Today the Decemberists new album “The Hazards Of Love” came out physically (it came out last week digitally). The album seems to be the bands most polarizing album so far. I have given the album a decent amount of listens and I can honestly say I am enjoying it very much. I have always been a fan of epic concept albums, and The Decemberists have delivered just that!
The prelude is a very cool opening, would be perfect to play right as your walking into the venue about to see Colin Meloy and the rest of The Decemberists to perform this super rock opera for you! “The Hazords Of Love 1” sounds like the Decemberists we all know. The song almost helps remind us of the old, before we jump into the new. From then on we are thrown into songs with harder plucking, and more dramatic riffs. You got guest vocals on some of this songs adding another dimension to these songs. “The Rake’s Song” absolutely kills, that is everything you want in a Decemberists song and more! Check out the guitars and solos in “The Queen’s Rebuke / The Crossing”, really dark stuff. I love it! The songs weave in and out of each other, almost sounding like one continuous song. It is a proper way to listen to an album, something that has died out recently.
Many people are calling this album The Decemberists worst to date. I think it is too early to judge. Honestly this is a very different album for the band. I feel like to truly appreciate this album you need to constantly listen to it, absorb the story, and try to get used to their “harder/progressive” sound. There is plenty of The Decemberists of old to help you get through the transition. Although there are more metal influences here than you would expect, the Decemberists root sound has not gone anywhere.
After giving the album a proper amount of listens I can say that I am enjoying it. I don’t know where it stands on rating/ranking with other Decemberists albums or in 2009 for that matter. I do appreciate that the Decemberists ambition is still high. The lyrics are still unique and provide storytelling that you can only hope to get from The Decemberists. Especially since the band is signed to a major label it comforts me to see the band doing what they want to do. Taking a risk, and in my opinion it paid off. I am only one blog but I hope the rest of you guys keep giving this album a chance and make your own opinion on it.
[mp3] : The Decemberists – The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid
[mp3] : The Decemberists – The Rake’s Song
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