The Life of the World to Come (album)

The Life of the World to Come
Studio album by the Mountain Goats
Released October 6, 2009
Recorded April–June 2009
Genre Folk rock, indie rock
Length 43:08
Label 4AD
Producer Brandon Eggleston, John Congleton, Scott Solter
the Mountain Goats chronology

Heretic Pride
(2008)		 The Life of the World to Come
(2009)		 All Eternals Deck
(2011)

The Life of the World to Come is the 12th album by the Mountain Goats, released on October 6, 2009.[1] The third track, "Genesis 3:23", was released as a free download via the band's website on July 28. The album peaked at #110 on the Billboard Top 200 albums on its chart debut.

Continuing in their exploration of religious themes, The Life of the World to Come is composed of twelve tracks, each one inspired by (and titled after) a single verse of the Christian Bible. The album's title comes from a line of the Nicene Creed.[2]

Early copies of the album sold via Rough Trade's physical and online stores featured a bonus CD-R, The Life of the World in Flux. It contains early drafts of most of songs which appears on the main album and some that do not, and stylistically resembles both the band's pre-2002 albums and the 2005 Come, Come to the Sunset Tree LP.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [3]
Robert Christgau (A-) [4]
Drowned In Sound (8/10) [5]
Pitchfork Media (8.4/10) [6]
PopMatters [7]
Slant Magazine [8]

The album was positively reviewed by critics, gaining 78/100 points on Metacritic.[9] Pitchfork Media listed it as 45th best of the year, adding that album is "a work of deep, profound empathy-- the kind of thing the Bible is supposed to teach us in the first place".[10]

Track listing

The Life of the World to Come
No. Title Length
1. "1 Samuel 15:23"   4:07
2. "Psalms 40:2"   3:13
3. "Genesis 3:23"   3:10
4. "Philippians 3:20-21"   3:03
5. "Hebrews 11:40"   2:48
6. "Genesis 30:3"   3:24
7. "Romans 10:9"   2:42
8. "1 John 4:16"   3:09
9. "Matthew 25:21"   5:47
10. "Deuteronomy 2:10"   3:21
11. "Isaiah 45:23"   3:38
12. "Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace"   4:46
Total length:
 43:08

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ "The Mountain Goats News Archive - The Good News". mountain-goats.com.
  2. ↑ "The Mountain Goats, "The Life of the World to Come" (4AD) Spin Magazine Online". Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  3. ↑ The Life of the World to Come (album) at AllMusic
  4. ↑ "CG: The Mountain Goats". Robert Christgau. 1983-09-15. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  5. ↑ Strain, Lauren (2009-10-06). "The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  6. ↑ "The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. 2009-10-14. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  7. ↑ Mathers, Ian. "The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved 2012-02-28.
  8. ↑ "The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come | Music Review". Slant Magazine. 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
  9. ↑ "Metacritic.com > Music > The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come". Metacritic.com].
  10. ↑ . Pitchfork Media Pitchfork.com > Staff Lists > The Top 50 Albums of 2009 http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7744-the-top-50-albums-of-2009/ Pitchfork.com > Staff Lists > The Top 50 Albums of 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)