Poor production, poor arrangements = bad album - I discovered Trail of Dead through their album Worlds Apart which if you only listen to the latter half of the album, is a masterpiece - like a mix of the cerebral aspects of Porcupine Tree but also with that gritty post-rock element. The songs were memorable, edgy, rocking.So naturally, I wanted to hear their other work. source Tags and Codes (STC) was rated highly on Amazon but in my opinion this high rating is totally undeserved.Firstly, no matter what your opinion of the music, this album sounds horrible. The production team must have been way too stoned while mixing/mastering because the entire sound is squashed/compressed to hell and back. Every few months a rock band releases and album like this thinking it will sound really big but in reality it s the exact opposite. This album sounds paper thin, washed out. The sound is really inexcusable. Compare this to Worlds Apart which is a great sounding record by the same band.Second, the music on STC is bland with poor arrangements, and without the beautiful choruses and rocking riffs. Maybe I just don t get it. I evaluate music based on how it makes me feel, and STC doesn t feel good.There are a few memorable moments scattered throughout but taken on the whole, this is a forgettable album made worse by unlistenable production. Try Worlds Apart before this, it is a far better album.
Source Tags & Codes - The CD came in on time and even if it came in late, you can t beat 88 cents for a good cd.
what are you waiting for? - Seriously. It s loud, melodic, and awesome. You ll play it beginning to end, over and over. Their best, and one of the best of the past decade.
A flawed near-masterpiece - Some may have been quick to throw the label of masterpiece on Source Tags & Codes, but even while it falls short of being an instant classic, there s more than enough reasons to seek it out. It s simultaneously challenging and accessible, a difficult quality to wind up with in indie rock. The song structures and musical rhythms are complicated, there are arty interludes and song switches, and buzzsaw guitars doing as much screeching as thrilling. But strip away those bits and you re left with a melodic rock record that almost anyone could embrace.There are nearly flawless hooks in How Near How Far and Relative Ways, showcasing the band s edgy pop side. And on a drawn-out epic like Monsoon, there s an almost tangible unpredictability that keeps the listener on edge (it never truly pays off, but has enough strong moments to rank as one of the albums better tracks). Intro, Invocation, and the interlude, After the Laughter, both coast by on a similar simple melody, so pretty that I can t even qualify them as throwaways. The album s best moment comes from Baudelaire, a relatively straight rock song replete with driving guitars and reverb, both melodic and powerful. Homage stumbles and falls over its own mountain of excess and Heart in the Hand of the Matter is groping blindly for the gravity it needs to survive after soaring too high into the overkill stratosphere. But they re little quibbles, and abundance isn t so much of a bad thing. Even with them there, I almost never hit the skip button because the album flows so well. Flaws and all, Source Tags & Codes is a great record, one which time and reflection should be kind upon, and I can t fault those who heralded it as a work of genius. Certain moments do make that promise and falling a few inches short is just fine by me.Best cuts: Baudelaire, How Near Is Far, Monsoon, Source Tags & Codes, Relative Ways, It Was There That I Saw You, Another Morning Stoner, Days of Being Wild
Major Label Debut...and What a Debut!! - Trail of Dead s 3rd album was also their major label debut after being on small indie labels. Source Tags and Codes caught the record buying public by surprise....it was a critical success but rather a commercial failure, which must have frustrated the band (and label!). However, as someone who has been into this band from day #1, this is nothing less than a fantastic album and a perfect melding of all of the elements that make Trail of Dead one of the best and most exciting rock bands around today.This album perfectly blends the more anarchistic, loud, and bombastic tendencies of their first two records (their self-titled debut and sophomore effort Madonna, both superb) with the more melodic and proggy tendencies they have brought in, especially as evidenced by where they went with 2005 s Worlds Apart and their forthcoming album, So Divided (I can only imagine!)This album starts off with It Was There That I Saw You and from there moves from strength to strength, going to Another Morning Stoner and Baudelaire. The centerpiece of this album has to be the almost operatic suite of How Near How Far, Heart In the Hand of the Matter, Monsoon, and Days of Being Wild. Moving from bombastic choruses, plaintive sections, and almost epic overtures in between, this, the meat of the record, if you will, is just beyond beautiful in all its forms. The album ends with the almost-poppy Relative Ways, the melancholy little instrumental After the Laughter, and the calming title track....listen after it ends to hear a spine-tingling string quartet play the main theme from How Near How Far as the album slowly ends.....gorgeous.Trail of Dead are a phenomenal band and one worthy of more recognition and praise than they get. If you re tired of horrid garbage like The Killers, the Strokes, My Chemical Romance, or any other derivative garbage loved by hipsters and the Rolling Stone intelligentsia, give Trail of Dead a shot. This would be the perfect album to start with.