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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"The Crane Wife" is, in many ways, a relief to Decemberist fans, in that it's clear that the band haven't dropped their style completely despite a move to a major record label in the US. However, it is clear that there have been some developments in the band's sound and approach, which carries both positive and negative consequences...
The first thing fans will notice about the new album is that the production is much sharper. What is more, the band have begun to broaden their musical outlook with tracks like "The Perfect Crime" and "When The War Came," which sound very different from Picaresque-era Decemberists. It is clear that the Decemberists have incorporated some of the sound they experimented with in their Tain EP into the new album. This isn't a bad move, in many ways, because it's always good to see a band move forward and develop. However, it does mean that the album loses some of that olde-worlde charm that we have come to expect from the band, though it still flairs up on the occasional track ("Shankill Butchers," "Yankee Bayonet"). This means less acoustic, folky, "Eli The Barrow Boy" type numbers, and more tracks with generic indie elements.
The standout tracks on the album are the three parts of "The Crane Wife," which are beautiful, melodic numbers based on a Japanese folk tale; the powerful "The Island" epic in which the band's 'rockier' sound is exhibited; the closing singalong "Sons and Daughters"; and the aforementioned, folky duet "Yankee Bayonet." Colin Meloy's imaginative, intricate lyrics are still present, as are his highly individual vocals. It is good to see the Decemberists have not dropped their emphasis on storytelling, which is one of their biggest appeals. Whilst some tracks take some time getting used to, repeated plays eventually bring you round.
Overall, I wish I could give the album four and a half stars, because it clearly is a good, solid effort with some brilliant tracks, and I really do like it as a big Decemberists fan. I do recommend "The Crane Wife," but suggest that people new to the Decemberists also check out their earlier albums, which are, all in all, superior in my view.
The first thing fans will notice about the new album is that the production is much sharper. What is more, the band have begun to broaden their musical outlook with tracks like "The Perfect Crime" and "When The War Came," which sound very different from Picaresque-era Decemberists. It is clear that the Decemberists have incorporated some of the sound they experimented with in their Tain EP into the new album. This isn't a bad move, in many ways, because it's always good to see a band move forward and develop. However, it does mean that the album loses some of that olde-worlde charm that we have come to expect from the band, though it still flairs up on the occasional track ("Shankill Butchers," "Yankee Bayonet"). This means less acoustic, folky, "Eli The Barrow Boy" type numbers, and more tracks with generic indie elements.
The standout tracks on the album are the three parts of "The Crane Wife," which are beautiful, melodic numbers based on a Japanese folk tale; the powerful "The Island" epic in which the band's 'rockier' sound is exhibited; the closing singalong "Sons and Daughters"; and the aforementioned, folky duet "Yankee Bayonet." Colin Meloy's imaginative, intricate lyrics are still present, as are his highly individual vocals. It is good to see the Decemberists have not dropped their emphasis on storytelling, which is one of their biggest appeals. Whilst some tracks take some time getting used to, repeated plays eventually bring you round.
Overall, I wish I could give the album four and a half stars, because it clearly is a good, solid effort with some brilliant tracks, and I really do like it as a big Decemberists fan. I do recommend "The Crane Wife," but suggest that people new to the Decemberists also check out their earlier albums, which are, all in all, superior in my view.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
An eclectic mix of pop, rock and folk that never get boring - at times it comes close to sounding like a long lost Jethro Tull album from the 1970s, somewhere between Thick as a Brick and Minstrel in the Gallery - which can only be a good thing. Song twist and turn through changes of sound and pace to great effect.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The Crane Wife is magnificent album - with complex lyrics and pretty complex sound structure - very similar to mid 70's Jethro Tull. But it's also very fluent and catchy. For example - Summersong and Perfect Crime are wonderful pop tunes and much better songs than many from today's Top 10 singles charts. Triplet The Island, Come And See, The Landlords Daughter (You'll Not Feel The Drowning) is marvelous and it sounds just like forgotten Tull's song from their prog-rock phase. If you still have habit for listening long clever songs with complex structure Crane Wife is album for you. Single Oh, Valencia is nice song, Shankill Butchers one of my favourite songs in last 10 years, same as Yankee Bayonnet with nice vocals. Buy this album and you'll listen it for a long time, again and again...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyable
I was introduced to the Decembrists through The King is Dead which I thought was amazing. I do not rate this album as highly but it is still good.
Published 10 months ago by jean heseltine
An Album That Keeps on Giving
This album is still one of my most listened to after three years on my iPod and car stereo.
The complexity of the music and masterful production keep revealing new... Read more
The complexity of the music and masterful production keep revealing new... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Bernard Jauregui
The perfect crane.
Takes a few songs to get going before yanky b
and The perfect crime prove why there one of
the best album bands around. Read more
and The perfect crime prove why there one of
the best album bands around. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2010 by Darren Lee Clasby
box of delights
stepping towards the epic "hazards of love", here the decemberists venture into longer and more complex music making there's much play with styles, moving on seemingly... Read more
Published on 29 July 2009 by Daniel Dalton
Rare gem
So often in the world things are a disappointment. This album is not. If you are looking for refreshingly good songwriting,lyricism,power and emotion cleverly put across, get it.
Published on 26 Oct 2007 by Mr. A. Whitemore
No adjective describes this album best of the year
This album has everything - folk, rock, prog, pop, singer songwriter - and played to such a high standard. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2007 by John Gallacher
When hip and prog colide.
I was given this album a couple of months ago by a friend who assured me that The Decemberists were one of the hippest band around at the moment. Read more
Published on 5 July 2007 by G. Irwin
My Crane Wife, Sons and Daughters...
With certainly the best opening and ending to any album this year, The Crane Wife stands as a beautiful masterpiece of meliflous euphony. Read more
Published on 2 May 2007 by C. Cook
And quietly gets swallowed by a wave
The foregoing reviews neglect to mention that "Summersong" alone is worth the price of the album. "O Valencia" is a great track too and does not sound out of place on... Read more
Published on 7 April 2007 by AlanMusicMan
Overrated
The music industry reviews of this record had been very good, and I decided to invest my hard-earned cash in this CD. Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2007 by Nick Sydenham
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