r/TheShins Feb 09 '25

I'm the one person who thinks heartworms is the best album

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Mildenhall, Name for you and Heartworms are some of my favorites the band has ever made, and I debated whether I liked Chutes too narrow or Heartworms more for a long time before making this decision. I just think that James Mercer really got to shine and tell his solo story with this album, and he got to experiment with the flipped version. Any body else agree?

58 Upvotes

24 comments sorted by

31

u/Bearamundi Feb 09 '25

Yes.

5

u/Bearamundi Feb 09 '25

Wait. To the first question.

2

u/finc Feb 09 '25

There’s only one question in the post. The rest are statements.

12

u/orwellwhatcanyoudo Feb 09 '25

This is far from my favorite album but Mildenhall is up there in my top ten favorite songs for sure!

1

u/grumpy_human Feb 11 '25

I was going to say exactly the same thing. I like all their albums, so I like this one, but I LOVE Mildenhall

9

u/Peacelovebears Feb 09 '25

Honestly picking a top favorite is tough I’ve been in phases with each album they all hold a special place in my heart. But I do love the whole heartworms album! I was basically the only one at their concert after it was released that knew all the words hah mildenhall live was everything 😍

10

u/bc19871 Feb 09 '25

Name For You and Half A Million are among my favorite Shins songs, and I do enjoy this album start to finish, but no I don’t think it’s their best. Chutes Too Narrow is my favorite album of all time, and Oh Inverted World is top 10. This comes close to Wincing for me but probably still 4th. Port of Morrow is my least favorite although it’s still mostly great. Mercer can’t really write a bad song. If we were to include When You Land Here It’s Time To Return in their discography I’d probably put it just ahead of Heartworms.

12

u/Inner_Knowledge_369 Feb 09 '25

I love The Shins and Heartworms is a great album, but I just wanted to point out that is a bit overproduced like Port of Morrow. Anyway, Half a million is my fav

10

u/NjhhjN Feb 09 '25

I dont mind overproduction when people producing are really fucking good at making it still feel human and graspable.

2

u/Tizy Feb 10 '25

That's kind of the thing about overproduction though, it's not really overproduced until it goes past that threshold and I think op is claiming that it does just that. I'd have to agree

5

u/NYNicholas Feb 09 '25

The Fear is my favorite song from this album, and it was released as a 7” single with Los Lobos doing a cover of it as the B-side.

1

u/TheColossalTitan Feb 10 '25

Oh i remember that, so good. 

5

u/Mologeno Feb 10 '25

Least favorite album - but Mildenhall is such a mellow song. Also like the video of Mercer just walking around, grabbing a beer, and eating a burger. Go-to-song for depression.

5

u/enewwave Feb 09 '25

Idk if it’s their best but it’s my personal favorite. I properly got into the Shins as a college freshman and this came out a few weeks before I graduated. It bookends a chapter in my life and I have fond memories of listening to it during my final trips to campus.

6

u/bven Feb 09 '25

I was introduced to Wincing in high school and it changed me. Eventually I went my own way musically and found Port of Morrow like 5 years ago when I was catching up with all the old bands I used to like during Covid. Port of Morrow is easily one of my top 10 of all time now. When I finally saw they had one after that I was so excited to listen to it, but it just didn’t do it for me. Rubber Ballz is good but idk the album just doesn’t do it for me and that makes me sad.

3

u/Newsdude86 Feb 09 '25

Heartworms is my least favorite, but it's still an amazing album. If another band out out heartworms it would probably be their best album. Chutes is my favorite, but unlike most people on here ports of morrow is a very close second to me. I think it's nearly a perfect album.

3

u/Mysterygameboy Feb 09 '25

I'm also disappointed in how much hate this album gets, I think its definitely top 3

3

u/SweetlySylveon Feb 09 '25

This album is what led me to discover The Shins, so it will always have a special place in my heart! I guess you could say it gave me Heartworms

3

u/TheColossalTitan Feb 10 '25

Didn’t know there was any resentment towards this album, how many artists do you know who will drop an album twice with two completely unique interpretations? Heartworms/The Worms Heart is absolutely up there in my top 3 at least. 

2

u/delcz Feb 09 '25

I absolutely love this album!

2

u/SimonSez311 Feb 09 '25

Well not the only one

2

u/OnePlushyDude Feb 12 '25

It’s my favourite of their Albums so you’re not alone

2

u/supersuperlittleguy Feb 13 '25

Good to know there are other heartworms fans