Let me bring you songs from the wood!Hey everyone,
Here's my review of the Decemberists' latest record, The Hazards of Love, which will be published (in some edited, probably more grammatically correct form) in this week's Case Western Observer. You get another preview! Yay! I really like this album. I think I wrote the review as if I like it more than I actually do, but each time I listen to it I like it even more. Still don't know a goddamn thing about what the plot means, but the nice thing about this album is that the plot isn't the important part.
Here we go!
Over the last few years, a wide range of formerly maligned artists have achieved new levels of indie credibility thanks to sets of young artists taking inspiration from somewhat unusual sources. From the Human League to Bruce Springsteen, many popular artists that would have been scoffed at by the elite less than ten years ago are now “cool.” It was only a matter of time then when that the modern indie snobs would draw from Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and leave it to (former) indie stalwarts the Decemberists to do so.
Fans of the band shouldn’t worry though, as their latest album, The Hazards of Love isn’t riddled with twenty-minute long keyboard-and-drum solos, and due to its rock opera content, the lyrics are not impossible to decipher (though in the great Decemberists tradition, you may want to have a dictionary on hand). The progression that led up to this album also greatly predicts the band’s almost inevitable attempt at a rock opera. Not only have the Decemberists always had a proclivity toward drama, but the progressive and hard rock that dotted The Tain EP and songs like “The Island” and “When the War Came” off of 2006’s The Crane Wife leaves little surprise to the actual content of The Hazards of Love.
Still, it is a bit shocking at times to hear the sludgy blues riff that crops up as a motif throughout the album, particularly on “The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing,” easily the heaviest song the band has ever written. Once the shock wears off though, it becomes clear that the progressive move was a smart one for the group, as opposed to a rehash of their earlier, more conventional work.
Several moments on the album truly shine bright. “The Rake’s Song” tells a violent story where the song’s narrator kills his three children, and then proclaimins, “It never bothers me,” along to a catchy “Alright! Alright!” chorus and thunderous drumming. Similarly, the bombastic centerpiece of the album, “The Wanting Comes in Waves,” stands as one of the highlights of the band’s entire catalogue.
Even at their most rockin’, Colin Meloy’s distinctive vocals make it clear that this is still a Decemberists record, and for fans of the band’s earlier work, there is still much to be enjoyed here. “Isn’t it a Lovely Night?” is a tender ballad, while the accordion-driven “Annan Water” recalls songs like “Shiny” and “The Youth and Beauty Brigade,” which date back to the band’s inception. The slow burning “Hazards of Love IV (The Drowning)” closes the album on a reflective note.
One of the most positive aspects of The Hazards of Love (and one that otherwise could have led to disaster) is that the music is never subservient to the lyrics or the storyline. The story itself is thin; William, a shape-shifter, falls in love with a woman named Margaret, who gets pregnant and eventually gets captured by an evil forest Queen. It’s all a bit silly, and like all rock operas, a bit bloated, but what is significant and gives the story a different dimension comes from the performances from the guest artists who play the various characters in the story. Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, who play Margaret and the Queen respectively, not only sing their parts well, but they also come to embody the characters they portray. Robyn Hitchcock and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James also provide backup vocals, although regrettably, they do not play any characters, and a children’s choir sings on “The Hazards of Love III (Revenge!)”
The entire concept of a rock opera still seems absurd and hackneyed today, especially since the big expensive progressive and art rock of the 1970s is long gone and rock operas typically point to overreaches of ambition and pretension and therefore disaster. The Decemberists however have managed to create a record that, through artful repetition of great musical motifs and stellar performances on the part of every musician involved, stands as a true cohesive whole. Right from the opening “Prelude,” which is no more than a slowly building Hammond organ solo, the album far more often recalls Thick as a Brick than it does Castaways and Cutouts. The Hazards of Love is one of those rare albums where this is a very good thing.
Okay! That's that one. See you kids next time when I continue to write with even worse grammar.
Fans of the band shouldn’t worry though, as their latest album, The Hazards of Love isn’t riddled with twenty-minute long keyboard-and-drum solos, and due to its rock opera content, the lyrics are not impossible to decipher (though in the great Decemberists tradition, you may want to have a dictionary on hand). The progression that led up to this album also greatly predicts the band’s almost inevitable attempt at a rock opera. Not only have the Decemberists always had a proclivity toward drama, but the progressive and hard rock that dotted The Tain EP and songs like “The Island” and “When the War Came” off of 2006’s The Crane Wife leaves little surprise to the actual content of The Hazards of Love.
Still, it is a bit shocking at times to hear the sludgy blues riff that crops up as a motif throughout the album, particularly on “The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing,” easily the heaviest song the band has ever written. Once the shock wears off though, it becomes clear that the progressive move was a smart one for the group, as opposed to a rehash of their earlier, more conventional work.
Several moments on the album truly shine bright. “The Rake’s Song” tells a violent story where the song’s narrator kills his three children, and then proclaimins, “It never bothers me,” along to a catchy “Alright! Alright!” chorus and thunderous drumming. Similarly, the bombastic centerpiece of the album, “The Wanting Comes in Waves,” stands as one of the highlights of the band’s entire catalogue.
Even at their most rockin’, Colin Meloy’s distinctive vocals make it clear that this is still a Decemberists record, and for fans of the band’s earlier work, there is still much to be enjoyed here. “Isn’t it a Lovely Night?” is a tender ballad, while the accordion-driven “Annan Water” recalls songs like “Shiny” and “The Youth and Beauty Brigade,” which date back to the band’s inception. The slow burning “Hazards of Love IV (The Drowning)” closes the album on a reflective note.
One of the most positive aspects of The Hazards of Love (and one that otherwise could have led to disaster) is that the music is never subservient to the lyrics or the storyline. The story itself is thin; William, a shape-shifter, falls in love with a woman named Margaret, who gets pregnant and eventually gets captured by an evil forest Queen. It’s all a bit silly, and like all rock operas, a bit bloated, but what is significant and gives the story a different dimension comes from the performances from the guest artists who play the various characters in the story. Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, who play Margaret and the Queen respectively, not only sing their parts well, but they also come to embody the characters they portray. Robyn Hitchcock and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James also provide backup vocals, although regrettably, they do not play any characters, and a children’s choir sings on “The Hazards of Love III (Revenge!)”
The entire concept of a rock opera still seems absurd and hackneyed today, especially since the big expensive progressive and art rock of the 1970s is long gone and rock operas typically point to overreaches of ambition and pretension and therefore disaster. The Decemberists however have managed to create a record that, through artful repetition of great musical motifs and stellar performances on the part of every musician involved, stands as a true cohesive whole. Right from the opening “Prelude,” which is no more than a slowly building Hammond organ solo, the album far more often recalls Thick as a Brick than it does Castaways and Cutouts. The Hazards of Love is one of those rare albums where this is a very good thing.
Okay! That's that one. See you kids next time when I continue to write with even worse grammar.
Your grammar is completely fine, Adam. This was an excellent and very well written review as usual. I heard that there was a new Decemberists album coming and I was apathetic, but this review convinced me that I should definitely give it a shot.
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