It's time. I'm going to hope the critics aren't full of s*@t and I want to get myself a kick-ass Rawk CD from the New School.

I hear great things about both of these bands' most recent albums. Which one do I go with? I am currently leaning toward ...Trail Of Dead's latest.

Your subjective opinions, please (and my budget won't allow me to get both--as a legit purchase, anyway).

Trail of Dead, hands down. The Queens album has a couple of amazing songs (especially the "No One Knows" single, which blows away anything on the ToD disc), but, as a whole, it's very uneven. The Trail of Dead album is amazingly consistent. There hasn't been a hard/punk/art rock album this good in ages. If you are a fan of the sound then pick it up.

Pick up both. Both can be had for cheap. I've seen them both at Best Buy for like 9.99. The Queens cd I bought even came with a DVD that included concert footage.

If you have to choose, go with " . . . the Trail of Dead."

If you can afford both, do not hesitate - run out and buy both. They're equally worthy of your time and buckage.

Both are great albums, but ...Trail of Dead's disc is one of the best of the year...if not the best.

Well, the decision is made (although that doesn't mean I won't get the other one).

I've just been visiting TOD's web site:

http://www.trailofdead.com

And after reading Conrad Kelly's essay about how Art Rock was Punk (his description of Yes's "Relayer" is awesome), seeing their visual manifestations (art and videos) and influences, and reading some bios and interviews, it's pretty clear that this is very likely to become my next favorite band.

It's really good to see rock musicians trying to keep creativity and vitality alive in music.

Their early stuff is great too, Jepthah (many of my friends would even argue better). You're making a good choice.

I love them both but Trail of Dead's cd is a classic.

Check out Queens of the Stone Age after you get
Source Tags & Codes.

Actually, I think both of them are still "low priced" so you could
probably pick up the pair ofr 16 or 17 bucks.

Source Tags is a good CD but there are definitely some clunkers on there. That isnt the case with Songs for the Deaf. Theres no filler. My only complaint is the radio station bits get old really quick. You cant go wrong either way though. It largely depends on your taste in music which youll prefer most.

...Trail of Dead hands down. I don't have anything against Queens of the Stone Age, but Source Tags and Codes has a song for nearly any rock lover. They keep it raw but there is something infinitely complex about their style. I love it love it love it.

I am really impressed by the TOD album.

At first its consistent and almost unrelenting loudness kind of turned me off, but with subsequent listens the subtleties in the music, the structures and melodies/harmonies really come out.

Jepthah, having now listened to the album, if you had to make a comparison with one or two or three other bands (or albums) which ones would you choose?

I can't really do that (and maybe that's the point of your question...? ).

I have a very eclectic CD library but it isn't big enough to include stuff that's "like" the TOD disc. Probably the closest I have is the Velvets, Iggy Pop, and Pere Ubu.

Mini-rant: if people try to lump this in with the majority of the corporatized "pop-punk" that's blasted over Clear Channel-owned stations, however, they are quite mistaken. It's much more sophisticated musically with a far higher degree of songcraft going on. The rock-punk-emo pablum the "modern rock" stations play is pretty much like this: take 1 or 2 riffs, hook optional, scream the words really loud, never deviate from tempo, repeat chorus add infinitum and maybe even throw in profanity for good measure.

The "Relative Ways" song stood out so distinctly from all the rest that it captured my interest. It has been a long time since that happened.