The Life of the World to Come (album)

For the science fiction novel by Kage Baker, see The Life of the World to Come.

The Life of the World to Come
Studio album by the Mountain Goats
Released	October 6, 2009
Recorded	April–June 2009
Studio	Electrical Audio in Chicago, Illinois; Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas; and Baucom Road Studios in Monroe, North Carolina
Genre	Folk rock, indie rock
Length	43:08
Label	4AD
Producer	Brandon Eggleston, John Congleton, Scott Solter
The Mountain Goats chronology
Heretic Pride (2008) The Life of the World to Come (2009) All Eternals Deck (2011)

The Life of the World to Come is the twelfth studio album by the Mountain Goats, released by 4AD on October 6, 2009. ^[1] The third track, "Genesis 3:23", was released as a free download via the band's website on July 28. The album peaked at #110 on the Billboard Top 200 albums on its chart debut.

Continuing in their exploration of religious themes, The Life of the World to Come is composed of twelve tracks, each one inspired by (and titled after) a single verse from the Jewish Tanakh and the Christian New Testament. The album's title comes from a line of the Nicene Creed. ^[2]

Early copies of the album sold via Rough Trade's physical and online stores featured a bonus CD-R, The Life of the World in Flux. It contains early drafts of most of the songs which appear on the main album and four extra songs that do not, and has some stylistic resemblances to both the band's pre-2002 'lo-fi' albums and to the 2005 The Sunset Tree LP. ^[3] 2010 saw the release of The Life of the World to Come: A Film by Rian Johnson, in which American filmmaker Rian Johnson films a Claremont, California performance by Darnielle of the entire album, mostly solo on piano and guitar, but joined by former Mountain Goat Rachel Ware on several songs. ^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	78/100 [5]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Robert Christgau	A- [7]
Drowned In Sound	(8/10) [8]
Pitchfork Media	(8.4/10) [9]
PopMatters	[10]
Slant Magazine	[11]

The album was positively reviewed by critics, gaining 78/100 points on Metacritic. ^[12] Pitchfork Media listed it as 45th best of the year, adding that album is "a work of deep, profound empathy-- the kind of thing the Bible is supposed to teach us in the first place". ^[13] Music critic Robert Christgau said of the album: 'this is literary rock as it should be' and gave it an A- rating. ^[7]

As of October 2009 it has sold 14,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan. ^[14]

Track listing

The Life of the World to Come

No.	Title	Length
1.	"1 Samuel 15:23"	4:07
2.	"Psalms 40:2"	3:13
3.	"Genesis 3:23"	3:10
4.	"Philippians 3:20-21"	3:03
5.	"Hebrews 11:40"	2:48
6.	"Genesis 30:3"	3:24
7.	"Romans 10:9"	2:42
8.	"1 John 4:16"	3:09
9.	"Matthew 25:21"	5:47
10.	"Deuteronomy 2:10"	3:21
11.	"Isaiah 45:23"	3:38
12.	"Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace"	4:46
Total length:		43:08

iTunes bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Enoch 18:14"

Amazon bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Proverbs 6:27"

The Life of the World in Flux - Rough Trade bonus disc

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Deuteronomy 2:10"
2.	"Daniel 12:8 (third)"
3.	"Matthew 25:21"
4.	"1John 4:16"
5.	"Isaiah 45:23"
6.	"Hebrews 11:40"
7.	"Psalms 40:2"
8.	"Philippians 3:20–21"
9.	"Genesis 3:23"
10.	"Proverbs 6:27"
11.	"Romans 10:9"
12.	"Matthew 11:14–19"
13.	"Enoch 18:14"

The Life of the World to Come: A Film by Rian Johnson - limited edition live DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Intro"
2.	"Enoch 18:14"
3.	"Genesis 30:3"
4.	"1John 4:16"
5.	"1Samuel 15:23"
6.	"Genesis 3:23"
7.	"Isaiah 45:23"
8.	"Philippians 3:20–21"
9.	"Psalms 40:2"
10.	"Romans 10:9"
11.	"Hebrews 11:40"
12.	"Deuteronomy 2:10"
13.	"Matthew 25:21"
14.	"Ezekiel 7 and the Permanent Efficacy of Grace"
15.	"Credits"

Personnel

• John Darnielle - acoustic guitar, vocals, piano, keyboards
• Owen Pallett - strings, arrangement
• Peter Hughes - bass, electric guitar
• Jon Wurster - drums, percussion
• Vaughan Oliver - art direction, design
• Phoebe Richardson - artwork
• Brian Whitehead - assistant design
• Scott Solter - mixing
• Marc Atkins - photography
• Brandon Eggleston - production, engineering (Chicago)
• Grégoire Yeche - assistant production, assistant engineering (Chicago)
• John Congleton - production, engineering (Tornillo)
• Charles Godfrey - assistant production, assistant engineering (Tornillo)
• Scott Solter - production, engineering (Monroe)

References

1. "The Mountain Goats News Archive - The Good News". mountain-goats.com.
2. "The Mountain Goats, "The Life of the World to Come" (4AD) Spin Magazine Online". October 6, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2009.
3. "The Life of the World in Flux". The Annotated Mountain Goats. Retrieved October 27, 2025.
4. "The Life of the World to Come (2009)". Letterboxd. Retrieved October 27, 2025.
5. "The Life Of The World To Come". Metacritic. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
6. The Life of the World to Come at AllMusic
7. "CG: The Mountain Goats". Robert Christgau. September 15, 1983. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
8. Strain, Lauren (October 6, 2009). "The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
9. "The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come | Album Reviews". Pitchfork. October 14, 2009. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
10. Mathers, Ian. "The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come < PopMatters". Popmatters.com. Retrieved February 28, 2012.
11. "The Mountain Goats: The Life of the World to Come | Music Review". Slant Magazine . October 5, 2009. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
12. "Metacritic.com > Music > The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come". Metacritic.com].
13. "Staff Lists > The Top 50 Albums of 2009". Pitchfork.com. Pitchfork Media.
14. "Pitchfork Top 10 Albums, in US Sales". December 2009.