Thank God for Mental Illness
| Thank God for Mental Illness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre | ||||
| Released | October 25, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | July 11, 1996 | |||
| Studio | "Our House", San Francisco, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 63:35 | |||
| Label | Bomp! | |||
| Producer | Anton Newcombe | |||
| The Brian Jonestown Massacre chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Tiny Mix Tapes |  |
| xsilence | (14/20) |
Thank God for Mental Illness is the fifth studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. After releasing Take It from the Man! and Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request in mid-1996, both of which display influences from 1960s psychedelic music, departing from the band's earlier shoegaze sound, the band recorded Thank God for Mental Illness through "tangible custom lo-fi stereo" in their San Francisco home studio on July 11, 1996 with the budget of $17.36.
The album shows another musical palette for the group, taking influence from country blues and psychedelic folk music, with one review calling it "an incredibly strange acoustic venture." The album is divided into two parts; the first part features mostly acoustic lo-fi songs of a short length, whilst the other half is a series of songs and pieces merged into one track named "Sound of Confusion", that features both regular songs and more abstract sound collages.
Released on October 25, 1996 by record label Bomp!, it was the third and final full-length album released by the band in that year. The album title was lead singer Anton Newcombe's personal jab at personal insults towards himself. The album was critically acclaimed and was hailed for, among numerous points, its lo-fi quality and influences. Several critics drew out comparisons to Bob Dylan. The album has since been hailed as one of the band's greatest, and Newcombe's own record label A Records re-released the album on CD in 2007 and on LP in 2016, the latter marking the first time it was issued on LP.
After spending 1995 signing to Bomp! Records and releasing their debut album Methodrone, which featured a shoegazing-influenced style, and re-releasing Spacegirl & Other Favorites, a collection of the band's earliest recordings from 1993, the group changed their direction considerably, and under the influence of 1960s British rock and psychedelic music, recorded Take It from the Man! and Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request respectively from 1995–1996, both of which were then released in mid-1996. Becoming their most prolific year for releases, the group decided to record a third album for release in 1996, again showing a different influence, namely from folk music, although again presenting it in a psychedelic style.
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