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[rating:65/100]
Today, PMA was introduced to the main female character of The Decemberists’ upcoming rock-opera The Hazards Of Love. Her name is Margaret, and she sings quite beautifully on one of the tracks off their new album, Hazards of Love. So far, I’ve heard “The Hazards of Love 1″ and “The Rake Song.” I thoroughly enjoyed “Hazards of Love” as an album-opener, although not quite as much as Luis did. I loved “Rake Song” more, one of the harder-rockers Colin Meloy and his buddies have released. However, neither track gave me that epic feel that a “rock-opera,” complete with characters and stories, should. But on “Won’t Want For Love,” we finally get a taste of the interplay between “Margaret” and Meloy’s character, “William.”
The song is heavily driven by another pretty aggressive, rocking drum beat. “Columbine, Columbine, please alert this love of mine, let him know his Margaret comes along,” sings our (presumed) heroine as the song starts off, sounding a bit like Greta from The Hush Sound. I’m not quite sure if it’s Becky Stark singing, Shara Worden, or both, but I’ll admit, it was strange and almost disappointing to hear such a great opening beat for a Decemberists song and not hear Meloy’s fantastic voice. Then again, I guess it was kind of refreshing- we’re finally getting a sense of what the “story” will sound like, rather than two fairly straightforward tunes.
“Oh my own true love,” Meloy croons back towards the end of the song, asking, “Can you hear me, love?” And if I’m judging the song and the story correctly so far, I would assume that she can’t!
Overall, this is another SOLID track off of the new album. It’s nothing phenomenal, mind-blowing, or special, just a very good song that continues what seems to be a darker theme for The Decemberists on Hazards. My prediction is that this will be one of those albums where the songs need to be heard in context to truly be appreciated.
Tags: The Decemberists
Lookin forward to this album. Rake Song is a great tune, but 30 seconds of this one didnt hook me on it yet. We’ll have to see when it comes out.
the cd apparently got ripped, its on the torrents, pretty decent, so far.
After listening to the album in its entirety, I can’t stress enough how bad of an idea it is to judge this album on a track-by-track basis. I didn’t like The Rake’s Song or Hazards of Love 1 when they released them, however, after hearing how they flow in the album and the story they construct, I can definitely appreciate them far more.
That’s what I figured Peter , which is why I guessed at the end of my review that “this will be one of those albums where the songs need to be heard in context to truly be appreciated.”
I’m not trying to “judge this album on a track-by-track basis.” A song leaked, and we reviewed it as a stand-alone song, referencing that in the context of the album it would probably be different. Glad you like the album though, I haven’t heard it yet and am really looking forward to it.
Frankly now that the album’s out, Won’t Want For Love (Margaret in the Taiga) is one of my favorite tracks. I think it’s very catchy.
I agree. Won’t Want For Love is one of my favorite tracks on this album, mostly because I love female vocals in The Decemberists songs, but also because it’s so different, and in such a good way.