle section just blows my mind.Stll haven’t bothered to read or find out what the songs all about .Yes he does sound like Ozzy.

Fantastic song. Love the whole album but this is a highlight.

More Mastodon!

I never thought about the ozzy comparison with Brent’s vocals but I hear it now. Has anyone let him know that 3 of the 4 members are vocalists and to me gives them something I haven’t heard from that many other bands. My favorite active band for sure

Thank you! I’ve been saying for years that he sounds like Ozzy. Not my favorite song from them, but it’s certainly solid. I’d be curious, Jim, now that you’re hoping to dive more into them, what you’d think of their *old* stuff. I prefer the newer proggy ‘70s Mastodon like this, but I don’t dislike their older stuff (Ahab, Blood & Thunder, etc) either, I just don’t listen to it as much. So please check out some of those songs as well. I’d also love to see how you reacted to the music video(specifically that version... you’ll see why...) of their song The Motherload from more recently.

One of my favourite band!

Capillarian Crest is my favorite mastodon song

I become a Mastodon fan since this pandemic, listening to this song, Sleeping giant, roots remains, jaguar god and other more are helping me out to fight My depression and negative thoughts... Is something odd to explain...

Would like to strap a step counter to Brann's kit and check the result!

one of my fav band of all time up there with tool,alcest,slayer and gojira.

Keep reacting to them, their sound just grows and grows the more you listen I recommend The Czar, like everyone else has. For something heavier, try Colony of Birchmen

This song is absolutely ridiculous. Is not music, is a piece of art. I remember the first time I heard it. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Thank you for your reaction. Brought those memories back!!

Great reaction as always Jim. Though don’t forgot, tomorrow is the Sikth day of the week (please react to Sikth!) 😅

This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Check out The Czar. Masterpiece.

Should listen to Hearts Alive next, is the last track off their album Leviathan which is based off the novel Moby Dick. Their best album imo.

They make some of the coolest riffs, you should do a full reaction to Mastodon - Live in the K! Pit.

intronaut - fastworms Sikth - the aura both bands very unique and amazing sounds

Sick band and sick song!

Jim, you should lend an ear to Arcadea, drummer Brann Dailor's side project. It's basically Mastodon with synths instead of guitars. Good stuff!

Crack the skye and emporer of sand are their best albums. But i like them all, this is my top 3 bands of all time: AIC, TOOL, Mastodon, Blind melon

You've got to do Hearts Alive by Mastodon. It's probably the greatest song I've ever heard

Great band.

Man, this track has everything. Maybe a bit too repetitive, but it really soars.

You mentioned a few old-school classic heavy metal bands but not Thin Lizzy. Mastodon are huge Lizzy fans. Troy Sanders (Mastodon's bass player/wookiee vocalist) even played some shows with Scott Gorham's version of Thin Lizzy this summer. (Whether Scott Gorham ought to be touring as "Thin Lizzy" is another question...) If you want to hear more like Jaguar God and this, then try The Czar or maybe Sleeping Giant. Mastodon can also do the fast, technical metal malarkey (check out the song Capillarian Crest) but they never sound like machines. The organic, sometimes rustic, resolutely human sound they make is, as you remark, very appealing. I look forward to following your Mastodonian journey.

Nice song choice. Mastodon is a whirlwind of talent! Please check out more Gojira and Mastodon! Mastodon - Sleeping Giant Gojira - Oroborus

This whole album is pretty much perfect, mastodon is easily one of the best metal bands of the last 2 decades, all their albums are quality and different.

Jim mate, you have go to hit up Soilwork. Swedish melodic metal. Father and Son, Watching The World Go Down.