Album Review
Apparently, the Decemberists are a polarizing band. I’m in the “huge fan” camp, so I never
realized this. But frontman Colin
Meloy’s singing voice, the band’s hyper-literate, baroque, often violent songs,
the names they assign to their tours, and their prog-rock opera about a
shape-shifting fawn, his love, and his mother the tree appear to rub some
people the wrong way. This record is not
for them. Like most live albums, this
one is for fans.
Culled from several performances on the band’s 2011 Popes of
Pendarvia World Tour, the album includes live renditions of songs spanning
their entire career. Castaways and Cutouts favorite “Leslie
Anne Levine” gets the treatment right alongside recent songs
like “Calamity Song” and “Down By The Water.”
In some cases, especially those including heavy audience participation,
I prefer the studio versions; but there are some great performances here. It’s especially nice to hear “The Crane Wife
1, 2, and 3” in order – all 16 minutes of it – since it was broken up on 2006’s
The Crane Wife.
I saw the Decemberists twice during 2009’s A SHORT FAZED
HOVEL tour for The Hazards of Love
and once, early on, during the tour covered by this album. I loved every minute of all of those shows,
and this album brings some of those moments back for me. But I can definitely see how some of Meloy’s
stage banter and the audience sing-a-longs may have a “you really had to be
there” quality for non-fans or for those who weren’t at the shows.
For me, the Decemberists have always been about the
songs. Album-wise, I think I’d say that
I’m a Picaresque guy, but that’s only by a hair. The
Decemberists are one of the few bands whose discography I can happily put on
shuffle while not feeling like I’m missing out by not listening to the album
“the way the artist intended.” We All Raise Our Voices… does a nice job
of shuffling the band’s discography all on its own; and in that way, it’s
really nice to have.
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