The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place


The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place is the third album by American post-rock band Explosions in the Sky, released on November 4, 2003 on Temporary Residence in the USA and on Bella Union in the UK. It is widely considered to be a concept album.

Overview

The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place continues the patterns of the previous albums, with brooding, ominous melodies building into crashing climaxes. The album was produced and recorded by John Congleton in three days. In an interview on "Slice of the Shiny", band member Munaf Rayani said The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place was the band's "attempt at love songs".
The vinyl version of the album features etchings of birds on side D accompanied by the phrase "The Earth is not a cold dead place because you are breathing, because you are listening."

Critical reception

The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place received positive reviews from critics, with a rating of 86 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Use in media

"Your Hand in Mine" was adapted for inclusion in the Friday Night Lights soundtrack, along with other original material written for the movie. The song was shortened from its album length of over eight minutes to just over four, and was embellished with string accompaniment. Parts of the song, especially the dramatic crescendo at 6:14, are used in Reliant Energy's series of radio and television advertisements extolling "The Promise of Power". The song was used on The Weather Channel's Local on the 8s for July and August 2011.
"The Only Moment We Were Alone" was featured in the trailer for the 2008 film Australia. The song was also featured in the 2009 documentary film Love the Beast. It is also featured briefly in Michael Moore's film, .
"First Breath After Coma" was used in a 2009 promo for sports television channels Versus, the Big Ten Network, an Under Armour commercial, commercials for Bing, and in the outro of Toy Machine's "Good and Evil" skateboard video. It was also used by director Shawn Levy, in the movie Real Steel to make Dakota Goyo cry.

Track listing