Human the Death Dance

Human the Death Dance
Studio album by Sage Francis
Released	May 8, 2007 (2007-05-08)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	54:42
Label	Epitaph Records
Producer	Odd Nosdam, Mr. Cooper, Buck 65, Mark Isham, Alias, Sixtoo, Ant, Big Cats!, Kurtis SP, Miles Bonny, Reanimator
Sage Francis chronology
A Healthy Distrust (2005) Human the Death Dance (2007) Li(f)e (2010)

Human the Death Dance is the third solo studio album by American rapper Sage Francis. ^[1] It was released on Epitaph Records on May 8, 2007. ^[2] It peaked at number 97 on the Billboard 200 chart. ^[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100 [4]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Billboard	favorable [6]
Christgau's Consumer Guide	[7]
Drowned in Sound	7/10 [1]
Pitchfork	7.9/10 [8]
PopMatters	[2]
The Skinny	[9]
Spin	[10]
Tiny Mix Tapes	[11]
Urb Magazine	[12]
XLR8R	favorable [13]

At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 16 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ^[4]

David Jeffries of AllMusic gave the album 4 stars out of 5, saying, "Human the Death Dance may be his most personal effort, but it's also an incredibly well-built full-length -- even when it borrows from a handful of genres -- and it's arguably his best lyrical effort, undoubtedly his best production-wise." ^[5] Roque Strew of Pitchfork gave the album a 7.9 out of 10, saying, "'Going Back to Rehab' weaves allusions to the greats, Nas and Biggie, into a six-minute tapestry that encompasses everything great about Sage Francis's strongest album to date: Its neon rainbow of tones and moods, the almost telepathic harmony between producer and rapper, the riveting fault-line tiptoe between memoir and manifesto." ^[8]

Track listing

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Growing Pains Intro"		0:37
2.	"Underground for Dummies"	Odd Nosdam	4:13
3.	"Civil Obedience"	Mr. Cooper	4:19
4.	"Got Up This Morning"	Buck 65	3:11
5.	"Good Fashion"	Mark Isham	1:34
6.	"Clickety Clack"	Alias	3:59
7.	"Midgets and Giants"	Alias	3:54
8.	"Broccilude"	Sixtoo	1:14
9.	"High Step"	Ant	1:53
10.	"Keep Moving"	Alias	4:36
11.	"Waterline"	Mark Isham	2:02
12.	"Black Out on White Night"	Big Cats!	4:36
13.	"Hell of a Year"	Kurtis SP	4:11
14.	"Call Me Francois"	Miles Bonny	3:11
15.	"Hoofprints in the Sand"	Reanimator	5:01
16.	"Going Back to Rehab"		6:11

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

• Sage Francis – vocals, arrangement, executive production
• Odd Nosdam – production (2)
• Mr. Cooper – production (3)
• Buck 65 – production (4)
• Mark Isham – production (5, 11)
• Alias – production (6, 7, 10)
• Sixtoo – production (8)
• Ant – production (9)
• Big Cats! – production (12)
• Kurtis SP – production (13)
• Miles Bonny – production (14)
• Reanimator – production (15), turntables (3, 15, 16)
• Jolie Holland – fiddle (4), vocals (4, 12)
• Nathan Harrop – harmonica (4)
• Eaters – vocals (6)
• Christopher Sneddon – synthesizer (6)
• B. Dolan – vocals (9)
• Buddy Wakefield – vocals (10, 13)
• Roughneck Jihad – vocals (14)
• DJ Orator – turntables (14)
• Bryan Lewis Saunders – vocals (16)
• Tom Inhaler – guitar (16), bass guitar (16), piano (16)
• Laura Escudé – violin (16)
• Scott Begin – drums (16)
• Gene Grimaldi – mastering

Charts

Chart (2007)	Peak position
US Billboard 200 [3]	97
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [14]	8
US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard) [15]	7

References

1. Diver, Mike (June 6, 2007). "Sage Francis - Human The Death Dance". Drowned in Sound . Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
2. Schiller, Mike (May 9, 2007). "Sage Francis: Human the Death Dance". PopMatters . Retrieved April 8, 2016.
3. "Sage Francis Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
4. "Human The Death Dance by Sage Francis". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved March 6, 2015.
5. Jeffries, David. "Human the Death Dance - Sage Francis". AllMusic . Retrieved March 6, 2015.
6. Martens, Todd (May 12, 2007). "Reviews". Billboard . pp. 37–38.
7. Christgau, Robert. "Sage Francis". Christgau's Consumer Guide . Retrieved January 28, 2018.
8. Strew, Roque (May 11, 2007). "Sage Francis: Human the Death Dance". Pitchfork . Retrieved April 8, 2016.
9. Maloney, Ali (June 10, 2007). "Sage Francis - Human the Death Dance". The Skinny . Retrieved April 8, 2016.
10. Matos, Michaelangelo (June 2007). "Reviews". Spin : 93.
11. Ranta, Alan (February 2, 2007). "Sage Francis - Human The Death Dance". Tiny Mix Tapes . Retrieved April 8, 2016.
12. Boyles, Jen (April 2007). "CD reviews: Sage Francis, Human the Death Dance". Urb Magazine . Vol. 17, no. 143. West Hollywood, California. Archived from the original on November 15, 2012. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
13. Siwek, Daniel (January 22, 2007). "Sage Francis Human the Death Dance". XLR8R . Retrieved April 8, 2016.
14. "Sage Francis Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
15. "Sage Francis Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2019.

External links

• Human the Death Dance at Discogs (list of releases)
• Human the Death Dance at MusicBrainz (list of releases)