View source for The Serpent's Egg (album)

{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = The Serpent's Egg
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Dead Can Dance]]
| cover      = serpent_egg_-_dead_can_dance_-_front.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = 24 October 1988
| recorded   =
| venue      =
| studio     =
| genre      = [[Neoclassical dark wave]]
| length     = 36:15
| label      = [[4AD]]
| producer   = [[Brendan Perry]], [[Lisa Gerrard]], John A. Rivers
| prev_title = [[Within the Realm of a Dying Sun]]
| prev_year  = 1987
| next_title = [[Aion (Dead Can Dance album)|Aion]]
| next_year  = 1990
}}
'''''The Serpent's Egg''''' is the fourth studio album by the Australian band [[Dead Can Dance]], released on 24 October 1988 by record label [[4AD]].
== Background ==
The album was the last produced while [[Brendan Perry]] and [[Lisa Gerrard]] were a romantic couple. A majority of the album was recorded in a multi-storey apartment block in the [[Isle of Dogs]], London.
Perry discussed the album's title: "In a lot of aerial photographs of the Earth, if you look upon it as a giant organism—a macrocosmos—you can see that the nature of the life force, water, travels in a serpentine way".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.deadcandance.com/discogs/theserpentsegg |title=The Serpent's Egg (1988) |website=Dead Can Dance|date=4 June 2018 | access-date=2020-07-24}}</ref>
== Track listing ==
{{track listing
| headline = Side A
| all_writing = [[Lisa Gerrard]] and [[Brendan Perry]]
| title1 = The Host of Seraphim<ref name="flood perry">{{cite magazine |last=Perry |first=Robbie |date=5 May 2021 |title=Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard and Jules Maxwell Unveil New LP "Burn" |url=https://floodmagazine.com/87892/dead-can-dance-lisa-gerrard-and-jules-maxwell-burn-premiere/ |magazine=Flood Magazine |location=Los Angeles, California, USA |publisher=Alan Sartirana |access-date=1 September 2022}}</ref>
| length1 = 6:18
| title2 = Orbis de Ignis
| length2 = 1:35
| title3 = Severance
| length3 = 3:22
| title4 = The Writing on My Father's Hand
| length4 = 3:50
| title5 = In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings
| length5 = 4:12
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side B
| title1 = Chant of the Paladin
| length1 = 3:48
| title2 = Song of Sophia
| length2 = 1:24
| title3 = Echolalia
| length3 = 1:17
| title4 = Mother Tongue
| length4 = 5:16
| title5 = Ullyses<!--[sic] whether intentional or a misspelling, title has been rendered "Ullyses" rather than "Ulysses" from original release through reissues; see e.g. https://4ad.com/releases/837 -->
| length5 = 5:09
}}
==Reception ==
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-serpents-egg-mw0000202093 |title=''The Serpent's Egg'' – Dead Can Dance| work=[[AllMusic]] |accessdate=2013-02-20}}</ref>
}}
In a retrospective review, [[AllMusic]] said, "Perry and Gerrard continued to experiment and improve with ''The Serpent's Egg'', as much a leap forward as ''[[Spleen and Ideal]]'' was some years previously", heaping particular praise on the album opener "The Host of Seraphim", which it called "so jaw-droppingly good that almost the only reaction is sheer awe".<ref name="AllMusic"/>
== Legacy ==
* Electronic music duo [[The Chemical Brothers]] used a reversed sample of "Song of Sophia" in "[[Song to the Siren (The Chemical Brothers song)|Song to the Siren]]" in 1992, later also included on the album ''[[Exit Planet Dust]]'' in 1995.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1817524/the-10-best-chemical-brothers-songs/franchises/10-best-songs/|title=The 10 Best Chemical Brothers Songs|first=Nate|last=Patrin|date=21 July 2015|website=[[Stereogum]]}}</ref>
* [[Orkidea]] sampled "The Host of Seraphim" in his 1999 single "Unity".
* Rapper [[G Herbo]] sampled "The Host of Seraphim" on his song "4 Minutes of Hell, Part 3" from his debut mixtape, ''[[Welcome to Fazoland]]''.
* [[Experimental music|Experimental]] act [[Ulver]] covered "In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings" for the Dead Can Dance tribute album ''Tribute to Dead Can Dance: The Lotus Eaters'', released in 2004.
* French rapper [[Keny Arkana]] sampled "The Host Of Seraphim" on her song "Je Passe Le Salut", from her album "L'Esquisse Vol. 2" released in 2011.
* "In the Kingdom of the Blind the One-Eyed Are Kings" was also covered by [[death metal]] act [[Cattle Decapitation]] as a bonus track on their 2019 album ''[[Death Atlas]]''.
== In popular culture ==
"The Host of Seraphim" was featured in the 1992 [[non-narrative film|non-narrative]] [[documentary film]] ''[[Baraka (film)|Baraka]]'' (and was included in the film's  [[Baraka: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|soundtrack]]), the theatrical trailers for the 2003 film ''[[Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines]]'' and the 2006 film ''[[Home of the Brave (2006 film)|Home of the Brave]]'', in the final scenes of the 2007 film ''[[The Mist (film)|The Mist]]'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0212596/|title=Dead Can Dance|website=IMDB}}</ref> in the fire scene of the 2010 film ''[[Legend of the guardians (film)|Legend of the guardians]]'', ''[[How to get away with murder]]'' (season 3 episode 15 and season 6 episode 9) and in the 2018 film ''[[Lords of Chaos (film)|Lords of Chaos]]''.
A short excerpt of "Ullyses" was also used as background music in the [[Horizon (UK TV series)|BBC Horizon]] episode #30.7 [[List of Horizon episodes#Series 30: 1993–1994|"Hunt For The Doomsday Asteroid"]] in February 1994, originally broadcast ahead of the predicted impact of [[Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9|Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9]] with the planet [[Jupiter]] in July that same year.
"Severance" was used in the "Victims of Circumstance" episode of ''[[Miami Vice]]''.
== Release history ==
{| class="wikitable"
! Country
! Date
|-
| Australia
| 24 October 1988
|-
| United States
| 2 February 1994
|}
== Personnel ==
* [[Lisa Gerrard]] – vocals, production on tracks 3–6, 8 and 9
* [[Brendan Perry]] – vocals, [[hurdy-gurdy]], production, sleeve design
* Andrew Beesley – viola
* Sarah Buckley – viola
* Tony Gamage – cello
* Alison Harling – violin
* Rebecca Jackson – violin
* David Navarro Sust – vocals
; Technical
* John A. Rivers – co-production on tracks 1, 2, 7 and 10
* [[Vaughan Oliver]] – sleeve design (with Brendan Perry)
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
* {{Official website|https://www.deadcandance.com/discogs/theserpentsegg|''The Serpent's Egg'' at the band's official website}}
* {{MusicBrainz release-group|id=4a1a4bfc-c11d-31b7-8a10-12e8367a0da7|name=The Serpent's Egg}}
* {{YouTube|id=xpMNXEY_tio|title=The Serpent's Egg}}
{{Dead Can Dance}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serpent's Egg, The}}
[[Category:1988 albums]]
[[Category:Dead Can Dance albums]]
[[Category:4AD albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by John A. Rivers]]