i'm going to do a detour into quick write-ups of each of these trail of dead records because i'm rather liking the newest one and am looking forward for the new one, apparently out soon. i've heard each one a few times and remember thinking the early early stuff was alright but generally lacking, the point where they went mainstream was pretty iffy and the art-school detours were a bit better but overall generally unlistenable. i was really surprised by the 2011 disc and need to give the older stuff one last chance and to put it in context...