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Track Listings
| 1. Introduction: "Let's Experiment" (2:24) |
| 2. Pure Radio Cosplay (5:26) |
| 3. Summer of All Dead Souls (4:17) |
| 4. Cover the Days Like a Tidal Wave (2:51) |
| 5. Fall of the Empire (2:28) |
| 6. The Wasteland (2:33) |
| 7. Spiral Jetty (1:48) |
| 8. Weight of the Sun (or the Post-Modern Prometheus) (2:19) |
| 9. Pure Radio Cosplay (Reprise) (3:18) |
| 10. Ebb Away (2:41) |
| 11. The Fairlight Pendant (5:44) |
| 12. The Bubble Demo (32:30) |
Editorial Reviews
Review
'Weight Of The Sun' is poppy, scream-filled, and fully subscribes to the power-murk-power formula Trail Of Dead made famous back in 1994. -- RCRD LBL, 2010
...we're in for a feral, bumpy ride: it's brash, blurry and snarly, hard rock without subtlety. It makes me excited what else the band got up to in such a short time... -- HITFIX, 2010
Texas sludge-rock institution ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead release their new album Tao of the Dead February 8...The band recorded the album with Beach House/Yeah Yeah Yeahs producer Chris Coady. -- Pitchfork, 2010
Why You Should Follow: These psychedelic rockers have a big year ahead. Their seventh album, Tao of the Dead, which was reportedly recorded in only 10 days, will be released in February, and the band just announced plans to hit the road with Surfer Blood for a 13-date North American tour in April. -- Spin, 2010
...we're in for a feral, bumpy ride: it's brash, blurry and snarly, hard rock without subtlety. It makes me excited what else the band got up to in such a short time... -- HITFIX, 2010
Texas sludge-rock institution ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead release their new album Tao of the Dead February 8...The band recorded the album with Beach House/Yeah Yeah Yeahs producer Chris Coady. -- Pitchfork, 2010
Why You Should Follow: These psychedelic rockers have a big year ahead. Their seventh album, Tao of the Dead, which was reportedly recorded in only 10 days, will be released in February, and the band just announced plans to hit the road with Surfer Blood for a 13-date North American tour in April. -- Spin, 2010
Product Description
Limited two CD edition includes a bonus CD that contains the album in two parts as originally intended by the band. 2011 release, the seventh album from the Indie/Alt-Rock favorites. ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead have consistently specialized in soundtracking the breaking of the seventh seal. For those of you less schooled in scripture, that means they make music fit for the end of the world, whether it is an interior existence troubled by nightmares and doubt or an exterior reality continually plagued by environmental disaster, neocolonialism and unending Wars on Whatever. Tao Of The Dead evokes a refreshing nostalgia paying faithful homage to Pink Floyd, Rush, Steppenwolf, and Neu! Produced by Chris "Frenchie" Smith (producer of the band's seminal 1998 self-titled LP) along with Chris Coady (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blonde Redhead, Beach House)
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"What a beautiful death, to die in the exercise of your passion," remarks Philippe Petit in the excellent 2008 documentary Man on Wire. It's a literal statement as well as philosophical - high-wire artist Petit could literally die if he falls off his balancing wire between the World Trade Centers, but it's also a testament to how committed he is to his craft. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead frontman Conrad Keely would probably be the first to agree, so caught up in his own band's mythology and defiant independence that to compromise his own artistic values would probably kill him (most likely accompanied by a full symphony and a choir of wailing female voices). No, Keely has been more than content to steer his own ship, from 2001's noise-rock master thesis Source Tags & Codes through convoluted orchestral messes like 2006's So Divided, losing much of their fanbase and most of the considerable critical cachet ST&C afforded them in the process. He's been content to exercise his own passion, and it's indeed resulted in a sort of commercial death for the band . . . but wow if Keely isn't plunging full speed ahead anyways. Tao of the Dead is a fearless two-part affair, one split into eleven chapters in the key of D and the second a 16-minute epic in five movements and in the key of F and both resolutely proggy in the vein of your favorite Rush or Yes record, if Rush or Yes had had an upbringing in full-throated punk and feedback-drenched indie rock.
Keely has stated in interviews that it's this kind of record that he grew up listening to and wanted to emulate, and maybe that's why Tao of the Dead ends up being the most focused Trail of Dead effort in years rather than a space-rock sham. Sure, there's the instrumental opening track, as routine in the Trail of Dead universe as Keely's fantastical album artwork. There are tracks with names like "Weight of the Sun (Or, the Post-Modern Prometheus)" or "Cover the Days Like a Tidal Wave" and pointless changes in time signature. There's Keely taking himself way too seriously, whether it's ranting about ferries of the dead or the utter darkness that will consume us all. But whoa how the songs go! "Pure Radio Cosplay" is one of the best tracks Trail of Dead have put to record in recent memory, and not only do the guitars punch and the melodies soar, all with X-factor Jason Reece's inimitable drumming anchoring things, but it sets a template for the rest of Tao of the Dead to follow. This is important when considering that prior Trail of Dead efforts were just as likely to indulge in New Pornographers-esque indie pop as they were to sludge forward in forests of multi-tracked guitars. There's a fluidity to this record, one that knows when to slide back into haunting atmospherics ("Cover the Days like a Tidal Wave") and rise back up to another anthemic track like "Weight of the Sun."
It's a crucial ebb and flow, and one that Trail of Dead long ago proved they had mastered. The best part about Source Tags & Codes was how it all seemed like one cohesive statement, an album's album. Tao of the Dead has that same sense of togetherness, and in as prog-rockish an album as this one, that's an accomplishment indeed. Few bands could go from Who-influenced space jams to pounding punk assaults as effortlessly as they do here, yet remain nimble enough to throw a ballad like "Ebb Away" in the mix and still make it sound like the missing link to instrumental closer "The Fairlight Pendant." The key is in those transitions, the moment where the feedback that closes "The Spiral Jetty" eases into "Weight of the Sun" or where the intro's guitars whine down only to explode forth again on "Pure Radio Cosplay." They're insignificant in the greater scheme of things, but it's these carefully crafted shifts that give Tao of the Dead that continuous 52-minute feeling that Keely was aiming for.
Nowhere is it more evident how far the band has come then in that last 16-minute track, an exercise that could have been a shining example of where noodling goes wrong but instead comes off so driven, so focused that it's impossible to begrudge the band their five movements with names like "Rule By Being Just" and "The Ship Impossible." There's typically frenetic guitar work, spoken-word samples and vaguely krautrock interludes that seem like they should clash but instead come together as an organic whole. It's Keely's best realization of his version of the classical suite that his ambitious mind could put down, and it's a fitting summation to a record that always seems like it should be flying off the rails but never comes close. Things could always be improved - the production is too same-y, too rock radio, and Keely will never be lauded as a master of lyrical restraint. But for the first time in a while, Trail of Dead have an identity that suits them: loud and blatantly brash, modesty not even an afterthought, but with that style, that sound at their forefront. Keely and company may well die before they see another record with the success of Source Tags & Codes, but Tao of the Dead proves their passion should never be questioned.
Keely has stated in interviews that it's this kind of record that he grew up listening to and wanted to emulate, and maybe that's why Tao of the Dead ends up being the most focused Trail of Dead effort in years rather than a space-rock sham. Sure, there's the instrumental opening track, as routine in the Trail of Dead universe as Keely's fantastical album artwork. There are tracks with names like "Weight of the Sun (Or, the Post-Modern Prometheus)" or "Cover the Days Like a Tidal Wave" and pointless changes in time signature. There's Keely taking himself way too seriously, whether it's ranting about ferries of the dead or the utter darkness that will consume us all. But whoa how the songs go! "Pure Radio Cosplay" is one of the best tracks Trail of Dead have put to record in recent memory, and not only do the guitars punch and the melodies soar, all with X-factor Jason Reece's inimitable drumming anchoring things, but it sets a template for the rest of Tao of the Dead to follow. This is important when considering that prior Trail of Dead efforts were just as likely to indulge in New Pornographers-esque indie pop as they were to sludge forward in forests of multi-tracked guitars. There's a fluidity to this record, one that knows when to slide back into haunting atmospherics ("Cover the Days like a Tidal Wave") and rise back up to another anthemic track like "Weight of the Sun."
It's a crucial ebb and flow, and one that Trail of Dead long ago proved they had mastered. The best part about Source Tags & Codes was how it all seemed like one cohesive statement, an album's album. Tao of the Dead has that same sense of togetherness, and in as prog-rockish an album as this one, that's an accomplishment indeed. Few bands could go from Who-influenced space jams to pounding punk assaults as effortlessly as they do here, yet remain nimble enough to throw a ballad like "Ebb Away" in the mix and still make it sound like the missing link to instrumental closer "The Fairlight Pendant." The key is in those transitions, the moment where the feedback that closes "The Spiral Jetty" eases into "Weight of the Sun" or where the intro's guitars whine down only to explode forth again on "Pure Radio Cosplay." They're insignificant in the greater scheme of things, but it's these carefully crafted shifts that give Tao of the Dead that continuous 52-minute feeling that Keely was aiming for.
Nowhere is it more evident how far the band has come then in that last 16-minute track, an exercise that could have been a shining example of where noodling goes wrong but instead comes off so driven, so focused that it's impossible to begrudge the band their five movements with names like "Rule By Being Just" and "The Ship Impossible." There's typically frenetic guitar work, spoken-word samples and vaguely krautrock interludes that seem like they should clash but instead come together as an organic whole. It's Keely's best realization of his version of the classical suite that his ambitious mind could put down, and it's a fitting summation to a record that always seems like it should be flying off the rails but never comes close. Things could always be improved - the production is too same-y, too rock radio, and Keely will never be lauded as a master of lyrical restraint. But for the first time in a while, Trail of Dead have an identity that suits them: loud and blatantly brash, modesty not even an afterthought, but with that style, that sound at their forefront. Keely and company may well die before they see another record with the success of Source Tags & Codes, but Tao of the Dead proves their passion should never be questioned.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By jren1313
Format:Audio CD
What a long strange journey its been for ...And You Will Know Us by The Trail Of Dead; A band that seemingly reinvents itself with each new album. Tao Of The Dead finds head-Dead member Conrad Keely channeling his prog-rock affectations into a remarkably cohesive set of songs that works best when listened to as two epic song cycles. Tao Of The Dead Part I is so good that at nearly forty minutes it almost feels too brief - you're almost tempted to hit the replay button once the final notes of "The Fairlight Pendant" trail off into the ether... thankfully that lingering is quickly satiated by the equally impressive sixteen and half minute "Strange News From Another Planet," a song that moves from roaring punk anthems to beautiful, shimmering soundscapes almost in the same breath. It all adds up to one fantastic listening experience. I can't recommend this album highly enough.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Steven Sly
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is my first album by these guys and I am glad that I have come aboard. I don't know a lot about their history except that they have apparently been around for a while. "Tao Of The Dead" is a mix of progressive rock, post rock, punk and some straight forward rockers and ballads that are totally unique and fresh, but at the same time hearken back to an older era. In fact the riff in the super catchy "Pure Radio Cosplay" almost sounds like an old Moody Blues rocker, and is catchy enough to be a single. I am really enjoying this and plan on checking out more of the band's catalogue. This is modern progressive rock as it should be done with forward thinking lyrics and musical ideas.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tao of the decade
This is a great album, not a weak song in the lot. High energy, great playing and singing, great lyrics.
Published 4 months ago by Robert Nyeholt
4.0 out of 5 stars
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - Tao of the Dead
One of Trail of Dead's best records!! Great record to begin with if you are just discovering them. The packaging for this album is awesome!
Published 5 months ago by ,Troy Vandenbraak
5.0 out of 5 stars
That's 4 in a row
That is four effing brilliant albums in a row. Why can't I get people interested in this band? It is some of the most stirring and remarkable music I have ever heard. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Thomas E. Stazer
4.0 out of 5 stars
Rise and fall of the radio song
I now own 5 Trail of Dead records and have seen them live twice. In both instances, I was annoyed they didn't play more songs from the records I love the most - the epic noisy... Read more
Published 22 months ago by E. Kutinsky
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phenomenal!
What can I say about Trail of Dead that would do them justice? This disc is fantastic!! They decided to produce it as 2 long tracks mixed together, (think of side B of The... Read more
Published on May 8, 2011 by Joe Lindsey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Epic
I've been a minor fan of this band for a few years now, having appreciated some songs here and there from earlier albums. Read more
Published on April 6, 2011 by K. Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars
Ambition that mostly pays off
Tao of the Dead really is the most ambitious thing that the band have done to date. As a creative work that exists across multiple mediums, I'll judge this accordingly. Read more
Published on February 27, 2011 by Gareth Scullion
5.0 out of 5 stars
epic
I love this. It's got such a big sound. A few great hooks sprinkled in- just enough to make you wish for more, but instead the mood shifts into psychedelic swirls. Read more
Published on February 23, 2011 by J. Photos
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