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The Decemberists - The Hazards of Love - Page 2

post #51 of 87
7/23/09 at 2:29am
They put on a brilliant show last night. Openers blind pilot were a little weak.
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post #52 of 87
10/12/09 at 7:07pm
Saw them in Lexington, KY last week. Performed The Hazards Of Love in its entirety without stopping for break, then a lot of popular songs from previous albums. It was Meloy's birthday, and the whole crowd got to sing to him. Eventually someone in the crowd brought out a bottle of bourbon and the whole band took swigs from it.

When the band left the stage, the audience encored for 10 mins. Meloy and the gang came back out and performed songs from his next album that haven't even been recorded yet.

One of my favorite concerts. Ever.
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post #53 of 87
10/13/09 at 9:06am
I saw them in Asheville last month, and they did an insane, ten-minute version of "The Chimbley Sweep" during their second set.
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post #54 of 87
11/24/09 at 4:38pm
So in the UK we have a show called Later....with Jools Holland which is like a weekly showcase for live bands and live music. I've come across some great bands just by watching the show attentively (I first heard the Arcade Fire on his show for instance) and last week they had the Decemberists on.

This performance of the Rake Song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLRK02s37rw

Sold me completely on the Hazards of Love. I'd never heard anything but Sixteen Military Wives by the band so this was a real, wow sort of moment.

Then they played this version of the Wanting Comes In Waves

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPaM2uEFhY0

and I ended up having to buy the album the next day. Absolutely amazing work, I've only had a chance to listen to it a few times through and it's just utterly enrapturing.

I generally hate these sort of questions but I'm utterly clueless to the bands past discography and random youtubing doesn't seem to be doing them any justice. Any other albums I should start with?
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post #55 of 87
11/24/09 at 4:49pm
PICARESQUE. It's a great album. But it has one song in particular that's probably my favorite song of the decade and that's "The Mariner's Revenge Song." It's a 9 minute epic story and it's just awesome.
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post #56 of 87
11/24/09 at 4:51pm
"Her Majesty, The Decemberists" is probably their best.
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post #57 of 87
11/24/09 at 4:58pm
Either Picaresque or The Crane Wife--The Crane Wife is kind of a dry-run for Hazards of Love in terms of concept albums (and "Crane Wife Pt. 1" is one of my favorite songs), while Picaresque is probably their tightest album and includes the diabolical "Mariner's Revenge Song".

That said, their sound hasn't really changed all that much and you'd probably enjoy any or all of their albums and EPs. I've been listening to them since Her Majesty The Decemberists.
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post #58 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:01pm
All of them.
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post #59 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissZooey View Post
All of them.
yeah dis
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post #60 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:07pm
More or less.

My favorite is probably Picaresque, with Her Majesty in a close second. I think my least favorite is Castaways and Cutouts, but it's still great.
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post #61 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:10pm
I guess I'm sorta the Philistine in the group: my favorite song of theirs is still "Angel, Won't You Call Me?"

By the way, they closed their live shows last year with a stunning cover of Heart's "Crazy On You," which had damn well better make it to the inevitable live DVD.
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post #62 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post

By the way, they closed their live shows last year with a stunning cover of Heart's "Crazy On You," which had damn well better make it to the inevitable live DVD.
Yeah that was about eleventy times better than the original.
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post #63 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
I guess I'm sorta the Philistine in the group: my favorite song of theirs is still "Angel, Won't You Call Me?"

By the way, they closed their live shows last year with a stunning cover of Heart's "Crazy On You," which had damn well better make it to the inevitable live DVD.
They did Angel live when I saw them, and it killed.

That Crazy On You cover is fantastic, too.
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post #64 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Millette View Post
More or less.

My favorite is probably Picaresque, with Her Majesty in a close second. I think my least favorite is Castaways and Cutouts, but it's still great.
Depending on the day, my favorite could be Picaresque, Her Majesty, or the Crane Wife. Hazards is impressive, but not something I find myself wanting to listen to as much since it's such a one-sitting album, and Castaways sounds like a solid, but slightly tentative warmup. The lyricism's there, but there's no hint of a lot of the musical styles they'd mess with later on.
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post #65 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:23pm
Castaways sounds a bit lackadaisical to me. There's a lot of hints there that you'd find on their later albums, but the whole thing feels very reserved and quiet. It does have both Odalisque and The Legionnaire's Lament, which I think are both fantastic songs, though.

Hazards is definitely a one-sitting album. There's a few songs you can listen to from it separately, but it just doesn't work unless you're willing to sit the whole thing through, which I suppose is a mark against it. Aside from The Rake's Song, it doesn't really have anything that you can really pick out as a standout track, because everything sort of has to be part of a whole.
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post #66 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:25pm
To be fair I still really, really, really like The Tain EP, though I might be letting nostalgia color my judgment here because it was the first thing I heard from them and my mind was completely blown.
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post #67 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake View Post
To be fair I still really, really, really like The Tain EP, though I might be letting nostalgia color my judgment here because it was the first thing I heard from them and my mind was completely blown.
And it's probably the most similar to Hazards, actually, if Spike's looking for more in that vein.
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post #68 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:28pm
Actually, the title of The Tain was what first caught my eye about the band: the Horslips album of the same name was a kinda guilty pleasure of mine back in the day.

Though I didn't really get into them until my daughter burned Crane Wife for me.

As for Hazards, IMHO its "standout" tracks are the ones where Colin's not singing. No offense, I like the guy, but the girls just blow him right out of the water.

And he needs to get rid of his copy of the OED.

EDIT: Evidently, there's a live Bonnaroo DVD on the way, with The Decemberists doing "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid." It's only $15, but the decision to select "Outlaw Pete" as Springsteen's contribution to the disk seems so willfully perverse that I wonder if the whole thing's not a diabolical joke.
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post #69 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:28pm
The Tain is really good, but again I just don't find myself in the mood for a twenty minute song very often. I prefer their dalliances with prog like The Island to their full on prog attacks.
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post #70 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
And he needs to get rid of his copy of the OED.
Exile on Main Street is a great album, but they really need to strip out all of the blues-influenced stuff, you know?
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post #71 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
Exile on Main Street is a great album, but they really need to strip out all of the blues-influenced stuff, you know?
hehe
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post #72 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:35pm
Thread Starter 
The wide range of opinion regarding their best album (and even of the best songs on those albums) should indicate that you really can't go wrong here, Spike.

For what it's worth, I'd probably go with Her Majesty, but no way would I recommend stopping there.
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post #73 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The LD View Post
Exile on Main Street is a great album, but they really need to strip out all of the blues-influenced stuff, you know?
You can take anything too far, and so far I'm not sure Meloy's got the same sense of his roots, and boundaries, that Keef and Mick manage at their best.

He's better at being direct than he thinks he is: he's never written a line more powerful (or interesting) than "This is how I am repaid," and that's mostly words of one syllable.
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post #74 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
As for Hazards, IMHO its "standout" tracks are the ones where Colin's not singing. No offense, I like the guy, but the girls just blow him right out of the water.
Stark is okay on Hazards, but Shara Worden is an unstoppable force of nature when you give her someone else's songs. Wish her own work consistently measured up.
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post #75 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:53pm
Honestly, I defy you to tell me that "Repaid" is more powerful or interesting than something like the much quieter, much more poetic "On the Bus Mall".
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post #76 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DaveB View Post
Stark is okay on Hazards, but Shara Worden is an unstoppable force of nature when you give her someone else's songs. Wish her own work consistently measured up.
She'd certainly have livened up the Traveling Wilburys.
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post #77 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Millette View Post
Honeslty, I defy you to tell me that "Repaid" is more powerful or interesting than something like the much quieter, much more poetic "On the Bus Mall".
What I said was that he hadn't written anything that was MORE powerful or interesting; not that he hadn't written anything else AS powerful or interesting. He has.

I was just pointing out that he can be awfully good when he gets out of English-lit class now and then.

ETA: I originally just posted "I stand defiant," but decided that wasn't a good enough explanation.

Just in case anyone wasn't quite sure what the hell Brad meant by his response.
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post #78 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:54pm
You stand nuts.
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post #79 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Millette View Post
Honestly, I defy you to tell me that "Repaid" is more powerful or interesting than something like the much quieter, much more poetic "On the Bus Mall".
That was one of the first songs I thought of as a counter to Jeb's point, actually. Some others are "Yankee Bayonet," "The Engine Driver," and "Of Angels and Angles." Some serious wordplay and sense of meter, but very emotionally effective.
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post #80 of 87
11/24/09 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
I stand defiant.
I was going to go with Brad's suggestion, "The Engine Driver", "Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect", or "Shiny". All feature Meloy's signature lyrical style and are significantly more interesting/meaningful than "Repaid".

Hell, take "We Both Go Down Together". The florid verbosity is what makes the song so brilliant. Without that, it's just a star-crossed lovers song. Meloy manages to add reams of subtext just through word selection.

ETA: Man, Dave, you go to hell, too.
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post #81 of 87
11/24/09 at 6:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeb View Post
I was just pointing out that he can be awfully good when he gets out of English-lit class now and then.
That way madness lies.

ETA - I bite my thumb at both LD and my beloved.
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post #82 of 87
11/24/09 at 6:11pm
Thanks for the help guys, definitely going with Her Majesty and The Tain first. Then I'll move onto the other stuff mentioned. With bands I often find taking it an album at time really helps with the appreciation rather than trying to listen to everything at once.

Glad I was able to get some discussion going in here too, even if it looks like I've somehow incited Jeb's eventual lynching.
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post #83 of 87
11/24/09 at 7:46pm
He probably had it coming, Spike. For something or other. Either that or we're just kill happy. Whichever seems likely to you.
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post #84 of 87
11/24/09 at 8:36pm
We've all got it coming, kid...
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post #85 of 87
11/24/09 at 8:40pm
Gah, I need to watch that. Haven't watched it all year.
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post #86 of 87
11/24/09 at 8:56pm
You can't go wrong, no matter which album you dive in to. There is, thus far, no bad Decemberists. Actually, the album of theirs that I have revisited the least in the last 6 months is the very album this thread is named after. After seeing it live in June, I haven't listened to it. I'd buy the hell out of a DVD of it being performed, though.

I've been on a big Her Majesty kick lately - I've listened to "The Bachelor and The Bride" about a dozen times in the last week.
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post #87 of 87
11/24/09 at 10:54pm
I also really like the 'Always a Bridesmaid' ep. One moment that stands out for me from the concert was Meloy breaking into an acoustic cover of Morrissey's 'Angel', Angel, Down We Go Together' midway through 'We Both Go Down Together'. And their take on 'Crazy on You' was also killer. A band I wish I'd gotten into a lot sooner, but I've got Old Man Disease coming on.
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