... And You Will Poll Us By The Trail Of Dead - album poll

I remember back in early 00s this was one of those indie bands with overlong and overwrought names that almost every ezine was pushing. Name alone they never caught my attention. Are they worth a listen?

First 3 albums are at least. Or maybe 2nd and 3rd only. Or maybe just the third.

great -
Source Tags & Codes

very good -
Worlds Apart
Lost Songs
IX
Madonna

good -
...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
Tao of the Dead
The Century of Self

not good -
So Divided

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61jr9gk8r1L.jpg

Genuinely tempted to vote for IX

So Divided is way better than everyone says btw

otm

had IX at #3 and then impulsively swapped with Lost Songs in case of recency bias

that tao of the dead cover art may be ironic (i assume?) but the record is unironically my favorite of theirs. it's surprisingly lean and un-symphonic, sort of the Rush to their previous records' Yes or Genesis.

source tags & codes is certainly the high water mark of the soaring maximalist stuff that made them popular in the first place though - i'll still take that record over Funeral any day

Imago otm about IX and So Divided. They are great. I'm still votin for Source Tags & Codes, because its fantastic. But this is one of the very few bands that stretched out and tried for something else, evolved that way seemingly naturally. Into something I would nog forgive any other band, something way too bombastic and proggy for my liking. But with these guys I can take it, I can see where they come from.

Aw man I went through everything after worlds apart about a year ago and now I can't remember shit about it.

I've never given the first two albums, Tao or Lost Songs a proper listen. Weird considering how much I like the other albums

source tags & codes is certainly the high water mark of the soaring maximalist stuff that made them popular in the first place though - i'll still take that record over Funeral any day

― ciderpress, Monday, October 17, 2016 10:23 PM (sixteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No competition. Arcade Fire can suck cocks in hell (new board descrip imho), they've never even been close to ST&C brilliance.

It would be quite interesting if folks posted their TOD mixtapes itt maybe

Imago, you should def check them out. Madonna is great, just as Tao is, albeit in a completely different way.

I think you'd like Tao of the Dead imago

I don't think Tao of the Dead art is ironic, since I think it's Conrad's drawing and other albums have similar Playstation 2 / steampunk stylings.

Also something about the glowing reception of Source Tags got to their heads in such a way that they snapped and their ambitions became so try-hard and lacked so much taste its as if their overall creative direction was suddenly entirely dictated by some edgy nerdy teenager who says "epic" a lot. They've been picking up the pieces on recent albums and I've mostly enjoyed that material, but the sudden aesthetic regression at that point always seemed so odd to me.

Put another way, its as if they were replaced by a less mature band that was heavily influenced by the original band that made the first 3 albums, and from Worlds Apart until now this new band has been maturing and refining their unique approach over the years.

Sorry to sound so negative...

Cool, will do! xps

Just want to restate how good IX is. For a band supposedly running on fumes it's an absolute blast, and Grand Scheme -> Summer Tempests is getting on for a career high

Probably still voting Worlds Apart but it will take some thought. All five of the ones I've listened to properly could be considered.

you'd love madonna and tao, lj

if i were to guess at a narrative of their development, i think after source tags neil leaves somewhat acrimoniously (a v much underrated loss to the band btw) and conrad puts himself under pressure to match source tags kind of single handedly on worlds apart and tho he does an outstanding job with it it is not exactly st&c pt 2 and it bombs relatively and i would guess that hit him hard. despite its defenders so divided is somewhat a contractual obligation record and after that they kind of start over

i'd either pick century of self or tao here. what an awesome, consistent band

Worlds Apart. I never understood the love for ST&C - too muddy and bland. Big sound without great songs. Worlds Apart is so ambitious and unique and assured- the incredibly harsh criticism and dismissal by the prog-phobic press left them without a leg to stand on: not big enough for the mainstream and abandoned by the indie world. I love So Divided too, never understood why that was hated. Great riffs and successful experiments like "Wasted State of Mind." The songwriting got better too - the title track is really moving to me, a simple sort of classic rock song with a mature view. I lost interest after that record. I still think it's a crime what the press did to them- build them up and then burn them at the stake. They've been relegated back to playing small clubs and pubs now for years, they should be playing bigger places.

I only ever had Madonna. I enjoyed it a lot but never felt like checking anything else out for some reason. A mistake?

Also I remember an interviewer asking the singer what he had in his pockets once and he had a sheet of acid and a zipdisk

xxp I think they still do pretty well in continental Europe, esp. Germany. Many countries don't forget/dismiss bands to the extent that we do in the UK/US.

Couple of others I could go for but it's probably going to be Century of the Self for me. So many good songs.

The zipdisk is the proggiest of all discs. Bloated but it does the job really well :) xp

The press always slagged Conrad's voice but I love it. I guess the best litmus test for this band is the "HEY FUCK YOU, MAAAAAN!" at the beginning of "Worlds Apart."

Not much humour in their catalogue iirc but that is a lol for sure.

Had to vote Tao, amazing album

feels a bit wrong that we did this before they got to their tenth album, hope that's some kind of three-hour monstrosity

also no one ever reps for it but I REALLY like the debut, "Novena Without Faith" is beautiful

going for the debut as i feel it won't get the love it deserves.

Finally heard this band recently after avoiding them because I had a wrong impression of what they sounded like because of the name. Hate it when that happens.

these guys are my favorite rock band of all time, every album owns

Wondering if the Tao of the Dead cover belongs on a certain image thread.

I loved this band up to Source Codes but was a bit disappointed by Worlds Apart and got off the bus after that - I've caught up all the later albums since then but none of them really grabbed me as a whole (although there were definitely great songs here and there). I probably need to revisit the last four.

i actually legit can't decide between century of self and tao of the dead; they sound so reinvigorated on century, and the songs are really strong and feel like hybrids of worlds apart and madonna, aggressive, digressive, and pretty. tao conversely feels like the record they'd always wanted to make

also i just learned there's a tao of the dead part 3!

double guitars, y'know??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v09TM7Z25qg

Some days I think Giants Causeway/Far Pavillions is the best way to open an album ever.

Going to listen to all albums after ST&C tonight while writing an essay, that should be fun. Worlds apart, really loved that one, but after that I probably didnt invest enough time and energy in their albums.

i love ix too but i feel like it doesn't really start until "lie without a liar"

PSHAW jaded apostles and million random digits are both great

they're good but idk the momentum feels kinda off before "lie"

Listening to Lost Songs myself and it's very enjoyable and BIG sounding, but I think their compositions were much more inventive on ST&C. Watched an old Conan performance of Relative Ways and while that song seems simple and BIG as well it's also intricate and in control.

Jaded Apostles is a weirdly slow track for second on an album, but at least it's a good song

Ha, just got to Pinhole Cameras and that guitar part that opens it is clearly recycled from Relative Ways

I mean thats where my head went, at least

The whole ST&C thing feels like 'is the dress gold and white or black and blue?' (it's gold and white), i just don't hear the 'inventive compositions' or interesting lyrics. Worlds Apart is so much more idiosyncratic and powerful. I don't dislike ST&C though, "Baudelaire" rules.

the one time i saw them was around the ST&C-era, and it was amazing...

really great post which captures the spirit of that era. their live shows were about complete and total annihilation of their equipment and bodies. one show i saw reece broke a rib when he fell onto the audience barrier and he finished the song without even missing a beat

I hope they play TO this year, I'd love to see them live finally

They're playing My War and Relayer in their respective entireties at a fest this summer, which kinda explains their whole thing.

ahahaha oh my god

:D

you know maybe this will be the thing that makes me finally listen to black flag

enjoy side two of my war lj

ha!

Hope it gets filmed, I'd like to see if they can pull off Relayer given that there's almost always been a tention between Conrad's prog ambitions and the fact that their musicianship tends to be little above the level of competent and functional (that's not a criticism, it works for them).

I SWEAR I KNOW NOT WHY
THESE EYES HAVE ALWAYS
LEFT ME DRY

according to a locked post on Conrad's Patreon, they started mixing #10 last week.

That is great news! Has his solo album been discussed anywhere on ILM? A doozy, with mostly 2 or 3 minute songs. Would swap the whole album for three or four well-worked out and longer ToD versions of those sketches.

I had no idea it even existed until....just this second.

This reinforces the weird ToD/GbV connection.

Ha, it does!

I had no idea it existed either until I stumbled upon a deluxe LP w/ 40 pages of drawings and lyrics in a Basque record store last month. Was very surprised to see it.

That's great news about a new album, I was wiondering when they'd come out with anything again. Conrad's solo album is maybe a bit MOR but very likeable I find.

'Hills of K-Town' is a great song

Source Tags was a huge album for teenage me, and I will occasionally revisit it when I'm feeling nostalgic. I kind of fell off with them after that, and never really kept up. Prompted by this thread I'm listening to Worlds Apart now, and...IDK. Can't really get into it at all. I'm pretty sure it's Keely's voice. It feels like not the right voice for what he's trying to do at all. Does it get better later in the discography?

yeah, i'm pretty much right there with you (down to having the same initials, i think?). i loved ST&C, and a show i saw around then still ranks as one of the best shows i ever saw. they were FERAL. madonna is quite good as well. i haven't been able to get into anything since.

Almost every album after WA is superior. I'd skip straight to Tao of the Dead and see if that strikes your fancy at all.

Thanks to Simon for the good advice. Tao is leagues better. Now I'm listening to IX which is really surprisingly quite good. Also, this band is ideal for blocking out office noise.

IX is like my second favourite of their albums tbh

Lost Songs is also great and I'm annoyed it's not on Spotify

On tour again. Anyone seen them recently? Worth dropping 20 bones on?

only saw em once in 2011 to a mostly empty club, they rocked, I say go for it because you'll probably regret not going whenever they call it a day

back then it was like half new album, half old favorites, of course they closed with Richter Scale Madness... I remember Surfer Blood opened for them, and I guess most of the crowd came for them because by the time Trail of Dead came on there were maybe 40 people left. Didn't deter them at all, didn't even look pissed or disappointed, just happy to rock for whoever was left.

sold. I've wanted to catch them live since catching that "Mistakes and Regrets" performance on that show Matt Pinfield hosted (lol)

they were great on the source tags tenth anniversary tour which uh i guess we're creeping closer to the 20th

yeah this year marks the 20th of Madonna

incidentally I relistened to the s/t today and while it's badly in need of a remaster, it's still great. "Novena Without Faith" is so beautiful

Hate to say it, but they were absolutely dreadful when I saw them a month ago. I don't go to concerts a lot anymore, but I really wanted to see these guys. But It. Was. Bad. A huge disappointment. It was billed as a ToD plays Madonna/ST&C concert. They did play Madonna from start to finish, but bailed after three or four ST&C songs. Not that it mattered: they were horrible. They pulled up a wall of sound that obliterated all melody, everything that makes their songs such great songs. I know Madonna by heart so I know which song follows which song, but you couldn't make out the songs they were playing at times. Too much feedback, too much noise, a great injustice to what makes them so great.

oh no :/ hopefully they've got that sorted by May

Hope so too. You can always go and buy a nice hand-drawn Keely drawing at the merch stand, that's something.

A buddy of mine saw them a few weeks ago in Vera, Groningen and according to him they were great. Loud, but great.

That was the same show I was at :) It was loud, and terrible. The loudness obliterated what I find ToD's strength, which is melody. They did not find that balance, at all. There's no need for them to be this loud. It felt like they tried to obscure bad vocals/bad play by just blasting their songs out there. Plus: bailing three songs into ST&C - my fave ToD album - was nagl, to say the least.

Idk, ymmv, but I was bitterly disappointed by one of the bands I admire most.

They played well in TO last night - their drummer in particular is great - but the mixing and tone was absurd. Specifically, their lead guitarist was so amped up (both in terms of amplitude and maxing out distortion) that it drowned out everything but those drums! Conrad was literally inaudible. Completely baffling choices. The set was Madonna plus a couple Source Tags tunes, though it took me a full 45-60 seconds each to figure out what those were due to the sound.

This was nice to see, incl some great trivia I hadn't previously heard.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/and-you-will-know-us-by-the-trail-of-madonna/

never got why people think that's the classic, including the band itself seemingly, they got much better later on

go back and correct your atrocity of a worlds apart review cowards

I think the review is correct to say it's not seen as *the* classic (see poll results!) but was important nevertheless, and was a big part of that loose scene of "aggro" indie acts mentioned

lol at "Totally Natural" being inspired by Dogstar, who even Keanu recently admitted sucked

i guess in context it was important

that completely contrived Farmclub performance that's mentioned is absolutely what got them on my radar in the first place. I wasn't aware Iovine had taken such a personal interest in them, though

The pitchfork sunday reviews lead with this quote:

Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible.

I guess that means they had deleted the original review from their archive?
https://web.archive.org/web/20060508094809/http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/a/and-you-will-know-us-by-the-trail-of-dead/madonna.shtml

(it's not nearly as embarrassing as some of Ryan Schreiber's reviews, and the number rating they gave it back then is just about the same)

That’s really funny. I was wondering why they wouldn’t have reviewed it the first time around. That original review is godawful, of course.

https://youtu.be/bbXNaERHIfA

new one X: The Godless Void and Other Stories (lol) out in January. single's good, Keely is....sort of really singing on it?!

Singing's not too bad! Not blown away by the song, but I'm not left hopeless, which is something

this sounds pretty good! the instrumental bridge is where it's at

Aaaww, I love this! The singing is so nice, though I think I prefer when the guitar is a bit lower in the mix and all murky. Hope there's something as good as A Million Random Digits on the new one.

A lovely little 90s alt-rock song! Nice of Conrad to show us a bit of his life in Cambodia while he's about it

But yeah, hoping for something more dynamic next. XI was a really strong album imo

Sounds great

new one is moody AOR comfort food and I mean this as a compliment. the vocals are, as aforementioned, mysteriously improved.