Customer Reviews

Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I recently rediscovered and became hooked on this band's second album, and realized it's been too long since I've really listened to the first one and had it truly sink in, and that I shouldn't forget about it. Their first one is just as good if not better. Actually, it's impossible for me to decide which one is better.

This is a raw, organic post rock treasure that comes once in a lifetime. If you are familiar with Godspeed You Black Emperor, this album has much of the same song structures, moving through soft to loud // upbeat to calm parts, with amazing melodies every second, progressing and changing throughout the entire duration. The difference is this band has shorter songs overall, they are more "normal" length (around 7 minutes) instead of 20-30 minutes long, and they don't stick on the same melody for too long. (Don't get me wrong, I love Godspeed and their 25 min songs, just stating the differences.) Actually they never really keep playing the same melody, there is ultra-variation. Of course there are multiple climaxes and suspenseful crescendos throughout every song.

The calm parts of this album are so nostalgic and relaxing, and could really be interpreted as either sad/melancholic or joyful/relieving. It's perfect to listen to cuddling with your lover by the fire drinking hot tea. In each song, there is a very sudden explosion (in the sky) from super-calm to super fast and loud, some are so powerful they will make you tremble. Especially the one in the second track about two minutes in, it is almost startling and could catch you off guard. It climaxes and calms down as fast as it came, and goes right back into the calm melody before it, then starts slowly progressing towards a new light. The percussion on this CD is amazing adds so much to the music especially in this area of the song.

If you need a real reason to buy this album, listening to the song "The Moon is Down" once should do it. This album is worth buying if you only listen to this song. I can only say that it has all the best elements of the CD wrapped into one song, with some of the most brilliant melodies I've ever heard. Sometimes instrumental music can say so much more then music with vocals. The first part of "Have You Passed Through This Night?" actually does have some vocals, just more like a spoken sample part like in Godspeed songs, still with great melody underneath. It is barely distracting, does not ruin the album and is very short. Then comes some awesome drumming that starts building the layers of the song, a climax that comes and goes, then the EXPLOSION of the song, which ends up being VERY powerful and ends very suddenly just like how it arrived. The last song, "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" is the longest song, probably my second favorite and contains some of the best softer melodies and buildups. My only little problem is I think it would have been a better finale with a really powerful fast part to finish up, but it calmly fades out instead.

I'm sorry for so many Godspeed comparisons, if you haven't heard them either you must check them out along with EITS. I think EITS is generally a better introduction to post-rock because GYBE songs can be really "out-there" and harder to appreciate, but personally GYBE got me into post-rock. If you like Godspeed or Mogwoi or Silver Mount Zion you're sure to love this album. Currently I listen to this band more than them. You would be a fool to not at least give it a try. This band has already produced two amazing albums and I feel they have incredible potential.

I recently have found the genre that is post modern rock and I have to say, this group, this Explosions in the sky, is greater than anything that has captured my ears in the last year. And this, their first true albulm.

I drove all the way from Joliet to Chicago to pick up this one cd, paid my $10.00 in parking fees and drove all the way back(right during the time the Bears fans were going home). Let me say this: it was well worth it.

Here is what you find within the six songs on this cd: you find all the rugged edge that is Godspeed, the beauty of Mogwai, and something more - much, much more. These guys know how to write music that makes you feel. On one song, Yasmin the Light, there is a dub over from The Thin Red Line and the song brought me to tears as it conveyed images of carnage and pain in my head. That is what this cd does to you: it makes you FEEL. That's not to say this is weak stuff. It contains enough heavy chord structures to make anyone want to rock.

If you are in or are getting into post-modern rock, this cd is an essential. If you love solid rock music that is both beautiful and poignantly powerful, this is your Meccah. A must for post rock fans and a worthwhile endeavor for anyone else.

Explosions in the Sky are, simply put, amazing. Employing long, ambling songs (most more than 7 minutes long) that run the gamut of emotion and tempo, this band is the next generation of rock. Sometimes quiet and brooding and other times exploding into wall of sound crescendoes of guitars, feedback and distortion, Explosions in the Sky literally create images in your head with their complex soundscapes and they manage to do so without the aid of vocals or lyrics. The lack of vocals actually allows the listener to concentrate purely on the music, which is incredible and would only be cheapened with words. I can't say enough good things about this band. Buy this album, and, if you can find it, get a copy of How Strange, Innocence. Fans of Mogwai, Tortoise, and Godspeed You Black Emperor will, in particular, be blown away by this band, but comparisons shouldn't be relied upon too heavily since Explosions in the Sky has truly forged their own sound amidst a sea of cliches in the current music world.

This cd has become my favorite disc ever. I listen to this more often than mogwai or godspeed or anything else, really. The comparisons to those bands is somewhat unfounded, i mean, yes, in style there's really no other way to categorize them, however, explosions in the sky are so much more organic and immediate, which could be a bad thing to some. This is the perfect cd for long drives, especially at night, crank it up real loud. Quite possibly the most amazing piece of music i've ever experienced can be heard at about 3:50-7:58 on "With tired eyes, tired minds, tired souls, we slept" and once it starts, it just keeps getting better until the buildup climaxes into beautiful noise with probably the most affecting riff on the album.

While the post-rock genre has been stretched thin and wide by the efforts of Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Sigur Ros, it takes a little band from Austin Texas to put out a release that reminds post-rock what it needs: the maximum effort from the band and the bands' instruments, not the arrangements outside it. Only a four piece, the band greatly enlarges their music through their extreme sense of dynamics.

Addicted to crescendos and increadible build-ups, the band puts together an instrumental album that one cannot forget on the first listen. To the cataclysmic roar of "Greet Death" to the enchanting melodies and syncapation of "The Moon is Down", the band manages to engage the listener in emotional and mental highs and lows, lifting the spirits and then throwing them down to the ground in a barrage of music.

However great this album is, I simply cannot compare it to their live show. The CD doesn't do them justice. During a performance in a tiny club in Nashville, they were the loudest band I had ever heard and quite possibly the only that left me breathless and transfigured on the music and the artists throught the entire set. To get a glimpse of how good their live show is, buy the record. To simply appreciate post-rock... buy the record.

When I'm walking the more scenic tree lined avenues in my area I'm always listening to this band. Songs like 'your hand in mine' or the 'moon is down' (featured in the film all the real girls) push my mind into the most warm and ephianic moments of recent past. Or they will even make me completely forget time and the worry around me and have me focus on things that make this world splendid. Pick up any of their albums and play them with headphones on.

This is the first review I have ever written, and I chose this record primarially because it is really amazing, and this band should be know to everyone who truly loves good music. its not just another drone rock record, hitting individual notes for ten minutes over some monotonous drumming. it is fluid, and climactic. being soft at one moment than building to a crash of guitars and distortion the next. It is music that sound great when you are paying half attention, and sounds even more amazing when you sit down, turn the lights off, and actually listen to it. I just bought it on vinly and am listing to it right now. I wish that whoever is reading this, would also have the pleasure to review such a great piece of music. ok enough, buy it, please.

This is great instrumental rock in the style of Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor, without the quirkiness and self indulgences those bands had. What's left here is a lot bleaker material. The minimalness of the music also helps the songs a lot too. And there's some great songs here too. "Greet Death" opens with a punch, then simmers into a wave of beauty. "Yasmin The Light" is the most explosive song on the album, while "The Moon Is Down" and "A Poor Man's Memory" both have a death march ring to them. The climatic ender "With Tired Souls" is a big treat, and doesn't cease to amaze. Great stuff, buy it if you love post-rock.

Over the past year I have become a Mogwai fan. Since I had come to like their type of music, I tried to find bands that were similar, including Godspeed. I came across Explosions in the Sky and decided to buy it after reading the great reviews on their website. At first, I thought the songs were rather simple, almost dull. Not enough of the sonic explosions of Mogwai. Then I decided I was being unfair and listened to the music on its own merits. After a few more listens, I am hooked. This is one of the most beautiful, textured, interesting records I have heard in a long time. I hear new sounds with each listen.

Don't go in expecting them to be like anyone else, and you'll be rewarded. The highlight to me is track 4: Have you Passed Through This Night. The dynamics of this song are amazing.

Explosions in the Sky is my favorite instrumental rock band next to Kent, Ohio's Six Parts Seven. They create brilliant cascading soundscapes full of hope, wonder, peace, and love. I will keep this short because everyone who has posted reviews has said everything that I believe to be true about the band. Bottom line: SEE THEM LIVE! they put on the most amazing live show and they are the best showmen of any instrumental band that i've ever come across. They are also super nice guys (I met them after the show). Check them out please! They give me hope for music, they seriously do.