The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, Explosions in the Sky

The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place, by Explosions in the Sky, is inspiring and emotional. It makes us feel something bigger than ourselves. And it does so without any vocals or lyrics. The quiet moments and the building, loud, crashing crescendos come together for an incredible listening experience. Use this album at lower volumes (for real- there is some rock-and-roll guitar shredding here) for individual focused activities like story writing or project research.

Artist: Explosions in the Sky
Album: The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place

Release Year: 2003
Genre: Post-Rock / Instrumental Rock
Vocals: No

Tell Your Students: The band’s name, Explosions in the Sky, comes from a comment that drummer Chris Hrasky made in reference to seeing fireworks on the night that the band played their first set. Despite the huge sounds found on this album, the band consists only of one drummer and three guitar players (sometimes one of the guitars will be switched out for a bass guitar). Even though there are no vocals in the songs, the band designs each song with a narrative in mind. They refer to the resulting songs as “cathartic mini-symphonies.”

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