Album Of The Week: At The Gates To Drink From The Night Itself

There's something so beautifully pure about the band that breaks up immediately after releasing its best album. It's a romantic idea: these people who have been spending years of their lives working toward realizing some grand vision, then calling it quits immediately afterward, realizing they'll never quite be able to top it. It's a legacy-building move and a kiss goodbye. It's Michael Jordan retiring immediately after the 1998 Finals. Usually, the bands who do this, whether we're talking about Refused or At The Drive-In or whoever, have their own issues; they're not simply concerned with eliminating the downward-slide part of their career. But whatever their reasons for doing it, it always makes for a stunning exclamation point -- at least until these bands inevitably reach their Jordan-on-the-Wizards moment and release their extremely whatever reunion albums.