The Most Lamentable Tragedy

The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Studio album by
Titus Andronicus
ReleasedJuly 28, 2015 (2015-07-28)
RecordedSept. 1, 2014 – Feb. 16, 2015
Genre
Length92:36
LabelMerge
ProducerKevin McMahon & Adam Reich
Titus Andronicus chronology
Local Business
(2012) 		The Most Lamentable Tragedy
(2015) 		A Productive Cough
(2018)

The Most Lamentable Tragedy is the fourth studio album by New Jersey punk rock band Titus Andronicus, released on July 28, 2015, through Merge Records. It is a rock opera in five acts that follows "Our Hero", a man who is visited by his doppelganger and goes through considerable life experiences and dream sequences, all acting as a metaphor for manic depression.

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.7/10[3]
Metacritic79/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Alternative Press[6]
The A.V. ClubB+[7]
Exclaim!9/10[8]
The Guardian[1]
NME7/10[9]
Pitchfork8.1/10[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
Spin8/10[12]
Uncut9/10[13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, TMLT has received an average score of 79, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Tiny Mix Tapes gave it a perfect 10/10, saying "TMLT feels like the Titus Andronicus record par excellence, it pushes and shoves at the boundaries of what such a record could or should conceivably sound like," while Pitchfork Media noted, "A 29-track, 93-minute rock opera that immediately restored their claims to outsized ambition, as only a 29-track, 93-minute rock opera might."

Accolades

Publication Accolade Year Rank
Stereogum The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 #17[14]
American Songwriter The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 #24[15]
Consequence of Sound The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 #9[15]
Spin (magazine) The 50 Best Albums of 2015 2015 #32[15]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Patrick Stickles and arranged by Titus Andronicus except "I Lost My Mind (DJ)" by Daniel Johnston, "A Pair of Brown Eyes" by Shane MacGowan and Auld Lang Syne (traditional)

Disc One - Act I: Set Aside or Miserable and Water-Buried
No.TitleLength
1."The Angry Hour"1:42
2."No Future Part IV: No Future Triumphant"4:53
3."Stranded (On My Own)"4:24
4."Lonely Boy"5:21
5."I Lost My Mind (+@ )"4:18
6."Look Alive"0:33
Disc One - Act II: Beside Himself
No.TitleLength
7."The Magic Morning"1:00
8."Lookalike"0:48
9."I Lost My Mind (DJ)"1:36
10."Mr. E. Mann"3:49
11."Fired Up"4:05
12."Dimed Out"2:57
13."More Perfect Union"9:39
14."[ intermission ]"1:17
Disc Two - Act III: Down by the Seaside
No.TitleLength
1."Sun Salutation"0:55
2."(S)HE SAID / (S)HE SAID"9:11
3."Funny Feeling"3:24
4."Fatal Flaw"3:27
5."Please"1:14
Disc Two - Act IV: The Other Side or A Midsummer Night's Dream
No.TitleLength
6."Come On, Siobhán"3:43
7."A Pair of Brown Eyes"3:16
8."Auld Lang Syne"1:46
9."I'm Going Insane (Finish Him)"1:58
Disc Two - Act V: Decide
No.TitleLength
10."The Fall"0:47
11."Into the Void (Filler)"4:36
12."No Future Part V: In Endless Dreaming"4:40
13."[ seven seconds ]"0:07
14."Stable Boy"6:52
15."A Moral"0:30
Total length:92:36

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[16] 164

Personnel

Titus Andronicus

  • Eric Harm – drums, vocals
  • Jonah Maurer – guitar
  • Adam Reich – lead guitar, vocals, percussion, organ, mandolin, glockenspiel
  • Patrick Stickles – lead vocals, guitar, electronics, chord organ, harmonica, glockenspiel
  • Julian Veronesi – bass guitar, vocals

Additional musicians

  • Yoni David – percussion
  • Elio DeLuca – piano, organ, electric piano
  • Owen Pallett – violin, viola
  • Ryan Weisheit – flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone
  • Alex Levine, Carrie-Anne Murphy, Catherine Herrick, Matthew Miller, R.J. Gordon, Ryan Levine – vocals

References

  1. ^ a b Petridis, Alexis (July 23, 2015). "Titus Andronicus: The Most Lamentable Tragedy review – sprawling, wearying punk concept album". The Guardian. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "Album Of The Week: Titus Andronicus - 'The Most Lamentable Tragedy'". Nbhap.com. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  3. ^ "The Most Lamentable Tragedy by Titus Andronicus reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  4. ^ "Reviews for The Most Lamentable Tragedy by Titus Andronicus". Metacritic. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  5. ^ Deming, Mark. "The Most Lamentable Tragedy – Titus Andronicus". AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  6. ^ Ham, Robert (August 10, 2015). "Titus Andronicus: The Most Lamentable Tragedy". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on May 21, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  7. ^ Brusie, David (July 31, 2015). "A shaky concept can't overshadow the infectious energy of Titus Andronicus". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  8. ^ Williams, Matt (July 22, 2015). "Titus Andronicus: The Most Lamentable Tragedy". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  9. ^ "8 Great Albums That May Have Passed You By This Week". NME. July 27, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  10. ^ Gordon, Jeremy (July 27, 2015). "Titus Andronicus: The Most Lamentable Tragedy". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  11. ^ Hermes, Will (July 29, 2015). "The Most Lamentable Tragedy". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  12. ^ Leas, Ryan (July 27, 2015). "Review: Titus Andronicus Make the Excessive Impressive on 'The Most Lamentable Tragedy'". Spin. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  13. ^ Pattison, Louis (October 1, 2015). "Titus Andronicus – The Most Lamentable Tragedy". Uncut. Archived from the original on January 23, 2016. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
  14. ^ "The 50 Best Albums Of 2015". Stereogum.com. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  15. ^ a b c "Ground Control Touring Artists on Best of 2015 Lists « News & Press | Ground Control Touring". Ground Control Touring.
  16. ^ "Titus Andronicus Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 11, 2015.