quote:

Originally posted by CleverName84:
I want to bump this thread because I'm curious what people think about this album. I still think it's a turd, but I'm looking for a reason to revisit the album without feeling stupid.

There have been quite a few albums this year that I admire and enjoy. But, Hazards of Love is the first one that I want to put on repeat and listen to over and over again.

I will admit to being underwhelmed the first time I heard it. However, I think the album is a grower.

Let's start out with what I find great about the album. "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid" and "The Rake Song" were the first two songs that I latched onto. "The Wanting . . ." portion of the song contains the best melody on the album and the Beach Boy-esque backing vocals are quite beautiful. And, the "Repaid" portion, with Shara Worden's astounding vocals, is very powerful. "The Rake Song" has very effective story telling and a riff and chorus that gets stuck in your head. I find myself singing "Alright. Alright. Allllriiight." over and over again.

The next thing that grabbed me is the foreshadowing in the storytelling of the lyrics. It took me a while to realize how clever "The Wanting Comes in Waves" is, because it lays a theme that is realized in the beautiful finale, as our two young lovers embrace and say their vows as the waves begin to overtake them. "Expect that you think I should be haunted/But it never really bothers me," the Rake sings in "The Rake Song", foreshadowing his haunting and death in the end.

I buy into the story because of how well it is written and how the songs refer to each other. The guest vocals give the album extra variety and believability.

My only complaints about the album are that I wish that they got Jim James to sing the Rake's part, so it is easier to distinguish between William and the Rake. Also, I will deduct points for the lack of a clear moral to the story. I guess the moral is that love is dangerous but it's worth it, but that doesn't have the same sort of power as the story of the Crane Wife.

^ Im not a huge fan, but dan deacon is so shitty it makes me wanna throw up.

@shadrach

quote:

I don't have to tell you how much it hurt to put my current album rating into my rating spreadsheet and have it shuffle everything around to show me that it is currently tied with Goblin Cock.

I love excel and I love music. Is this a spreadsheet you might be interested in posting for others to make use of?

quote:

Originally posted by Dr.Knockers:
^ Im not a huge fan, but dan deacon is so shitty it makes me wanna throw up.

I thought Bromst was pretty good. Although it was very hard to get into.

Bromst is not horrible, its much better than spiderman of the rings, but i cant stand how much hype dan deacon recieves for being pretty damn average.

quote:

Originally posted by Jack X:
@shadrach

quote:

I don't have to tell you how much it hurt to put my current album rating into my rating spreadsheet and have it shuffle everything around to show me that it is currently tied with Goblin Cock.

I love excel and I love music. Is this a spreadsheet you might be interested in posting for others to make use of?

I've toyed with the idea before, but it needs some work inorder to actually be useful beyond just a framework. I do all of the manipulations manually, and without some instructions it would probably just look like a mess.

But I'll tell you what. I really want to automate it, and have it be something that can standalone and be easy for anyone to step into without much effort. It's a great tool for me to find some objectivity in my album rating, and I know there are other people here that would appreciate playing around with it. So you've inspired me.

On the subject of Dan Deacon. I'm really enjoying Bromst, and "Snookered" would be a crowning achievement in any artists catalog.

On the subject of The Decemberists. Having spent more time with the album, I can't say my feelings have changed, but they have been magnified. All of the songs that I liked at first, I now really really like, and all of the 80% of the album that I didn't like, I now don't want to really hear anymore. I doubt there could be a Decemberists fan that couldn't find at least three songs on the album that they couldn't happily pull out and listen to repeatedly.

There's a theory going around that William is actually Isaiah resurrected -

The Queen says

And he was a baby, abandoned entombed in a cradle of clay
And I was the soul that took pity and stole him away

after the Rake said

Isaiah fought but was easily bested
Burned his body for incurring my wrath

and the kids in Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge)

My sisters drowned and poisoned all and me reduced to ash
And buried in an urn, but father I return


So, there's a theory going around that Isaiah was burned, resurrected as William by the Forest Queen, and his appearance was what caused the Rake to be haunted by the appearance of his children.

I like it. It is a cuckoo theory, but an AWESOME one.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr.Knockers:
Bromst is not horrible, its much better than spiderman of the rings, but i cant stand how much hype dan deacon recieves for being pretty damn average.

I don't like or dislike Dan Deacon but calling him average? Doesn't that imply that there are others out there making music similar in style?

You have a bad habit of saying something is shitty when you actually mean that you don't like/understand it.

quote:

I like it. It is a cuckoo theory, but an AWESOME one.

That actually makes sense...I'm gonna run with this one.