The Way Out (The Books album)

The Way Out is the fourth and final studio album by American musical duo The Books. It was released on July 20, 2010 by Temporary Residence Limited, and was the duo's first album to be issued by the label.[14]

The Way Out
Studio album by The Books
Released	July 20, 2010
Genre	Folktronica[1] post-rock[2]
Length	50:12
Label	Temporary Residence
Producer	The Books Drew Brown
The Books chronology
Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books (2006) The Way Out (2010)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.5/10[1]
Metacritic	81/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
The A.V. Club	A[5]
Consequence of Sound	[6]
The Independent	[7]
Los Angeles Times	[8]
Mojo	[9]
Pitchfork	7.7/10[10]
Spin	7/10[11]
URB	[12]
XLR8R	9/10[13]

The Way Out received mostly positive reviews from critics.[3] The album's cover is a take on that of early 1970s editions of The Way, an illustrated version of The Living Bible.[15]

Track listing

All tracks are written by The Books (Paul de Jong and Nick Zammuto).

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Group Autogenics I"	3:44
2.	"IDKT"	1:42
3.	"I Didn't Know That"	3:38
4.	"A Cold Freezin' Night"	3:22
5.	"Beautiful People"	2:53
6.	"I Am Who I Am"	3:02
7.	"Chain of Missing Links"	4:31
8.	"All You Need Is a Wall"	3:45
9.	"Thirty Incoming"	4:57
10.	"A Wonderful Phrase by Gandhi"	0:22
11.	"We Bought the Flood"	5:04
12.	"The Story of Hip Hop"	4:30
13.	"Free Translator"	3:50
14.	"Group Autogenics II"	4:52
Total length:		50:12

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[16]

The Books

• Paul de Jong – mastering, mixing, production, recording
• Nick Zammuto – mastering, mixing, production, recording

Additional personnel

• Drew Brown – additional production and engineering
• Brendon Downey – mastering, mixing

Charts

Chart (2010)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[17]	165
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[18]	5
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[19]	22

References

1. "The Way Out by The Books reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
2. Linnemann, Matthijs (July 15, 2010). "Books, The – The Way Out". OOR (in Dutch). Retrieved February 3, 2021.
3. "Reviews for The Way Out by The Books". Metacritic. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
4. Hoffman, K. Ross. "The Way Out – The Books". AllMusic. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
5. Gordon, Scott (July 20, 2010). "The Books: The Way Out". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
6. Cosores, Philip (July 22, 2010). "Album Review: The Books – The Way Out". Consequence of Sound. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
7. Gill, Andy (July 16, 2010). "Album: The Books, The Way Out (Temporary Residence)". The Independent. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
8. Wappler, Margaret (July 19, 2010). "Album review: The Books' 'The Way Out'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
9. "The Books: The Way Out". Mojo. No. 202. September 2010. p. 97.
10. Dahlen, Chris (July 20, 2010). "The Books: The Way Out". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
11. Powell, Mike (July 12, 2010). "The Books, 'The Way Out' (Temporary Residence)". Spin. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
12. Levine, Noah (July 22, 2010). "The Books – The Way Out". URB. Archived from the original on October 9, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
13. Fallon, Patric (August 10, 2010). "The Books: The Way Out". XLR8R. Archived from the original on August 14, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
14. Hughes, Josiah (May 3, 2010). "The Books Take The Way Out with New Album". Exclaim!. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
15. Youth for Christ International (1973). The Way: The Living Bible Illustrated. Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 0-8423-2220-5.
16. The Way Out (liner notes). The Books. Temporary Residence Limited. 2010. TRR183CD.CS1 maint: others (link)
17. "Billboard 200". Billboard. August 7, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
18. "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. August 7, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
19. "Independent Albums". Billboard. August 7, 2010. Retrieved February 3, 2021.

External links

• The Way Out at Discogs (list of releases)
• The Way Out at MusicBrainz (list of releases)