Review Summary: Being both Clever and talented makes ..Trail Of Dead worth hearing, this album is probably their best.
The fifth album from an mazingly diverse and talented band. This follows the "Secret of Elena's tomb" EP. And before that was the album "Source Tags and Codes" which was a masterpiece of its own. Now comes Worlds Apart and album with inspiration from the world as it is and ideas from victorian england. This album has many a classical crossover to keep your interest.
ok so before i go on ...And you Will Know us by the Trail of Dead are:
Kevin Allen
Conrad Keeley
Jason Reese
there are many additional members but seen as they take the part of session musicians essentially, so i will not list them.
Track by Track:
1. Ode to Isis,
Mainly an intro it is imstrumental. Begins with a piano part which is jaunty and misleading. In the background operatic vocals and guitars gradually get louder and the track is carried forward powerfully with violins now in the mix. A scream comes in and a cool female voice says
"And you will Know us by the Trail of Dead"
2. Will you smile again?
Two parts jumpy and one part melodic this song has a perfect balance as a heavy guiatr and bass riff jumps in with melodic guitar between the initial DUN DUN sounds. The drums kick in and the rhythm section carries the melodic high noted guitar making it both epic and peaceful. A string setcion is brought in doing long notes to bring the song to a climactic feel. then the guitar and bass jumpy riff returns then goes quickly. It is played out by a trumpet which leaves quiet guitar and the vocals come in high and reminsicent of the beatles more relaxed and tunful moments. at this point teh song has slowed sown. As he says "remember all the bad dreams" the bass plays under him. Drums come in as he continues and the song becomes military march which sounds instantly exciting. Conrad moves into long held notes and sings his brilliant lyrics. the drums keep up its jumpy style as the vocals begin a kind of advisory role. Then comes my favourite lyric "if you don't want to then you can at least pretend that the paper's your soul and the bloods in the pen!" then the song picks up into its previous epic role as the vocals continue in the same style. then as conrad sings the long notes he allows a crack to come into his voice and occasionally sounds like his is screaming. The song ends on its jumpy riff followed by a drum build up to a finale.
3. Worlds apart,
Rebel anthem of the year. The guitar is melodic and the vocals are snarled. The guitar does a beautiful chord stab style idea between verses and the chorus goes higher on the guitar to bring an uplifting and declared chorus. Then comes the most angry lyric we have all heard for a while "look at those c*nts on Mtv with their cars and cribs and rings and sh*t, is that what being celbrity means? look Boys and Girls the BBC see corpses rapes and amputees, what d'ya think now of the american dream?
the song then ends on an extended chorus with the lines "of this candy store of ours" being repeated.
4. The Summer of '91,
A step down in pace from the previous track this song is quiet and piano driven at first. luckily it doesn't come out like coldplay or keane. The song is some kind of bitter memory, i seem to remember a bio of conrad saying something bout a bad summer in the '90s. The song shows off the classical side of this band with the piano taking total centre stage. then the guitars hit and reinforce the song bringing it to an emotionally agressive song which then cuts out again to make the lyrics "can't be bought" stand out as more emotional. The song continues at this pace and then reaches the line "take me to the summer past, tell me is it even worth remembering?" and then piano does a nice bit of instrumental noodling. the epic sound kicks out and leaves conrad singing "yes it can be done" as a perfect ending.
5.The Rest will follow:
Another military marching beat. there are two drummers for this song one playing the kit and the other using kettle drums and a marching drum. the riff to this song is a clever use of pull offs. the song is played out very well in a repeated beat. For each vese it calms down as the guiatr does a kind of down counting riff, the chorus then bringd the song back up with its defiantly negative feel "i know how the best will fall and the rest will follow" and then the same chorus and verse pattern is used. Then a break down is led by a low guitar. It brings the song to a quiet climax. and tnen lyrical structure is changed. The song here becomes almost heartfelt about the problems with the world Then hammers its chorus home.
6.Caterwaul:
Favourite song of the album. an electro intro brings in the song quietly followed by a silence, then an amazing powerful riff with a punky feel to it. The lyrics of this song are more of a growl and are not done by conrad for the verses. I'm not aware who does them though. then the shouted chorus is brought up and conrad is heard yelling. The song slows down for verses and speeds up for the chorus. The chorus is my favorite part. After the second chorus an amazing breakdown reminds you how diverse ...Trail of Dead are. The piano makes a welcome return for this quiet interlude. Then the whole song becomes higher as the final part comes into effect. a climactic vocal and then a played outro repeating the riff.
7. Classic Arts Showcase:
Anotehr classic written by an amazing band. the riff is agen bassed on high strings and has a delay and reverb effect that is put to good use. then the riff takes a punk feel with repeated stabbed chords and a break down between them. and the vocals are more relaxed then the rest of the song. the song has got a relaxed feel on the whole. The third chorus marks a kind of breakdown in to a more relaxed album feeling. Then a multi-instrumental and angelic voiced interlude comes in. and god does it rock. it all breaks down again to a final chorus.
8. Let it dive:
The strangely plucked and reverberated guitar sound and slow thundering drums put a slight power to it. This song is however a slightly saddened song and i dont know what it is about, but broadly the songs along this line are tales of a bleak world. the song has a less interseting feel than the rest but still rules. It leads to an old style piano outro that sounds like the end of an old public concert in old england.
9. To Russia my Homeland.
A classical piece. clever to put it in here. it has a great sound if you dig classical. tbh its less amazing than the rest because it is less of a crossover. but its still good to hear a band doing something like this.
10. All white.
A great song. a simple strummed guiatr intro and beatle-esque vocals. The whole song feels like a trippy song. the song does a repeated chill-exicted pattern with the drums bringing it down to the excitement and a soulful choir backing up the power. the song is accoustically strummed throughout and the guitar is one of its nicest tones you can hear anywhere. The song ends on a guitar chord with a simple echo feel to it as the other instruments have kicked out. Beautiful is a word i rarely use but it does apply.
11.The Best,
A nice jumpy high riff brings in this song and a drum roll and powerful fast drum beat. the song is strange in taht the whole beginning climax has nothing to do with the rest of the song's feel. piano brings us to a jumpy main riff and a piano part to go with with it. the vocals kick in and are suitably crooned rather than stuck to the time signatures with glue. there are surprisingly placed and cleverly placed key changes in vocals. the riff continues till conrad sings "what have i become?" and then the song rises in strength agen. then the songs reaches a famliar but welcome feel of quiet distant well being. classical vocals are brought up at one point to reinforce the song. The best part is when conrad is shouting "they are the best!" adn the song breaks down slowly and then ends on a single vocal and piano note. Then reprise takes place with a screaming woman and a choir shouting the chorus of "Worlds Apart".
12. Lost City of Refuge:
Jaunty piano and guitar work. Playing u to sleep almost. The lyrics sound like they come through a haze. it's quite clever really. The drums are soo cleverly played that u have to listen out for them. That then leads to a strange quiet singing part. Drums kick up the exciting part and teh lryics become gruffer. The song rises in power and a strange percussion effect is used making the effect almost perfect. then the song ends on a "whisper sung" kind of vocal saying "not lost". its a good end.
Overall:
The album is best when it is exciting but still great when it is not. there is hardly a fault. I do think it could have ended on a mroe "Worlds Apart" style note but the ambience is of course clever. i jsut love the labum and see no reaosn why ppl shudn't. This is the First 5 i have ever given cos this time round i have no doubts about it.
