Ghosts of the Great Highway

Ghosts of the Great Highway is the debut studio album by San Francisco quartet Sun Kil Moon, led by Red House Painters' founder Mark Kozelek, who composed all of the lyrics and music on this album. The other members are Anthony Koutsos (former drummer for Red House Painters), Geoff Stanfield, and Tim Mooney.

Ghosts of the Great Highway
Studio album by Sun Kil Moon
Released	November 4, 2003 February 6, 2007 (re-issue)
Genre	Folk rock[1] indie folk[2] Americana[3]
Length	58:12 (album) 21:15 (bonus disc)
Language	English
Label	Jetset Records Caldo Verde Records
Producer	Mark Kozelek
Sun Kil Moon chronology
Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003) Tiny Cities (2005)

Three of the album's songs are named after boxers, following on from "Find Me, Rubén Olivares" from Kozelek's debut solo EP Rock 'n' Roll Singer. The band name is also a pun on the Korean boxer Sung-Kil Moon. The opening number is named after Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton. The song "Pancho Villa" is a more luscious arrangement of "Salvador Sanchez".

Ghosts of the Great Highway was re-issued as a double CD on February 6, 2007 on Kozelek's own label, Caldo Verde Records. The second disc features 6 bonus tracks, including two versions of Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere", and the instrumental track "Arrival", which was originally recorded for the movie The Girl Next Door. The songs "Carry Me Ohio" and "Lily and Parrots" were featured in the film Shopgirl, in which Kozelek made a cameo appearance.

The song "Carry Me Ohio" was listed at #462 on Pitchfork's Top 500 Songs of the 2000s list.^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	84/100[5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Blender	[7]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[8]
Mojo	[9]
Pitchfork	8.3/10 (2003)[10] 8.0/10 (2007)[11]
Q	[12]
Rolling Stone	[13]
Uncut	[14]

Upon its release, Ghosts of the Great Highway received critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album has received a metascore of 84, based on 18 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".^[5]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Glenn Tipton"	4:16
2.	"Carry Me Ohio"	6:21
3.	"Salvador Sanchez"	6:29
4.	"Last Tide"	2:55
5.	"Floating"	3:19
6.	"Gentle Moon"	5:18
7.	"Lily and Parrots"	4:18
8.	"Duk Koo Kim"	14:32
9.	"Sí, Paloma"	5:32
10.	"Pancho Villa"	5:12

All tracks are written by Mark Kozelek, except where noted.

Double 12" vinyl bonus track

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Gentle Moon" (Acoustic)	4:57

2007 re-issue bonus disc

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Somewhere"	Leonard Bernstein	2:13
2.	"Carry Me Ohio" (Alternate Version)		5:24
3.	"Salvador Sanchez" (Acoustic)		4:14
4.	"The Arrival"		2:28
5.	"Somewhere" (Version 2)	Bernstein	2:15
6.	"Gentle Moon" (Live Radio Recording)		4:41

Singles

• "Duk Koo Kim" (Mark Kozelek solo) (September 15, 2003)
  • Limited edition 10" vinyl single (limited to 2,000 copies worldwide), features acoustic studio version and live version.

References

1. Noel Murray (November 18, 2003). "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts Of The Great Highway". The A.V. Club. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
2. "The 100 Best Indie Folk Albums of All Time". Paste. May 20, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
3. Stephen M. Deusner (March 8, 2007). "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
4. Pitchfork Staff (17 August 2009). "Staff Lists: The Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s: 500-201 | Features | Pitchfork". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 9 May 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
5. "Reviews for Ghosts Of The Great Highway by Sun Kil Moon". Metacritic. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
6. Jurek, Thom. "Ghosts of the Great Highway – Sun Kil Moon". AllMusic. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
7. Lim, Dennis (May 2007). "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway". Blender (58). Retrieved April 12, 2019.
8. Hermes, Will (November 21, 2003). "Ghosts of the Great Highway". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
9. "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway". Mojo (123): 101. February 2004.
10. Goldstein, Hartley (November 19, 2003). "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 22, 2013.
11. M. Deusner, Stephen (8 March 2007). "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
12. "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway". Q (212): 113. March 2004.
13. Dana, Will (November 27, 2003). "Sun Kil Moon: Ghosts of the Great Highway". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
14. "White Spirits". Uncut (82): 94. March 2004. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved June 15, 2016.

External links

• The official Sun Kil Moon website
• Unofficial Sun Kil Moon website
• Jetset Records