If your least favorite parts of The Crane Wife were the high-concept, prog-friendly, organ blaring twelve minute suites, then you should probably leave The Hazards of Love alone. Continue reading
prog rock
Record #126: The Decemberists – The Crane Wife (2006)
The tragic thing about the Decemberists is that their greatest asset is also their biggest liability.
They’re universally lauded or discounted as bookworm friendly, concept heavy, occasionally prog-leaning folk rock, and if you don’t have time for lyrics you need to look up in the dictionary or 12 minute three-part folk-prog suites (namely “The Island”), then don’t even bother.
But, as often as that description is used disparagingly, it’s used by fans to describe why they love the Decemberists–because some people love parsing lyrics and trilogies of songs based on Japanese folk tales that appear out of order on the album, and some of these people also love that the lead guitarist is also credited with playing hurdy-gurdy on the album (unsurprisingly, the Decemberists are from Portland).