So Divided - ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
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Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 31 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 44 Ratings

  • Summary: King Crimson's Pat Mastelotto and The Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer guest on the Texas band's follow-up to 'Worlds Apart.'
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 31
  2. Negative: 1 out of 31
  1. Trail of Dead appear to have dropped the noise, and bought out the tunes.
  2. They do propulsive pop-rock better than anyone. [11 Nov 2006, p.43]
  3. It's hard to truly love a band that are so chameleonic that they sacrifice signature definition for adventurousness.
  4. Its artistic detours are even more jarring than those of Worlds Apart. The good news is that its quality is far less erratic. The bad news is the reason why: it's almost uniformly awful.

See all 31 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 25
  2. Negative: 6 out of 25
  1. Johnathan
    10
    This CD is one of the most brilliantly arranged recordings I've heard in a while. Very pretty melodies and deep lyrics. I am not surprised by many of the bad reviews. Most people are idiots. Remember the average IQ in this country is 100. That means that HALF the people must be below 100 to balance out all those ABOVE 100. Most reviews talk about Source Tags and Codes. It was a great album. So was "Aftermath" by The Rolling Stones, but there were a whole bunch a people that hated "Exile on Main Street" when that came out. Like I sadi people are IDIOTS. They want the same shit played over and over and over and over. Everything on the radio sounds the same. Indie rock sounds the same. Same mic placements for recording drums and guitars. Same fucking voices. same fucking clothes on all the rock stars. Like I said, I'm not surprised that people didn't like this album. People actually care what pitchfork tells them. All the bad reviews are from just a bunch of small IQ, sheep that wish they could play in a band as cool as Trail of Dead. I am seeing them in Portland in a few weeks and I will be on the front row. Collapse
  2. AlexK.
    8
    I'm baffled by the lukewarm responses that critics have been shelling out for So Divided. This album is certainly an improvement over the horrendous Worlds Apart, and returns to the grandiosity of Source Tags & Codes. While ST&C was anthemic in all stages of the record, So Divided is more eclectic in tone, with many songs sounding unlike anything ToD has done before. "Sunken Dreams", the final track, is one of the best closers I've ever heard. Expand
  3. kevink
    7
    I would give this a 7 compared to World's Apart. I thought World's was their best cd yet. The lastest one has some great tracks but like others have said, doesn't have much heart in it. Maybe it just takes a few listens to get the feel of it but it's still a little droning. Expand
  4. BobbyK
    4
    A huge disappointment. Source Tags and Codes was perhaps their defining album, but I think that it made them want to try to push their boundaries even further. While Worlds Apart wasn't particularly great, it at least was fairly consistent and had some memorable moments. This album, on the other hand, finds Trail of Dead trying to be overly creative, making all the flourishes they add to their music sound excessive. It just seems like they're trying too hard to make something totally new, when in fact all they really need to do is expand on the stuff they made in works like Sources Tags and Elena's Tomb. "Wasted State of Mind" and "Eighth Day Hell" are really the only two tracks worth listening to, and even the latter sounds like a Beatles song with ultra-exaggerated British-accented vocals. Expand

See all 25 User Reviews