.the hazards of love.
March 19th, 2009 § 2 Comments
I did it again. I spent more money on iTunes. This should really be called “The Hazards of iTunes”, but it’s about the Decemberists new album, not Apple’s addictive music program.
So I bought The Hazards of Love the day it came out [on iTunes. The album doesn't come out in stores until March 24] and I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what to think. It’s 17 tracks [which is slightly ridiculous] and each song plays out almost like a chapter in a novel [which is awesome].
Side Note: For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Decemberists [which is most of the planet], they play “folk-ish” type music with a story behind it. Every album has a “main character” and their songs play out his tale. This is why the Decemberists are fantastic.
I really like the album art.
The Hazards of Love has a story that sounds like something you’d hear out of England. There is a Queen[who is never named, but who is sung by Shara Worden of My Brightest Diamond]. Then there is Margaret, the unwitting woman who falls in love with a guy [Margaret is sung by Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark]. And then there is the strapping young lad, who is actually a shape-shifting forest creature, [yeah, that threw me off too.] sung by Colin Meloy, lead singer of The Decemberists.
The album is a lot different as far as music goes. Usually, their albums are big orchestral numbers [like "The Mariner's Revenge" off of Picaresque].
Side Note: I saw the Decemberists and My Brightest Diamond live in 2007, and their performance of “The Mariner’s Revenge” was awesome. The song is almost 9 minutes long, and they ended the show with it. It was awesome.
Anyway, the album is pretty dark as far as lyrics/music goes. It’s a big turn from The Crain Wife [2006] which was relatively happy, even during the sadder songs.
This album is hard to swallow at first, even for fans, but let it grow on you and you’ll learn to love it.
The Hazards of Love is available for purchase on iTunes for $9.99 and will be available at retailers nationwide [for more money] on March 24.
Cody.
[most of the info courtesy of www.wikipedia.com]
