Next to the new Decemberists album The Hazards Of Love, The Crane Wife seems meek. Colin Meloy and company have crafted a set of music and a story of epic preportions, staying true to their "old soul" vibe but blasting far beyond the trappings of an indie-folk band. Every song is very much part of the whole, forcing the album to be listened to continuously from beginning to end. But that is all part of the beauty and rarity of this kind of album in this day and age.
The Hazards Of Love is told in the fine tradition of a classic love and revenge story. Margaret, voiced by Becky Stark of Lavender Diamond, falls in love with a shape-shifting forest creature, voiced by Meloy. Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond rounds out the cast as a jealous forest queen.
"Prelude" is what it suggests and sounds like an orchestra warming up. Keyboardist Jenny Conlee takes center stage here with some haunting organ and even some synth that would do Rush proud.
The title track, as with The Crane Wife, is broken up into four parts. Each is similar in basic structure and the whole thing provides an anchor for the album. Subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle changes arise as the mood of the album changes. In part one, the song feels very vast and is acoustic-based. Prominent stand-up bass fills in the crevices between the guitar and there's even a Moroccan-sounding flurry near the end.
"A Bower Scene" is definitely a rock song with it's chugging electric riffs over ringing keyboard. It almost feels like '70s prog-rock.
"Won't Want For Love" is a slow burner with somewhat of a blues boogie. It's here that Stark's Margaret makes her first appearance.
The second part of "The Hazards Of Love" is back to acoustic but has the sparse feel of a street performance, complete with bongos, reminiscent of The Smashing Pumpkins' "Blue." But the song does build in intensity and instrumentation.
"Isn't It A Lovely Night" is an accordian-driven classic love song. Stark's fragile, warbling vocals, almost like those of Joanna Newsom, mesh with Meloy's in a duet worthy of stage musicals. The steel guitar towards the end changes the mood a bit into a country waltz. This isn't exactly effective and probably should have been left out.
Melancholy harpsichord characterizes the beginning of "The Wanting Comes In Waves/Repaid." But the rest is full electric Heart/Led Zeppelin-style blues-rock. Worden makes her debut as the Queen and this style of music perfectly fits her deeper, soulful vocals.
"The Rake's Song" is the only one on the album that could concievably stand on it's own. The band probably needed a single to promote the album after all. But this doesn't detract from the quality. Driven by a simple but memorable acoustic riff with compressed electric fuzz beneath and bombastic drumming from John Moen, the song tells the creepy tale of a young widower killing his children.
"The Abduction of Margaret" has a chugging electric riff much like "A Bower Scene" but with lots of precise drumming and symbals for the percussion. In this the song has some Police flavor.
If there's one song on the album that proves The Decemberists can rock hard with the best of them it's "The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing." Worden's vocals are highlighted once again and the mountain-sized guitar riffs are almost doom metal-worthy.
"Annan Water" changes the tone a bit and is energetic and acoustic and synth based. Not that the song is bad but it's one of the least memorable.
Giving off a desperate vibe, "Margaret In Captivity" has Stark's vocals sounding not unlike Joni Mitchell. Electric riffing returns in the last half of the song but this time with a flute duet.
The third part of "The Hazards Of Love" is quite changed from it's predecessors. It's an eerie children's song with definite "Another Brick In The Wall" touches. Harpsichord and harmony singing, from the children the Rake character killed, provide the bulk. Towards the end the song morphs into a circus waltz.
The fourth part of "The Hazards Of Love" end the albums on a lower key just as it began with an alt. country-tinged ballad complete with steel guitar. The story has a satisfyingly well-rounded climax to go with the well-rounded beginning and middle.
The Decemberists have given us one of the greatest if not the greatest concept albums since probably The Smashing Pumpkins' Machina/The Machines Of God. The story is worthy of high literature and the band went above and beyond what the general listening public has thought of them as. The Hazards Of Love is just begging to be played live all the way through or to be turned into a musical. It's definitely an early contender for album of the year.
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