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.
― Evan, Wednesday, 19 October 2016 20:01 (seven years ago) link
Jaded Apostles is a weirdly slow track for second on an album, but at least it's a good song
― imago, Wednesday, 19 October 2016 20:02 (seven years ago) link
Ha, just got to Pinhole Cameras and that guitar part that opens it is clearly recycled from Relative Ways
― Evan, Wednesday, 19 October 2016 20:12 (seven years ago) link
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.
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 19 October 2016 20:15 (seven years ago) link
Yeah your post upthread is like the exact opposite of mine. I found that very interesting! It's cool to see that if they lost one set of fans another set was enjoying them more than ever.
― Evan, Wednesday, 19 October 2016 20:24 (seven years ago) link
This thread has fucked up my priorities, 70s soul funk album poll going down and all I'm listening to is trail of dead.
― quis gropes ipsos gropiuses? (ledge), Thursday, 20 October 2016 08:13 (seven years ago) link
omg <3 bus lines
― quis gropes ipsos gropiuses? (ledge), Thursday, 20 October 2016 10:09 (seven years ago) link
Century Of Self is good but it'd be better imo (and a candidate for #1) if it didn't have Isis Unveiled OR Halcyon Days on it. (LJ, hating on the longest songs??) But seriously - after the jet-fuelled opening duo, to skip the Will You Smile Again retreads and head straight for Bells Of Fucking Creation - and then the rest? I just find the long songs unwieldy on this one.
ST&C is probably everyone's favourite because of the bassline on It Was There That I Saw You. Maybe all the basslines. They lost an awesome bassist, but I think they probably grew as songwriters.
― imago, Thursday, 20 October 2016 14:24 (seven years ago) link
I also listened to Tao Of The Dead and it didn't quite grab me as I'd hoped, except for Summer Of All Dead Souls and maybe the one after it. But it wasn't exactly dull either so I'll have to give it more listens
― imago, Thursday, 20 October 2016 14:27 (seven years ago) link
i can't even hear the bass on ST&C!
but man. "Baudelaire" just BANGS. such a killer fucking song
― flappy bird, Thursday, 20 October 2016 17:40 (seven years ago) link
the bass on 'IWTTISY' is maybe the single greatest thing this band has ever done
― imago, Thursday, 20 October 2016 17:59 (seven years ago) link
I've read the P4K reviews of all their albums today. ST&C got a 10 rating, which seems about right. I can't find a single flaw in that album. They've been kind on the band after they tanked it with Worlds Apart, rightfully so as they managed to fight their way back again (even though I still love Worlds Apart in all its glorious bombast). The last two albums I feel I've neglected, so will put those on again tonight.
I honestly do not why I created this poll when I did, it just felt like a right time to revisit this band. And it has been.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Thursday, 20 October 2016 18:08 (seven years ago) link
― imago, Thursday, 20 October 2016 17:59 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
on further consideration, the answer to this is the bridge of 'bells of creation', which might be in the top ten rock bridges ever
― imago, Friday, 21 October 2016 19:31 (seven years ago) link
i think the song "So Divided" might be my favorite thing they've ever done
― flappy bird, Friday, 21 October 2016 20:33 (seven years ago) link
it's really great yeah
― imago, Friday, 21 October 2016 20:53 (seven years ago) link
I've listened to ALL THEIR ALBUMS now and worked out my TOD CD-80! It features tracks from all but one of their albums:
1) Open Doors2) Novena Without Faith3) It Was There That I Saw You4) Will You Smile Again5) Summer Of All Dead Souls6) Wasted State Of Mind7) The Ghost Within8) Flower Card Games9) Bells Of Creation10) Heart In The Hand Of The Matter11) So Divided12) Luna Park13) Lost In The Grand Scheme14) Caterwaul15) Intelligence
Brad and flappy will be pleased to note their own favourites in here, because they really are great songs. Nothing from Madonna though! I didn't really get on with it. Maybe if Aged Dolls had had that outro removed I might have included it, but the songwriting didn't really hit me. I think they got much better after that. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with this playlist. If only it could be made to segue properly - most of the tracks end mid-segue into something completely different
― imago, Sunday, 23 October 2016 19:03 (seven years ago) link
Great list LJ. Mistakes & Regrets a serious Madonna-ommission imho, but I can see it wouldn't fit in the run you put together.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Sunday, 23 October 2016 19:34 (seven years ago) link
that's a pretty solid effort imago! They are not an easy band to anthologize in this way, especially since they are deceptively diverse sonically.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Sunday, 23 October 2016 20:24 (seven years ago) link
You ought to check out Elena's Tomb. Shouldn't be ignored if we're starting to talk about songs.
― Evan, Monday, 24 October 2016 01:56 (seven years ago) link
did you read my playlist lol
― imago, Monday, 24 October 2016 04:05 (seven years ago) link
Heh, overlooked
― Evan, Monday, 24 October 2016 04:59 (seven years ago) link
Have put together a (chronological) CD-80 of my own, heavier on the first few records and only two tracks in common with Imago's but I do plan on giving all his picks a second chance:
1. Fake Fake Eyes2. Prince With a Thousand Enemies3. Mistakes and Regrets4. Claire de Lune5. Sigh Your Children6. How Near, How Far7. Heart in the Hand of the Matter8. Relative Ways9. Crowning of a Heart10. A Classic Art Showcase11. The Rest Will Follow12. Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory13. So Divided14. Isis Unveiled15. Fall of the Empire16. The Doomsday Book
― Gavin, Leeds, Monday, 24 October 2016 14:06 (seven years ago) link
haven't really thought about what my favourite trail of dead song is but my instinct would be to say another morning stoner, and i am perplexed and dismayed at its omission from these cd80s.
― Roberto Spiralli, Monday, 24 October 2016 14:28 (seven years ago) link
Gavin's taste is much more in line with mine it seems. For instance, speaking of Elena's Tomb, I do not like the last two tracks and for awhile Crowning of a Heart was my favorite song by them.
― Evan, Monday, 24 October 2016 14:57 (seven years ago) link
this has been one of my favorite youtube videos for years. Trail of Dead in 2003, they start going into Richter Scale Madness but the stagehand is desperately trying to signal that their set time is up. they keep playing out of spite and the dude starts getting really heated and they start fucking with him hard. then they trash the stage lmao
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shYl9-zDb64
― flappy bird, Monday, 24 October 2016 17:42 (seven years ago) link
idk if this fits on one cd but my essential tod would be something like:
let it divewasted state of mindhow near how farall saints dayawestruckebb awaybells of creationthe dragonfly queen/how to avoid huge shipsbaudelairepictures of an only childfields of coalrelative waysweight of the suna classic arts showcasethe wasteland
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 24 October 2016 17:50 (seven years ago) link
Hahahaha. That is amazing. Seriously what is the dude's problem? Xp
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 24 October 2016 17:51 (seven years ago) link
i guess that was their thing, i saw them on the co-headline tour with qotsa in 2002 and they played way into qotsa's time. jason took the drum kit apart mid-song and put it back together out on the floor in the crowd. was a top 5 live show for me for sure. not for the qotsa set tho, for some reason they seemed ticked off.
― Roberto Spiralli, Monday, 24 October 2016 17:56 (seven years ago) link
Haha are you sure that isn't some character one of their roadies is playing? It was kind of too perfectly timed and executed!
― Evan, Monday, 24 October 2016 17:59 (seven years ago) link
Great stuff from whoever doesn't cut their power
Also great stuff in these alternative mixtapes. They have a lot of v good material
― imago, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:01 (seven years ago) link
a classic arts showcase is v underrated
― flappy bird, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:02 (seven years ago) link
the lyrics are extremely dumb but "a classic arts showcase" -> "let it dive" is my favorite moment in the tod catalog
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 24 October 2016 18:04 (seven years ago) link
That whole album is like that
― imago, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:05 (seven years ago) link
ah i love the lyrics in ACAS, but yeah that run is great
― flappy bird, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:06 (seven years ago) link
The only song I'm sometimes unsure about on WA is The Best and even that's pretty great some days
― imago, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:08 (seven years ago) link
"the best" rules
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 24 October 2016 18:12 (seven years ago) link
and yes "the lyrics are extremely dumb" goes for basically any song on worlds apart except for like "caterwaul"
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 24 October 2016 18:13 (seven years ago) link
for 'wasted state of mind' alone, i am very tempted to drop a vote on divided.
― mark e, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:15 (seven years ago) link
and the title track ..
― mark e, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:16 (seven years ago) link
the two on my mixtape ^_^
― imago, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:17 (seven years ago) link
I'm still torn between WA and IX btw - although for a band with such a contentious discography, 'returns to form' etc I find their albums from ST&C onward to be of remarkably consistent quality
― imago, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:19 (seven years ago) link
i clearly need more albums by this band.i only have source tags, so divided and lost songs.but each time i play them i end up realising how awesome they are.
― mark e, Monday, 24 October 2016 18:24 (seven years ago) link
i will not rest until you are in love with tao of the dead imago, stick with it imo
― who is extremely unqualified to review this pop album (BradNelson), Monday, 24 October 2016 18:37 (seven years ago) link
It's my own poll ffs, but the deeper I delve into their discography, the less sure I am of what to vote. Probably still ST&C. And yet, and yet...
Really feel Madonna isn't getting nearly the love it deserves. The obliterating rage, the palpale sense of having been deceived and mislead and dealing with it by scorching the earth, it's here mannnn. Lyrically they've not been that brutally honest, ugly even, before or ever after. Mistakes + Regrets ("If I could make a list / Of my mistakes and regrets / I'd put your name on top / and on every line under it"), Clair de Lune ("What good are promises, if nobody honours them... I DONT KNOW!"), all of Flood of Red, and even the forgiving sounding, melodic Mark David Chapman. They all completely floor me.
― Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 24 October 2016 20:13 (seven years ago) link
I find the evolution of their lyrics post-WA to be really interesting, going from the cringeworthy rockist diatribes of that album's title track to the more resigned, yet hopeful (and much more realistic!) "Pure Radio Cosplay" on Tao - the rare rock song that admits the genre is pure, silly dressup and revels in the artifice.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 24 October 2016 23:25 (seven years ago) link
Really feel Madonna isn't getting nearly the love it deserves
I was delighted to hear that Kevin Shields was a fan of "Mistakes and Regrets," or at least its opening.
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Monday, 24 October 2016 23:27 (seven years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Wednesday, 26 October 2016 00:01 (seven years ago) link
forgot all about this band. Tried source tags again. eh.
― akm, Wednesday, 26 October 2016 01:05 (seven years ago) link
I picked up Lost Songs again today - damn that opening run of tracks is a rush, has kind of an uptempo-Gish feel
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Wednesday, 26 October 2016 03:11 (seven years ago) link
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.
― tangenttangent, Saturday, 16 November 2019 11:35 (four years ago) link
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
― imago, Saturday, 16 November 2019 12:50 (four years ago) link
But yeah, hoping for something more dynamic next. XI was a really strong album imo
― imago, Saturday, 16 November 2019 12:51 (four years ago) link
Sounds great
― June Pointer’s Valentine’s Day Secret Admirer Note Author (calstars), Saturday, 16 November 2019 14:51 (four years ago) link
new one is moody AOR comfort food and I mean this as a compliment. the vocals are, as aforementioned, mysteriously improved.
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Friday, 17 January 2020 16:19 (four years ago) link