Millions Now Living Will Never Die
Tortoise
1996
Album Summary
Millions Now Living Will Never Die is the second studio album by American post-rock band Tortoise. The album was released on January 30, 1996 by Thrill Jockey. The album's title is a reference to a phrase used in the Jehovah's Witness faith in the 1920s. It is, for instance, the title of an essay by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, who was the second president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. It was also the slogan of the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson.By March 1998, the album had sold over 50,000 copies, with 80% as CDs and the remainder as LPs.
WikipediaA lot of people remember the experience of plugging in a casio keyboard for the first time and wanting to try out all the presets and features all at once. Most of us don't try to call that an album though.
Really surprising. Never heard of this band before. It's instrumental, something that wouldn't have spoken to me much when I was younger, but I find it excellent now. So much variety and interesting textural and atmospheric sounds. A deep surprise I'll probably find myself listening to again in the near future and maybe explore the band's other work. Djed is the 20min experimental, progressive wild ride that reminds me of Fear of a Blank Planet yet even better strung together. Just awesome find.
Essential Post-Rock album. Opening song Djed spans from electronic buzzing to more rhythmic grooves and driving bass. Pulling in an electric sounding key and devolving into more electronic sound it is the highlight of the album. Halfway through the song it opens into a mix of traditional open guitar and electronic sounds and a xylophone. Background, foreground or whenever you listen to it, it can be on constant repeat.
tortoise is one of the seminal bands in postrock. this is a must listen album for anyone that likes complex, yet gentle long form songs. in the vein of do make say think, explosions in the sky, godspeed you! black emperor
This album is great. Purely instrumental with a really engaging, low-key, atmospheric sound. 'Along the Banks of the River' has been my favourite so far. 4 stars, easy.
Beautiful as an instrumental album. Great as background. The first track "Djed" is 21 minute opus that goes in several different directions.
"Millions Now Living Will Never Die" is not only a very good album, but it also a very important album - as a genre defining record in the post rock genre. Everything that would become a staple for this style is here, specially the focus on textures and timbre in the place of common rock structures like riffs and chords. It's as if rock and roll was becoming free jazz. "Djed" is a 20 minute masterpiece that shows how well Tortoise work together as a band, crafting songs together to create minimalistic sounds, beautiful to the years. In this record, however, they still sound a little crude and it's their next record (1998's TNT) that would show what they were really capable of.
Unusual instrumentals... Can't imagine picking it up to play as an album but still was interesting background filler
Easy 5 stars for me. Like the "Lo Fi Hiphop" youtube channel, with a bit more experimentation and daring. I loved all the surprising twists and turns this instrumental odyssey took.
I dig it. It's very hard for me to put into words what I got out of the album but I think it's fairly representative of what this album achieves. There's just loads of good composition, arrangement, choice of instrumentation, and it all creates a really wonderful texture for my brain to get lost into. Lots of mental images, feelings, the kind of abstract things you might feel that you know would be unbelievably contrived to try to articulate. Will probably revisit this album as well as the rest of the Tortoise discography. I'm genuinely surprised I didn't discover and adore this album in high school, it would have been right up my alley. I guess this is post rock? The thing that really strikes me is the obvious krautrock influence, and I fucking love that genre of music. It's what immediately pulled me into the album. Good post rock is usually devoid of obvious, masturbatory build up and crescendos behind walls and walls of reverb and delay as a lazy attempt to create some kind of effective aesthetic and feeling of catharsis. This is a fine example of how to make stunning post rock without those cliche's. I wish I had better words to describe. There are a plethora of moments in this album that really get me into the moment and I'm in that holy trance of jam. There are a lot of unexpected left turns and stylistic choices but they don't clash at all, it never feels inconsistent. Tons of variety. I love this album actually.
ethereal, clean, coming of age, both hard and soft, fantastically 90s (cool album name too x)
Really interesting textures and ideas coming together - thought provoking instrument music, great for reading and chilling
Very cool atmospheric Math Rock. Will definitely be adding this to my “background music while I work” collection.
I loved this when it first came out. This was innovative post rock and turned my head (slowly, like a tortoise) Still enjoy hearing this from start to finish. Still sounds fresh and innovative. Brilliant
Peaceful, exciting, and delightfully complex. I'm glad learned about this band, they provide Can levels of bliss. "The Taut and Tame" blew me away.
Well that was refreshingly good! Still not sure what post-rock is supposed to mean, but I guess I like it.
Meine Güte, das hatte ich ja völlig vergessen, wie konnte das denn passieren? Fühlt sich an wie eine Wiederentdeckung, und zwar vom selben Format wie die Eno-Platte. Wenn ich der 5 Punkte gegeben habe (was ich jetzt gerade nicht mehr tun würde), dann müsste ich das hier auch, weil sie mich genau am selben Nerv erwischt. Krautig, treibend, fordernd, ständig absichtlich verrätselt und natürlich super artsy. Und intellektuelle Rätsel sind ja immer soo schmeichelhaft! Hab aber trotzdem jetzt keine Lust auf volle Punktzahl (wie eben auch bei Eno nicht mehr), weil: ich bin zu erschöpft und zu urlaubsreif und wünsche mir, dass die nächste Platte entweder von Oasis ist, oder was zum richtig glücklichen Abwatschen. 3,6
Ich liebe Tortoise, bin aber diesem Album sonst eher zwiespältig gegenüber eingestellt gewesen; mag am mittlerweile besser verstandenem Monster Opener „Djed“ liegen, das etwas unfertig, abstrakt, strukturell technoid wirkt. Da wirkt einstige Schwäche plötzlich als starke Besonderheit schlechthin, folgen doch dann Stücke, die der klareren Postrock Struktur folgen, für die ich damals eine stärkere Neigung hatte. Die Balance ist vorhanden, wechseln die Tracks zwischen diesen Polen immer wieder ab und doch liegt mir das folgende Album TNT ein klein wenig mehr am Herzen. 3.8
Solid 3.5, gets a 4 because it's better than the other 3s I've rated. When it's good it's excellent, did zone out quite a lot too though
I liked it. Great to listen to during work. Relaxing enough to feel good about it, interesting enough to not get bored. It was a bit weird how the first song was half of the album and stylistically somewhat different from the second half. The first half I clearly enjoyed more and would have rated it a 4.5 whereas the second half was more of a 3.5 for me.
Pretty dope instrumentals here. Some went on a little too long but a lot of great bass lines and cool use of sounds. I liked it a lot but it was perfect
Really nice listening. A bit experimental at times. Made me think "what's really going on here?"
Quite a surprise of an album. Fully instrumental, I could feel the raw emotion throughout. Will definitely be a repeat listen.
An album that helped establish post-rock. What is post-rock. I don't know. I thought this was krautrock at first. I listened to their other album "TNT" to get a better idea and all I heard was jazz fusion. Nevertheless, this would be a crowning krautrock album that has a general flow but always changing that kep things interesting and fun. It's one of my favorite instrumentals and something I'll play from time to time.
This was a nice surprise. Entirely instrumental album that was really chill and enjoyable. Nice Lofi music to study or read.
I’m partial to a bit of post rock here and there. Mogwai being my go-to choice. In my mind Every Mogwai album sounds like it should be a soundtrack to a zombie apocalypse film like 28-days later. Tortoise dials down the soundtrack to the end of the world thing, it’s not so bleak…. But it is just as slow burning.
This was cool! Never heard of it, will listen again. Great for work and study. The songs run together a bit, but in a good way.
Well, I have to say it's remarkable how virtually every postrock album ever (spanning decades, evidenced by the album at hand) manages to deliver this very specific experience: • oh wow what a title/bandname! Clearly master poets at work. • yes, the jams are good (approx t=40 seconds in) • wait, am I still listening to music? where am I? (approx t=somewhere between 40 seconds and 40 minutes in). • looks at the title/bandname, and laments that the music isn't as poetic (not strictly in the literal sense, but in the artistic balance sense) as the labelling attached to it. I'm a postrock fan, but maybe not for the music. I can't say I understand it, either.
like dropping acid while at an aquarium. it's strange, challenging, and your mind wanders, but you find yourself occasionally fascinated by the textures and colors
I keep trying to come up with things to say about this album, but it demands more attention than I can give it right now. So, for the time being, I'll say it is an instrumental, shoegazey rock album and I like it.
Classic post-rock album. The amount of electronic elements really sets them apart too.
I'm so glad to find Tortoise on this list as they're not very well known, but are one of my favourite post-rock bands. The bandleader and multi-instrumentalist John McEntire has been so influential in the post-rock world lending his hand to some great groups such as the Sea and Cake, Gastr del sol, and many of Jim O'Rourke's works. The music here is complex, multi-layered and very atmospheric. I think their next album, TNT is slightly better (with one of my all time fav songs I set my face to the hillside), but Millions is also a real gem.
experimental wallpaper music. smooth textures, nice driving rhythms and interesting digital sounds and glitchy effects. very psychedelic with unusual arrangements. "glass museum" is heavy. great guitar and drums, cute bell tone. "a survey" is dark, mysterious and foreboding. the chirping insect ambience adds a sense of exploration. "the taut and the tame" sounds like stepping into an arena, ready for the boss fight. perfect accompaniment to the prior track (right down to the same guitar tones). the break and subsequent rhythm - plus unique distorted synth sounds - is great and feels like the soundtrack of a gritty street showdown. the final song, "along the banks of rivers" is the darkest song on the project. incredibly ominous, a vague mood of weary apprehension. the sound of going to hell and back.
The post-rock pigeon hole makes it sound more pretentious than it is is. Experimental and much lighter than other post rock offerings like Slint (still love Slint though)
I bought this album back in the 90s after getting into Godspeed and wanting to explore a bit more of the post-rock genre. It's been a long time since I put this on to listen to. My impressions today are similar to those I had when I first got it. There's a lot of good ideas here and some interesting experimentation. The band is definitely trying to do something new here. The opening track Djed seems a bit disjointed to me though. I like most of what by brain calls "side 2" which is tracks 2 - 6. "Glass Museum" and "Along the Banks of Rivers" being the high points for me.
I thought this was interesting. The only post rock I have in my collection is Jambinai, which I don't know if I would call that post rock. The first track probably could have been broken up into different movements as the ideas went along. I have to wonder if they play only portions of it live or not. Instrumentals like this, it's hard to imagine them playing exactly note for note live, because it sounds more like a jam in the studio. Still, it' nice background music and I appreciated it for what it was. Do I need to listen to it again to find deeper meaning? Probably not, but it's there if I wanted to. Up on the high 3's, I think. Rounds up to a 4. I think it may warrant another listen.
I can see why this is so strongly cited as an influential album. One that takes some time and effort, but definitely worth it.
I've never heard of Tortoise before and Millions Now Living Will Never Die is all new music to me. The opening track "Djed" started off with sounds that reminded me of Pink Floyd, but as the track moved on I was reminded of some of Wilco's work. "Djed" was the longest track, shifting through a few movements, and my favorite track. Non of the tracks had vocals. The music was acoustic, but it sounded like it was put together with an electronic sensibility. I liked the album enough to listen to the bonus tracks from the Japenese edition. I could come back for a second listen.
I enjoyed this one! I’ll have to give it another listen but it sounds like a less developed Godspeed you! Black Emperor, pretty great!
Almost a classic but not quite. 4 stars. Tortoise's Millions Now Living Will Never Die presents a bass-heavy, tranquil and intriguing post-rock sound which would come to have a profound influence on the nascent sub-genre, radically expanding the territory of post-rock from that staked out by Talk Talk in years past.* * Yes, I did just copy and paste this after a brief Google search. It's 5am and I am hungover alright, what more do you want from me you pack of pricks!?
I found this album to be a really fascinating listen. I'd never heard of Tortoise so didn't know what to expect, but the album was completely different to my prior expectations. The completely instrumental album was really captivating to listen to, particularly the opening track - 20 minutes long, which explored so many unique sounds. A really fascinating listen.
I didn't love the album, but I didn't hate it. The last song, "Along the Banks of Rivers," caught my attention the most.
an interesting, melodic, instrumental group. very progressive style of rock i think. long drawn out songs with ebbs and flows of feeling. probably a 3.4/3.5 for me
Listened to this a few times ages ago but I could only remember the first track. It's sort of post rock but often too jazzy for me
I listened to this one without doing anything else and I really felt my emotions like rise and fall and change with the music, it was nice. The album was really varied and interesting I thought.
I was a bit dismayed to see a 20 minute track, but this ended up being a quite pleasant sonicscape of noise.
Instrumental music that seems like it'd be nothing more than background music. I can't imagine sitting and listening to it intently.
Instrumental, good background music. Can't say that I would ever just listen to it without being background music.
Lot's of really cool noises and ambient soundscapes, as well as satisfying glitchy drums - for me, there's a couple too many recycled ideas and lulls in interest to be a great post-rock album, something that would stand toe-to-toe with the likes of GY!BE. I'd give it 3.5 if I could
I'd give it a 3, I like post rock but this had very little emotion. GYBE, Boards of Canada and especially Explosions in the Sky have all done this project to better effect. The 20 minute suite first song is good and the last song was pretty good with the western influence but generally it fell flat. I would listen to it again at night on headphones to see if I maybe was just in.the wrong headspace.
Maybe this was ground breaking at the time, but now it sounds like every "Alpha Wave Music to Relax and Study" video on youtube. Would put it on in the background and forget about it but there's nothing special about it. Giving it an extra star for any historical relevance it might have.
Some nice post rock, wasn't really in the mood for it at the time but will maybe give another go. Probably very influential etc etc
I liked it. It's good background music for when I am working. Funny that the first track is 20mins and the rest somewhat normal length.
This was fine, it suffers ,like some classical music, in that even if I wanted to listen to djed again, it's too long and too much of a commitment to put it on a playlist or something. As background music it's generally alright though
Very clever. Interesting mix of sounds and genres. Fave songs: Glass Museum, Dear Grandma and Grandpa, Along the Banks of Rivers
I liked some of the build and crescendos in this. Some really nice movie score-like portions of the album. I heard Godspeed You, Tool, Portishead, Yo La Tango. Interesting that they threaded in vibraphone. Do I need lyrics for a 4, maybe.
Post rock? Is that what this is? It's got some interesting music on it. Some of which grabs my attention, some of which keeps me un interested but none of it offends me. I actually like listening to this album especially late at night. 3.5 stars
Pink Floyd, The Glow Pt. 2, Joy Division; incredible for what it is (instrumental post-rock) but not my favorite genre
Very similar to Can's Future Days. This is something to leave on in the background, nothing more.
Nice and mellow and I generally like instrumental music. This skates dangerously close to elevator music territory and quickly fades into the background.
Eccentric and unusual... thought it never veers too far into unconventional to be too challenging to appreciate. An interesting listen.
I'd heard of Tortoise before, but hadn't listened to their albums. I had this one on in the background, and didn't pay much attention to it. Good interesting sounds, nothing that niggled me. Pleasant enough, but no idea when one track ended and the next started.
I played it while I was working yesterday. It was part of the background… background music (?) I am sure I am doing this wrong
63. Tíunda tugar Indiejazzrokk. Fyrsta lagið er skemmtilegt og rosalega langt. Hin eru ágæt. Fínt, en ekkert brjálæðislega eftirminnilegt.
Though all parts of it were interesting a 21 minute fully instrumental intro track that had at least 5 different mood swings is not the right way to start an album. After that I was expecting lyrics, but then I read about the genre of Post-Rock. I am usually against instrumental albums because they lack that extra flavor that lyrics add. That being said I do quite enjoy the album because past the lack of vocals I enjoy the musical style. "Glass Museum" and "A Survey" were the top tracks for me. And if "Djed" had been split up into multiple songs a few of them would have fit on there too.
"Thank you for calling, please wait while we connect your call" [this album starts playing] It's fine, chill, kind of boring at times. I don't have a problem with long songs, but Djed doesn't need to be 21 minutes long when all the cool things happen in the last 8 or so minutes (I really liked that glitchy part). "Dear Grandma and Grandpa" was my favorite song on the album because it reminds me of some ambiance you would hear in an indie horror game - really cool with the weird German(?) voices in the background (obscure reference, but it reminds me of the song "Numbers" from the OMORI soundtrack, which also contains ominous German voices).
It reminded me of elevator music with a little extra flair added in. It was good background music but not something that needed active listening.
Un dels milestones de l'anomenat postrock, per una de les bandes clau del génere. Hauria de donar origen en els anys posteriors a tot un grapat de propostes semblants, encapçalades comercialment per Mogwai. Un disc interessant i intel.ligent
This was very chill vibes and fantastic as background music at work which was what I was using it for.
I did something different with this one – I read the review before listening, which wasn’t a good idea, because I became annoyed that someone came up with a genre name as uninspiring as “post-rock”. At least “post-punk” replaced a far worse name, ‘New Wave”, and punk, for the most part, had actually ended, with the exception of those highly irritating American hardcore bands. Anyway, the first listen was drowned out by my sneering, but I became more interested the second time around. I liked the textures and their courage in making a 100% instrumental LP. I didn’t turn off Spotify when it offered up more Tortoise tracks. My co-judge says it’s nice background music.
It would be so easy to say "post rock's not my genre", give it a 1 and move on but I sense that if I listened to this more I might find something pretty cool going on here. On the other hand, I might find that it's a complete snoozefest. I'll listen to this again sometime and, who knows, I might even end up forming a point of view. Until then, 3 --
Not sure what to do with that title. I think I heard this record in late '90s but it didn't stick. Glad to hear again, though probably unlikely to stick, which means I can’t pack it as a desert-island disc.
A 24 min track normally disqualifies me from liking an album. Overall I grew to like it with every listen - musicianship is great, the production sublime - but in essence it only serves as pleasant background music in my opinion - it doesn’t grab you and demand you give it attention - and maybe that’s not necessarily a bad thing - but when The Taut and Tame kicks in with a beat resembling The Clash’s ‘I Fought the Law’ my heart pumps every time with expectation and gets dismayed that it’s back to post rock. There is one standout track - the Morricone influenced ‘Along the Banks of Rivers’ to me - the rest is just ok.
Interesting and enjoyable to listen to. I think I knew of Tortoise back in the 90's (friends may have mentioned them) but never listened to any of their stuff. Feels like easy background listening. But not sure I'm going to run out and listen to more of their stuff or go discover the post rock genre. I can see how a non-rock person would find this completely boring.
Jazz rock or post rock? Important question, because then one can determine whether to compare this to - say - Electric Miles and Mahivishnu Orchestra, or to Mogwai and Godspeed! You Black Emperor. Why does this matter? The album is improvison weak, but sonically adventurous. I’m going with Post Rock.
Post rock at its finest. Long drawn out sections blast into strange time signatures and then quiet again. A classic of the genre. Best Tracks: Djed; Glass Museum; Taut and Tame;
J'ai attendu la durée d'un album que Tortoz pose sa voix sur l'instrumentale. Ce moment n'arriva pas.
A bit too conceptual for me. Why is the first track on a 45min album over 20mins long?!
Interesting sound. Never heard of it before... Good music to get something done. Was not expecting so much bass from everything on this album. Only observation would be they it feels like an edging exercise...massive culmination for an unexisting climax. 3*
Pulling from the likes of Neu!, Tortoise is content with having a strong rhythmic foundation to build upon. This makes for some nice exploration of sound, as different instruments and melodies drop in and out of the space. Then, before you know it, there's a switch. Going from acoustic instrumentation to almost glitchy electronic beats. It feels almost unsettling, moving from one phase to another, existing within stark contrast of each other. All of this is contained within Djeb, the behemoth first track on the album. Then the rest of the album plays out. It's very similar to Djeb but not as long. A lot of it does tend to come across as aimless jams, but the instrumentation choices make up for this I think. To me, Tortoise are like underwater explorers, swimming along different currents and getting acquainted with different wildlife. This is the music they make, and it's worth checking out.
C'est pas mauvais, mais je pense que j'indie en général je suis juste moins fan. Je comprends l'engouement par contre, l'aspect atmosphérique est très nice.
Barely a three. I've always found Tortoise to be the most boring of the first wave post-rock bands. I much prefer Slint or Talk Talk.
I was very excited when I started listening to this album. I thought it would be another wild electronic-filled album, but as it went on I realized that it was atmospheric guitar music. Decent album, but nothing I would listen to on my own. Best Songs: Glass Museum, Along the Banks of Rivers Worst Songs: NA
Cool little album. A few of the songs are very ambient to the point where there’s not much going on, but the other few kind of just flow and have some nice moments. 6/10
Hey there Debbie, how's your old man doing? Does he still have to think about me just to get an erection? I feel sorry for the bloke. Poor sod has to sling his limp meat up your festering shit hole too.
Feel like once you’ve heard one art rock band you’ve heard them all. Do we really need tortoise when we have mogwai?
Caught me in the right mood for this sorta thing this morning. Hugely Hipster, layered indie instrumental. Decent without being something I'd choose to listen to. At points through this i had to check my speakers weren't broken though so loses a point for that. 2/5
Track 1 ‘Djed’ sounds like and is spelt like it was written by an actual tortoise. Musically it’s fine but rest of this album is so blah! Two shitty stars from me. Millions now will never die - that is the exact opposite to my belief system so not only do I not like the music but i can tell me and the band will have fundamental disagreements in our individual philosophies. I did enjoy one track “along the banks of rivers”
OK, this is weird, 6 songs, but the first track is 20 minutes long. Plus, I've never heard of this, not even sure what the genre is.
Kept waiting for something to happen. Took like 4 songs to do so. I just felt like the album took way too long to do what they were trying to do.
Ugh. Rhythmic noise for the sake of making noise. Just doesn't serve any purpose or have any emotion. The second half of "Glass Museum" was adequate as a song. That, and the fact that it serves as passable background noise, salvages a 2.
This really didn’t make me feel anything other than bored. It was enjoyable at times, but lost itself trying to find some sort of experimental sound. Not my cup of tea.
Stop making 20 minute songs! No one has time for this! The whole thing is artful but not for me.
Sounds a little like jazz Sounds strange with a mix of scifi. 2.5/5, it is hard to stay focused listening to this
New one. Seems to be purely instrumental, not really my jam. After listen to it for a while I can safely say: I don't like this record.
The first track is 20 minutes of not a whole lot of anything but green museum was very good.
Meh. Some interesting bits, some boring bits, not too much to say. Maybe I didn't give it enough of a listen, was pretty distracted.
TUBULAR BELLS! Jk. This was a the score to a 45 minute casual chase scene, on foot, in London, and no one is running. Somewhere between film noir, Good Times, and Mr Bean. Someone gave the Pink Panther a synthesizer. C+
Apparently this is 'post-rock'. It's is one for the musos I think. The intricacies of what it is doing musically goes over my head somewhat. A pleasant enough instrumental album though. 2.5/5.